Car-Free Living with Magpie Girl

July 12, 2010

15 comments

1 Kimberley { 12 Jul 2010 at 4:28 pm }

I think it’s fantastic that you and your family are taking on this challenge. I wish the US had the mindset of Copenhagen and other countries when it comes to transportation.
We live in Orange County California (and our dream is to eventually live in the north west). This is not the most progressive part of California – the mindset here is more like “Drill, baby, drill!” But there is movement in some areas toward a “greener” life style.
We do own a car, the most fuel efficient Hundayai we could afford. Our neighborhood is somewhat walkable and we do walk when we can. We are challenging ourselves this year to use the bus for those trips that are too far to walk but not so far a bus ride wouldn’t work. We’ll see how it goes – the system here was never reliable and now with all the cuts there’s fewer routes and buses running. With the not so great outlook here, I want to make an effort to find likeminded souls in this area to begin to raise awareness about transitioning to a more sustainable way of living. Someone I met online referred me to The Transition Network http://www.transitionnetwork.org/ and I’ll do my research as my schedule clears to see if its possible to get something started here.

Other things we’re doing:
- I make most of my own cleaning products
- We don’t use paper napkins, towels etc.
- Recycle
- Avoid plastic whenever we can
- eat local and organic
- try to bring the spirit of community to the condo complex we live in – I believe the way we interact with one another in a community is part of a sustainable life. I could go on and on about that, but it looks like I’ve already gone on and on :0)

2 Sharon Benton { 12 Jul 2010 at 5:16 pm }

Rachelle! Have been enjoying your vids! Having been back in the states from Denmark for almost a year now, I’d like to share our reassimilation story and how we are at least being “semi-green” and own just one car.

Copenhagen made it Soooooo easy to be carless. As you mentioned, the transportation is easy, clean, plentiful, and predictable. Here in Seattle and surrounding areas, we have….the bus system. Most routes run every half hour at best (more frequent at peak hours) and some seemingly sensible routes are non-existent. For example, for me to get from my home in Redmond (2 min walk from a major park and ride, BTW) to the Evergreen Clinic in Totem Lake would take 1 1/2 hours. By car, it’s about 10 minutes. Redmond to Bellevue – another 10 minute-by-car ride – 40 minutes by bus.

Getting downtown is pretty easy – there’s an express bus and we can be there in 40 minutes. And don’t have to pay for parking!

Our biggest green decision was to move to neighborhood with lots of stuff close by. Here are the places I can walk to in 10 minutes or less: Post office, chiropractor, hair salon, bank, (5) coffee houses, 3 grocery stores (including Trader Joe’s…yea!!), 2 movie theaters, organic butcher shop, the Redmond Saturday Farmers Market, Andrew’s Park, the Sammamish Trail, veterinarian, Half price books, many restaurants, my dentist, my eye doctor, massage therapist…

My goal is to have as many services as possible right here in my neighborhood, and so far, so good. Bruce takes the bus/MS shuttle combo to work most days (unless he has other errands or off site meetings to run that day). Most days the car is in the garage.

There are a couple reasons we are not carless here. One is my business. I need to haul my art stuff to shows several times a month. The other is that my husband is a very large man and car-pooling is not always an option for him…he simply does not fit into small cars, which is also why we could not get one of the hybrid/electric cars.

So – we compromised and are a one-car family, and it’s working out very well so far. Be warned – people will tell you that you cannot make it with here in the states with no car…several people could not believe we have just one car between us. I am actually about 2 weeks away from winning a bet with my friend who thought we would not last a year with only one car. I’m looking forward to me free dinner. :-)

We did look into the Zip cars, but unfortunately, there is nothing for us on the eastside.

Oh – one funny story – Bruce is so used to taking the bus to work now, that one day he drove to work and forgot he had the car and took the bus home. He didn’t even think about it until I asked where he had parked when he came home that night. :-)

I wonder if you know about this web site? http://www.walkscore.com/
It rates U.S. neighborhoods for their walkability. Redmond ranks at 95. Your neighborhood…97!

Good luck with the move and let me know if there is anything I can do to help you out.
S

3 Wendy Watkins { 12 Jul 2010 at 5:43 pm }

These days, my green toes remind me to be greener-yes, Rachelle-i believe that is a word.
I love structures in my life and painting my toes green reminds me to continue to make the right choices for my body and the planet.
Needless to say, it is an ongoing process.
We do alot of what Kimberly does.
I love my collection of cloth napkins and funky napkin holders.
We only take plastic bags to clean up the poop from our 2 doggies.
We are part of a co-op garden and have our own veggie garden at home–the maters and blueberries are divine right now!
I won’t go into the details of flushing…..another conversation.

The biggest challenge is our transportation. We live in Decatur, GA which can be a walkable/bikeable neighborhood in the AM and in the evening.
When it is 90 degrees and I have a meeting at a coffee shop at 1 PM, I do not look pretty when I ride my bike there.
I do use my bike in the spring and fall, summer is very challenging.

I do feel better that Matt, my husband takes the train to work each day. I applaud him for dealing with an antiquated system that keeps him waiting longer than he needs to in a large city like Atlanta.

I look forward to the cooler weather, when my bicycle comes out for more than just exercise.
In the meantime, my green toes will keep me focused on planning my trips in the car consciously and staying away from Target! I love that benefit of being car-free!
Thanks Rachelle–this is some delicious food for thought.

4 Clara { 12 Jul 2010 at 10:17 pm }

We used to live 20 miles out and now we’re in the heart of our town. We made a conscious decision more than a year ago and finally found the perfect home in the perfect location. As a result, we’re walking more (rather than driving), since we wanted — and achieved — a neighborhood with many services around us, and our drive distances are much shorter. A win-win all around.

5 Lianne { 13 Jul 2010 at 6:02 am }

I would love to look like the cyclists in those pictures. The reality in the PNW climate is that being a cyclist pretty much demands that you be covered in gore-tex for a good chunk of the year. And where I live (BC) helmets are the law.

But it is totally doable (and rewarding) as long as you aren’t concerned about being chic. ;)

6 Susan { 13 Jul 2010 at 7:16 am }

All I can say is that Southern CA has made us much more car-oriented. We also live in a neighborhood that doesn’t feel/is not so safe at night. I miss the after-dark walks in various Seattle neighborhoods when I felt perfectly safe. Don’t want to sound too pessimistic. I noticed a big change towards being more car-dependent after our son graduated from stroller life years ago. I walked a lot more when he didn’t mind/couldn’t protest being in a stroller. The only consolation I can say is that we don’t drive far for Southern CA standards. We have a fairly compact life and that’s a big contrast to many others in our area who spend hours on the road every day.

7 Rachelle { 13 Jul 2010 at 8:40 am }

Speaking of helmets…Danish law requires children to wear bike helmets, but it’s optional for adults. Honestly, it’s so flat and car safe to bike here, that while it’s probably best to err on the safe side, most adults don’t wear helmets. If they do they are fond of these helmets with stylish hat-like covers. Sadly, they are about 800dkk ($150US). I was hoping to buy one cheaper in the States, but haven’t found a knock-off supplier yet…

http://www.yakkay.com/

8 Cindy { 13 Jul 2010 at 6:31 pm }

We’re planning on weaning ourselves back to one car next month when our oldest (of 3) goes to college. We did one car for 1.5 years, and then were offered a much used (and loved!) fuel efficent Honda, which brought us back up to two. With 4 jobs between the 5 of us, and 3 different schools (only one of which was remotely walkable, at 1.7 miles down (and up!) one of the steepest hills in Seattle), the second car made life much more doable. 3 of the 5 of us take the bus everyday, and I’m working on learning to ride my bike in traffic (this year’s goal – last year’s was simply to re-learn how to ride a bike!) so that small grocery trips don’t require a car. Our neighborhood is very walkable, with the exception of the grocery store – the closest one is only a mile, but down an incredibly steep hill. So I keep reminding myself that baby steps are in order. A great resource for us when we downsized initially to one car was the book “How to Live Well without Owning a Car” by Chris Balish, which we checked out of Seattle Public Library. It was really helpful and fun in thinking about alternative ways to do things!

9 Rachelle Mee-Chapman { 14 Jul 2010 at 11:19 am }

Cindy,

Is there still a delivery service like Home Grocer in Seattle? I’ve been wondering about that myself — or a dairy delivery service for the kid’s milk, which is heavy. Cate would like me to point out that this is still using a car, just not OUR car. But it has to have a slightly smaller footprint than a gazillion individuals driving to pick up milk. Maybe…

I know if I lived on Capitol Hill or Queen Anne hill in Seattle, even a bike w/a motor assist would be a bear. Thankfully it’s not too steep from my place to PCC . You’ll have to be my drive-in-traffic coach!

10 Cindy { 14 Jul 2010 at 8:22 pm }

Rachelle,

Most people I know who do home delivery use Amazon Fresh. They seem to like it.

I’ve just figured out that I can now confidently bike to the Greenlake PCC! It’s a pretty empowering feeling. (And I think PCC is the best place for European-style daily shopping …)

I’ve also realized that even with a step-through street bike, 21 gears makes all the difference with hills. With my old 3 speed (that didn’t get hardly any use once we moved back to Seattle) I couldn’t manage even the slightest hills, and felt stupid. Last summer I replaced it with a 21 speed Globe Carmel, and have been super happy with it – even though the spandex clad bikers give me funny looks sometimes!
:-) Cindy

11 Cindy { 14 Jul 2010 at 9:26 pm }

Just realized I may have sounded kind of preachy about the gears thing – wasn’t trying to, just something I was thinking about as I biked up a hill today.

I’m assuming the bike in the picture is yours – very cool. Love the color and especially the skirtguard – don’t see many of those here!

12 Rebecca Stees { 17 Jul 2010 at 9:02 pm }

I let go of my driver’s license in 1991.
I’m happy to walk, bike and use public transit in the Bay Area.
I smell the flowers.

13 Jenni { 25 Jul 2010 at 6:33 am }

My little family is also living car-free in Fremont! We’ve got a Bakfiets cargo-bike that my husband uses for our shopping as well as transportation with our son. He blogged about the early days with the cargo-bike here: http://seattle-bakfietser.blogspot.com/

I’m lucky enough to walk to work. And then, yes, the bus and Zipcar. We were heavily dependent on Zipcar before the Bakfiets. Now it’s a rarity that we reserve for longer distances. When kiddo gets older we’ll reevaluate and come up with what’s next…

14 Mark { 4 Aug 2010 at 4:51 pm }

I sold my car here in Baltimore last month – so far I don’t miss it at all. It was more of a financial decision than an environmental one, though. I’m still surprised how much money I’m saving without car payments/gas/insurance expenses. I’ve been walking and biking everywhere, and aside from having to change into my work clothes *after* I arrive at work, it hasn’t been an inconvenience – and I feel a lot healthier than when I was driving everywhere.

15 Lisa @MindfulBIZ { 5 Aug 2010 at 4:48 am }

I just found you on Twitter today and enjoyed watching your recent videos. You have such a warm, down-to-earth presence. :)

Two weeks ago I sold my car! Since my husband still has his car that he drives out of town to work, I’m just car-free during the weekdays. I’d been wanting to go car-free for about 2 years. I had hesitated for so long because although we live in a very walkable neighbourhood, we’ve opted to have our kids go to a school that’s a 10-minute car ride away (about an hour walk for me). A few months ago I realized that taking my kids on the city bus to school would be do-able. Time will tell come September when they start back at school! I’m sure there will be challenges as you mentioned in your video, but it feels so great to have taken the leap. I intend to walk home after taking my kids to school to get exercise in an organic way.

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