request: car-free erranding stories

[miriamjoyce]

Hey all! I've got another request for input for an article--this is for a green living how-to piece

Comments

[twostepsfwd]

Hi! I was car-free for 2 years in NYC and 6 years in Oakland and SF... 6 of those years (the ones in SF/Oakland) with major chronic pain. What saved my ass were: Using a well-padded backpack, and putting the heavy stuff (cans, etc) in there instead of carrying them in my hands. Using a push cart (they are the bomb! But once I started having back pain, they were hard to get up and down stairs). Taking advantage of the lifts on buses and the elevators at train stations

[anonymous]

It's interesting how our ifstyle has changed. Being green is different in different areas. We lived in a suburb of NJ that didn't have good public transportation to get to markets etc - you could get to the mall. So, we shopped bulk. Once every 7-10 days I would do grocery shopping and once a month we would hit the warehouse store. We were fortunate to have storage space and refrigerators to keep everything. there was mart to walk to for miscellany. We could walk to the library, playground. For those other household goods, clothes, etc. We would create a list and save it up to go shopping or order on-line. Most of this was not a conscious effort to be green but a by-product of convenience and gas prices

[scry_dragonfly]

We had bad luck trying to use a stroller for groceries and library books. We actually broke two strollers before we realized it wasn't the kids, it was the books. Springs popped on one and on the other, the bag under the stroller ripped

[paganrae]

I know I can think of some more things and come back later, but for right now, one of the key things with strollers or carts and stairs that I've discovered is:

Going down stairs is not too bad regardless of wheel size. You just "bump" it down each step one by one. But, the bigger the wheels, the better you will be able to "bump" the stroller/cart up the stairs. Smaller wheels get stuck under the nose of the step and require you to pull with backbreaking strength to get it up one step. I try to arrange trips such that if Evie might be asleep in the stroller and/or the stroller's going to be loaded down with a lot of stuff, that I have an elevator or ramp to avoid going up with the packed stroller.

[jwitchbaby]

Well, I've never had a car, so I probably don't know what I'm missing.

Yes, smaller, more frequent runs. I also never buy juice, only the frozen kind; it's just too much to schlep.

More if I think of it.