SOLD! November 2018
Last year we only put 2500 miles on the car. We kept saying we only needed it for taking the tandem out to rides in the country. We finally decided to sell it after our last big trip. It sold within hours of listing it on Craig’s List. So we are officially car-free now. The plan is to get the fittings to put our tandem roof rack on someone else’s car here in cohousing. We’re still working out the nuances of getting around sans car. Time will tell.
Car Sharing – 2017
In June of 2017 after living in CHUC for a year we decided to setup a car share. We really only need our car when we want to take the tandem out into the country. Fortunately we found a friend/neighbor who was getting rid of her Jetta and had a nearby garage. We researched and negotiated and have a pretty good setup. Here’s the Car Sharing Agreement in case it helps you setup something. Basically she covers the garage since we own the car. She has first priority during the week since she has a yoga studio and we get priority on the weekends so we can use it for the tandem. But we both are comfortable asking for what we need. We track our mileage and fuel receipts and reconcile every two months. We split the insurance, which we increased to cover an additional person.
New in 2006
One of the reasons we downsized is because we want to live more lightly on the earth. For that reason we’ve coveted the Toyota hybrid car, the Prius. We had decided if we got what we wanted for the house we would look into a buying a new car. The process of exploring was a wonderful distraction while we were in transition. We learned a lot about both hybrids and also the benefits of using bio-diesel. After much reading and shopping we purchased a 2003 Jetta TDI from the Green Car Company in late October, 2005. It’s fully loaded: black leather interior, manual transmission, CD, sunroof, and heated seats. We painted it a bright yellow (for increased visibility) while we were cycling in Europe in July 2006! We’re excited to be ending our dependance on Middle-Eastern oil and we’ve added a sticker that says Bio-Diesel: No War Required. For an overview on bio-diesel visit: BioDiesel Now.
Carbon Neutral?
We just came across this web site that lets you calculate your CO2 impact and even pay offsets so you can drive “carbon neutral”. After running the numbers on the car options we considered, we’re very pleased to discover our vehicle is the BIG WINNER!
Here is the info, based on our actual annual miles (7,341):
- 2006 Prius: This car uses the equivalent of 137 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 2657 pounds of CO2 annually.
- 2003 VW Jetta (gas): This car uses the equivalent of 194 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 3763 pounds of CO2 annually.
- 2003 VW Jetta (diesel): This car uses the equivalent of 223 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 4326 pounds of CO2 annually.
- 2003 VW Jetta (biodiesel): This car uses the equivalent of 48 gallons of gasoline each year. This means it produces 931 pounds of CO2 annually.
As of May 2008 we made the decision to NOT fly to New Zealand for a month of cycling and touring due to the impact on our carbon footprint. You can read more about this decision and found a wealth of related resources on our Fly Less page.
