Tiny Choices Survey: Geoffrey!
By tinychoices | September 5, 2008
Vital statistics (name, age, location, link to website/blog)?
Geoffrey, age 45, Sebastopol, CA, USA. Blog: West of the Laguna
How do you reside (apartment or house, roommates)?
My family of 3 lives in a 911 sq. ft. house in downtown Sebastopol.
Are your housing decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Housing prices in our area are quite high, so that was definitely a big factor when we bought the house 4 years ago — it was the cheapest one that had any appeal in the area over a period of several months. That said, we probably would have chosen it even so, since the lot has a fair amount of open space even though it’s also tiny (no garage!), the house is located in cool neighborhood close to shops, and has character (wraparound porch, built in 1910 as a workman’s cottage).
How do you travel (transit, car, etc)?Are your travel decisions dictated by choice or necessity? Please explain.
Our travel decisions are mostly driven by choice. We try not to fly any more than we can, but have been making a trip to see family on the East Coast every other year. We have a old Corolla that gets 36 mpg and an old Toyota pickup that gets around 30, so if we do drive, at least we’re burning relatively little gas and a more efficient Prius would a bigger use of resources than our elderly vehicles. I commute to work as a librarian for our county library 8.5 mi. each way by bike. I occasionally drive, but have managed the last two months without a single car commute and have only driven a couple times a month (at most) over the past year since starting my current job. My wife sometimes needs to drive for field work as a consulting biologist, but nearly all of our car use consist of the occasional local weekend excursions, an annual trip to the mountains, and local errands. Since we live downtown in a small town, we can easily walk for groceries at our local Whole Foods and farmer’s market, as well as to a number of decent restaurants, movie and live theaters, etc.
We debate whether to keep both our car and truck. We use both very little and would probably make use of a car share if it were available, but when we need to go somewhere distant as a family, the car is often the only option that makes sense (little public transit in our area); when I need to haul materials for home projects or my volunteer work maintaining trails, the truck is likewise the only real choice. We would save a fair amount of money if we only had one vehicle, but haven’t yet made the transition.
Tell us about a Tiny Choice you’ve made in your life.
I use a tiffin to carry my lunch. These food carriers are from India, where vendors deliver hot meals to customers in them — they work well and are also good for starting conversations. I’m glad to get away from using plastic containers. I use glass jars for soups and other really messy items (tiffins don’t seal).
What is the one environmental dilemma you personally struggle the most with?
How to reduce the amount of plastic in our lives. Despite grocery shopping and carrying my lunch to work cloth bags, we regularly feel like we’re drowning in plastic bags from produce and bulk dry goods. We also seem to have a lot of plastic yogurt and similar tubs around, as well as variety of plastic toys, tools, nylon sports clothing, etc. Finally, a former owner clad our lovely house in vinyl siding. I’d love to have less of it around.
What is one Tiny Choice you can make in that direction?
Find or make a reusable alternative to plastic produce bags.
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you make that people question (in either a positive educational or a negative hassle way) you the most about?
Bicycle commuting. Relatively few people at my library — and in general — commute by bike. Our county is the most car-centric in the San Francisco Bay Area due to its history as an agricultural area. We do have some excellent bike paths — I get to commute nearly my entire route on the Joe Rodota/West County Trail and the city and county are working on additional bike-safe routes, but biking is pretty dangerous here because of narrow, winding roads and unobservant drivers (as well as a few unobservant cyclists). Many people are surprised by the distance I commute by bike as well as my commitment to cycling every day. I hope I inspire more a few to ride or walk to work.
What is the one environmental Tiny Choice you would like every single person to adopt?
Cycle and walk more! Drive less!
Do you feel like you make sacrifices for environmentalism? Please explain.
I would probably travel more (especially abroad) if it weren’t such an impact. We also keep our house chilly in the winter and it’s just on the edge of being comfortable enough, even with warm clothes. In general, though, we feel great about using fewer resources and look for ways to use even fewer.
Are you generally: optimistic, pessimistic, neutral about environmentalism and the future?
Guardedly optimistic.
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Topics: Surveys |
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Check out www.reusablebags.com for a great selection of bags for produce and snacks. I, too, have a goal of eliminating unnecessary plastic in our family’s life - it’s not an easy task! It kind of grosses me out to think that just about everything we eat touches plastic at some point.