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9. Yours, Mine and Ours
As Nora Alcala and Sophia Toh drive the narrow road to the estate, they can almost touch the grapes that ripen for the bountiful harvest that will soon arrive. Every green leaf and purple grape is vivid in the summer sun. Looking far up the Sonoma foothills, the endless rows of manicured vines finally give way to the live oak and evergreens.
Living together in the heart of San Francisco, they can share one car. Each walks to work. Transit and an occasional cab meet their other city transportation needs. The wine country escape had been the first time in two weeks that the car had been used.
Almost unstated is the thousands that are saved by sharing one car, and only using it on occasion. How can they use all that extra cash? Enjoying the weekend in historic Sonoma in the heart of California wine country seemed like a perfect start.
Nora finds that walking everywhere keeps her in shape. Sophia also appreciates the natural exercise that is part of her daily life because of walking. With all the calories burned in a lifestyle active with walking, each course of the afternoon banquet could be enjoyed without any concern. Wine can best be appreciated by viewing the clarity, experiencing the complexities in the aroma, tasting the balance and savoring the moment. So, it seems, is a life balanced with a little driving and rich in walking in the open air and streaming sunlight.
In many two-vehicle households, one vehicle gets much better fuel economy than the other. George’s truck gets 16 miles per gallon. Mary’s hybrid sedan gets triple the mileage at 48. If Mary is working at home one day, George can save a bundle by driving the hybrid. People who look at their weekly schedule can plan to put the most miles on the fuel miser. People sharing vehicles in a household included married, singles, partners, parents and teenagers. New carsharing programs, such as Zipcar, are exploding in popularity.
Learn about the new trends of riding clean, riding together, and riding less in John Addison’s new book - Save Gas, Save the Planet.
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