Low-Car Diet Challenge surprises

I've been doing the ZipCar Low-Car Diet Challenge for a month now (we're coming to the end!), and I've had a few surprises.

1. I really had no *need* for my car the entire month. In fact, I was trying to come up with reasons to even use a ZipCar. I was able to get everything I needed either by foot, bike, or public transit. Yes, things took longer, but it was actually more enjoyable to not be stressed out driving in the city. I could relax. I was able to see more of the city that way, too, observe my surroundings and see things I may not have noticed before. Yes, being stuck on the bus that's the proverbial "slow boat to China" on a Friday afternoon was less than ideal, but I just put on my iPod, relaxed, looked out the window, and made mental notes about things I saw that I may want to go back and visit at a later date.

2. It's forced me to be more relaxed about things. This actually is the opposite of what I expected. I expected to have to plan more strictly. What I found is that while I have to plan ahead, I also have to be more relaxed about the outcome of those plans. Adhering to a strict schedule wasn't realistic. So it forced me to relax and just be. To just sit and be in the moment while riding the bus/trolley. This is a good thing for me, really.

3. Pooling resources and running errands with friends is much more enjoyable than doing it alone. Getting a few friends together when I actually needed the car was both more economical (theoretically we would have split the cost if it wasn't for the generous ZipCar credits!) and fun. Made the errands less onerous and gave us an excuse to hang out for awhile. I liked running my errands that way.

4. The concerns I had at the beginning never really became reality. I never "missed" the convenience of using my own car. I never felt restricted or worried that I couldn't access a vehicle (there were so many available!). Nor did I really miss my personal vehicle. That has really surprised me. For all the time I've spent in my reliable Subaru (multiple cross country trips, etc.), I didn't miss it, or miss driving it, or miss even being in it. I didn't miss being in a car at all, in fact. I didn't feel that I had lost that sense of freedom I've always associated with a vehicle. If anything, I ended up feeling more free because I didn't have to worry about all the stuff that comes with just owning a vehicle. And that was the biggest surprise of all.

So now I'm faced with the decision of whether or not to sell my car. And contrary to what I thought at the beginning, I really can let it go and become officially a car-free individual. I don't feel the attachment to or need for my own personal vehicle anymore. It's time to move on in life without a car. Of course, whether or not I'm actually successful in selling my car remains to be seen, but that's another post for a later date.

Trying something new

Today I tried something new. I used a ZipCar for the first time. And it was great. It was easy. It was even fun.

I needed to run some errands, specifically I needed cat supplies (food and litter). So I asked a couple of friends that I know don't have cars if they had any errands they needed to run and wanted to come with me. Turns out one friend, EM, needed to go to Ikea, and Plum and Seuss needed pet supplies AND a trip to Ikea. A plan was born. I figured having friends along might make the errands much more fun, too (and I was right!).

I made the reservation on Saturday evening for the following afternoon. There were several cars nearby to choose from, and I decided on a Mazda 3 4-door sedan. Plenty of car options. I liked how the system showed me when a car was available, and when it was already reserved, so I could choose one that gave me plenty of flexibility. Seeing the whole day laid out allowed me to pick my time so I wasn't butting up against someone else's reservation.

We all met at the car on Sunday afternoon, and just like that we were on our way! The car took a bit of getting used to (hello, jerky stop and start), but once I got the hang of how it handled, it ended up being really fun to drive. I've been so used to my Subaru it was striking to drive a different car. And I enjoyed it.

We went to PetSmart for supplies, and then on to Ikea for a late lunch and some wandering. I had given us lots of time so we didn't have to rush. Still, despite my generous reservation, we realized we weren't going to make it. The lines at Ikea were insane (way worse than normal...guess the horrible humid heat drove everyone inside for the afternoon), and then we hit traffic from the baseball game on our way out. Sitting there in stadium traffic, I started to try and calculate if we had enough time or not.

I had turned on the text alerts, so 30 minutes before the reservation expired ZipCar let me know. We were still sitting in traffic. The text alert helpfully told me how much longer the car was available (i.e. when the next reservation started). We had plenty of time to extend the reservation. So I had my friend EM text ZipCar back to extend by 30 minutes. A couple of seconds later we got a confirmation, DONE. No problem. It was so incredibly easy and convenient, and instantly I was able to relax and stop stressing. I love that not only did the text alert tell me that it was available longer, it even included the instructions on how to text for an extension.

And just to make my ZipCar experience complete, we hit the 1/4 mark on the tank of gas when we were in the home stretch. Since we were passing a couple of gas stations, I figured OK, let's fill 'er up. I used the card provided, plugged in the mileage and my member number, and filled the tank. Easy peasy. Really. Other than the challenge of remember a number long enough to punch it in, it was painless. I dropped off my friends, and returned the car with 10 minutes to spare.

I had never thought that using a car-sharing program would be this easy. It was convenient, simple, and very user-friendly. So kudos to ZipCar. I could get used to this.

A new and car-light approach to shopping

Not using my car has caused me to change the way I shop for pretty much everything.

Before I used to make lots of trips, going to whatever store I needed on any given day. I didn't think twice about running to a store one night, and then the next night driving back to the same shopping area for another errand (either to the same place or one nearby). Each store was viewed as a separate element.

Not so anymore. For example, now my food shopping trips are smaller, more frequent. I also buy less and smaller sizes knowing I have to carry it home myself. I still do the "stocking up" kind of shopping, but in smaller batches. I'll stock up on pasta one trip, and on cereal/grains the next time. It's just more staggered now.

I'm also doing my grocery shopping in different places, places closer to home or convenient to biking/public transit. I do the bulk of my fresh fruit and vegetable shopping at the farmers' market, which is walking distance from home. Things I can't get there (admittedly, there's not much...I even get beans, pasta, milk, meat, cheese and yogurt at the Clark Park farmers' market because it's all kinds of awesome), I get from my neighborhood store (biking and walking distance!) or by taking the trolley down to Trader Joe's.

It's actually impacting my approach to eating as well. It's no longer easy to stock up on frozen meals/ice-cream/anything (they'd never make it home in the humid Philly summer heat!), so I'm being forced to eat only fresh or make my own frozen meals. Refrigerated goods travel in a soft sided insulated bag. I talked about the general shift I've made to eating fresh foods in this post, but the having to make changes to how and when I shop has only solidified my shift to primarily fresh and homemade foods. Ice cream I'm making myself, thanks to the Christmas gift from my grandmother of the ice cream bowl for my KitchenAid stand mixer (which rocks, FYI). Frozen dinners are now portioned out and frozen servings of homemade soups, stews and other meals. And believe you me, it all tastes SO much better when it's homemade.

Frankly, shifting the way I shop for food was easy. I was already half way there thanks to my CSA (I signed up for a summer 1/2 share) and the close proximity of the farmers' market.

The challenges I'm finding to this new approach to shopping are things that I have to buy in larger quantities, such as cat litter, and bulky items, such as paper towels. I'm also having to plan trips more. No longer am I running to the same shopping area more than once in a week. Now I'm waiting until I have a major list of things before I hit the stores. Now I'm planning so I go to multiple places at once. And making lists so I don't forget anything. There's no just hopping back in the car to retrieve what I forgot. Shopping trips are no longer viewed as a individual elements (each store individually), but rather one big trip with multiple pieces.

I'm coming up on the need to run errands for cat food, cat litter, and other such items that require a trip farther away than my bike can take me (and for not really bike friendly purchases) and not really accessible by public transit. Since I've never done this before, I'm planning my trip for Sunday and will most likely grossly overestimate the amount of time I'll need. Ah well. It's a learning process, right?

Learning to live without a car

I signed up to participate in a 30 day challenge sponsored by Zipcar to learn to live car free. The Low-Car Diet Challenge 2009. It just started, and there's been a couple of articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer about it already (including this one that I'm quoted in!).

My reasons for participating are varied, and I'm going to attempt to explain them a bit here.

1. Owning a car is expensive. Seriously. My insurance alone is $100 a month, plus annual tag and inspection fees (2 inspections!), plus maintenance such as oil changes, etc. Yeah. It adds up. If you average it out over a 12 month period, just owning my car, even without monthly payments since it's paid off, costs me about $130 per month, and I'm not including tolls and gas. Add in the gas, parking fees and/or passes, and any tolls when I do drive and it just keeps climbing. I only drive once, maybe twice a month, to run errands. I'm not sure that's the best return on investment...wouldn't you agree?

2. Driving in and around Philadelphia is a pain in the butt. And that's an understatement. Parking is a pain (plus the fees). Traffic is a pain. Routes tend to be convoluted rather than direct due to one-way streets, construction, etc. so navigating is a pain. Trying to drive in Center City is an exercise in breathing so I don't lose my mind. And don't get me started on the constant traffic present on the interstates through and around the city.

3. Environmental concerns. This reason shouldn't surprise anyone. Not driving is better for the environment. Duh. It means less oil, less pollution, less resources used. But it's also the ambient environment. Fewer cars means less noise (engines plus car horns from annoyed drivers), less congestion, and a safer place to live.

4. Health. Clearly by biking and/or walking I'm getting exercise. When I moved to Philly and started biking to and from work (only 2 miles in each direction), I dropped almost 20 pounds in about 10 months. Startling. But clearly the exercise is a good thing for me. Anything to help me continue to get that regular exercise is a very good thing.

But I also have some concerns about living without a car.

1. Emergencies. This is my biggest fear. My family is scattered all over the country, as are my friends. I have my cat. So I have a little worry in the back of my head about being able to get somewhere at a moment's notice if needed. I know I have friends that do this without a problem, but the fear is still there.

2. Convenience. OK, so this one is partially laziness. Right now I don't have to plan if I go somewhere. I don't have to plan when to do something, or how much time I think it will take. I just get in my car and go. If I want to go away for the weekend or night I just go. If I'm using a car sharing program, I am restricted to when I can reserve a car and how long I can have it. So clearly I'm going to have to work on budgeting my time and planning.

3. What my car (and having one) means. My car = freedom, independence. On some level I associate having a car with not having to depend on people. I've never lived without one except when living in Argentina for three months many many years ago (and having a car there wasn't a good idea...talk about crazy drivers!). I'm also attached to this particular vehicle emotionally. I've had it for over 11 years. It's gotten me through moves, cross country trips, and countless trips through the Michigan winters to visit family. It's reliable and I feel safe driving it. I'm not sure how I'll be driving multiple vehicles...I'm so used to mine and the way it drives. It's comfortable, like a broken in pair of jeans.

What I'm hoping from this experience is to see if living car free is really something I can do as I'd honestly like to be car free. It's an exercise in thought and learning as much as anything else. It will force me to think about what I do, the choices I make. It will also allow me to explore options, to learn variable routes and other ways I can get places. Philly is a very walkable and bike-able city, and the public transit here is light-years better than most places I've lived. I've been considering going car-free for sometime now because I don't need to use it here in Philly, but I keep stopping at taking that final step of selling my car. Clearly I need to work through some of the feelings I associate with car ownership and letting go of my car and my attachment to it.

It's also difficult to say "I will try living without my car for x number of days" to just myself and not cheat, forget, etc. By participating in the Low-Car Diet Challenge, I can't cheat or forget as I'll have regular reminders. I'm giving my word that I won't use my car, which is a huge impetus to follow through on that promise. Kind of like how it's easier to develop the habit of going to the gym regularly if you're partnering with someone. So I'm partnering with Zipcar to follow through and really learn how to live without my vehicle.

I may discover by the end of this that living without my car is not something I can (or want) to do. Or I could find that it's freeing and decide to take the step of selling my car. Either way, this will be a valuable experience.

It really will be a challenge in a few ways, but I'm up for it. I'll be blogging about it as we go along. Including my experience of using Zipcar for the first time (hopefully this weekend! if I can get my card in time).