Car "Lite"

You may have noticed in my last post that I am writing about walking and biking for groceries. I don't live in an urban area; I live in a community that used to be a small citrus town, but is now just another suburb, as all the land between here and Los Angeles has been developed.

We are a one car family. We've had two cars in the past, but haven't needed two cars since I stopped working outisde of the home. In addition to owning only one vehicle, we are attempting to live a car lite lifestyle. DH bikes to work. We walk as many errands as we can; to the library, the post office, the pharmacy, the grocery store, the farmer's market, the credit union, the dentist, etc.

We're adding a bike trailer so we can expand our car lite lifestyle. The boys and I will be able to bike to our weekly homeschool support group, lunch and chairs secured in/on the trailer. We'll be able to do the same for many other city events. The HFS will be within our reach without a car.

To do this we have to be an active family, with strong, fit children. These boys can easily bike 12 miles, and can walk 5 or more. They can do it because we've never thought that they couldn't; the walking started between the age of 2 or 3, with short 1 mile walks at first.

This isn't an all-or-nothing situation. We still have a vehicle, and still use it. We have family in the area, and many things that we want to do in the mountains and desert. We've just made the choice to use the car less, to think about when and why we use it, and to not use it if we don't have to.