Project Green: September

We're going green, but change takes time!  The Hubs and I are challenging ourselves to make our household and lifestyle more environmentally friendly by taking on one green project each month.  In June, I made my own laundry detergent, in July, we started a worm composter, in August we reaped the benefits of our membership in a Community Supported Fishery.  Here's what I did in September:

Much like the school system calendar, September marks the beginning of my work year. (Unfortunately for me, we don't get summers off!)  Because of this, it's a bit of a fresh start for everyone.  We do catch a little of that "back to school" fever - pencils to be sharpened, binders to be filled, and all that jazz.  Usually about half my caseload goes on to Kindergarten in September, so I open a whole bunch of new files and start seeing a load of new tinies with speech and language needs.

Of course, with the "new year" comes a clean slate on vacation and flex time - no one has accrued any, so most everyone is working a regular schedule.  Which makes it the perfect time to set up a carpooling system!  My commute to work is roughly 30 km, so at four days a week, that would be 240km a week. But a few of my coworkers have the same commute, so some of us have been able to get together at least a couple of times a week to carpool. 

There are many bonuses to carpooling, in addition to cutting down on our emissions.  For one, the ride seems to go a whole lot more quickly when I have someone to chat with, and discussing our plans for the weekend is much more entertaining than flicking between radio stations and trying to find one that doesn't annoy me! 

Another perk is that it actually is quicker than driving solo, because my route includes a "High Occupancy Vehicle" (HOV) lane.  We zip by all the poor shlubs who have to slow down every time someone ahead of them wants to change lanes or gets a little heavy on the brake.  (As a side note, I find it a bit sad that a vehicle with only two people in it is considered "high occupancy," but that speaks to the state of the roads these days.) 

And thirdly, as you all know, I'm a cheapskate, so I cannot ignore the fact that carpooling saves me quite a bit of dough.  I'll spare you my "the price of gas these days" tirade.  Let's just acknowledge that it's ridiculous and move on.

My hope is that my workmates and I can continue to ride-share at least two days a week, cutting our emissions and gas bills down significantly.  And on that note, did you know next week (October 4-8) is Ride-Share Week in BC?  So go make some friends and start sharing!