the environment

We try to do what we can to reduce our carbon footprint. Sure our compost heap could use some attention, and sometimes the TV is on when no one is watching it, but we do try.

We are a one car family. Besides not wanting the extra expense of a new car (and obvious environmental concerns), we just don't have room for another vehicle. We have one parking space behind our house, and we can't park on our street during rush hour. That said, negotiating schedules with drop off and pick up times at daycare has been a bit of a challenge. Our daycare (which we quite like) is only open from 8am until 5pm. At the moment, the schedule that works best for us is the following:

1. Lee-Ann takes the bus to work (leaves the house at 7:28am and arrives at work around 8:05am).

2. Marc drives the kids to daycare around 8:35, then walks Noah two blocks to school. (On days when Marc needs to be at work early, Noah walks with the older kids from daycare.) Then Marc takes the bus to work leaving the car at daycare.

3. Lee-Ann leaves work at 4pm and takes the bus to daycare. She picks up the car and the kids and drives home. Depending on how quickly she can get the kids into the car, they arrive home around 5 or 5:10. On nice days, I look forward to chatting with Shar (the daycare provider) and the other Moms while the kids play outside.

4. Marc takes the bus home from work arriving around 5:45 or 6pm.

So, we drive very little. The drive to daycare is about 5 minutes, yet somehow it is too far to walk especially carrying all the kids' stuff and crossing a very very busy street.

So, I was feeling good about how little we were using the car until last Saturday. Noah and I were getting in the car after his swimming lesson, and the car would not start. After a moment of panic, I remembered I had Marc's phone, so I called him and got the CAA number (which is in his wallet and not the car for some reason). I called CAA. Noah and I bought snacks at the vending machine at the pool and waited. About half an hour later, we got our boost. The CAA guy said our battery was not getting the charge it needed because - get this - we were not driving the car enough. He said we needed to drive it for a sustained half hour once a week to maintain the charge. Who knew?

So, the CAA guy told us to let the car run for half an hour before shutting it down. It was past lunchtime, so I took Noah through the McDonald's drive through. Then we sat in the running car and ate. I felt like putting a bag over my head, or at least a sign in the window explaining why we were letting the car run.