[Posted by Bae-Won Koh - July 23, 2010]
Sara did it so why not me?
Well, I read Sara Bongiorni's book review – I confess I did not read the whole book, A Year Without "Made-In China", in 2007. She tried to live an "ordinary consumer" life without buying products made in China for one year and her conclusion was that it was impossible to function as an "ordinary consumer" without Chinese products. It got me an interest on environmental aspects. I asked to myself, "Hmmm....what about Without Car; Without Processed Food; Without Petroleum-Based Goods?" And then as an architect I started thinking, "A Building Without Products Made and Harvested Outside 500 Miles; A Building Without Potable Water, Public Sewer & Electricity; A Building Without Parking..." It kept going and going. (Actually my office has designed a building that has no tie to any water, sewer and power. They will be all treated or provided on site.) Thoughts were thoughts back then. Nothing put me into serious consideration or trial.
My 16 year-old Toyota Celica which had spent 11 years of her life in Upstate New York where salt rusted the bottom a lot began to fall apart in May 2009. I immediately began to think about buying a Prius but it was the night that Sara's book hit me again after I put the Celica to death. "Hmmm....what if I try having one car for the family? Maybe I can enlighten the Triangle community that it is possible. Or maybe it will prove that it is impossible, just like Sara concluded without Chinese goods." There is no light rail system where I live. It's just a bus system. Fortunately there was a bus line from my place to a stop ¾ miles from the office which is 15-minute walk or 3-4 minute bike ride. Aha! This is it. I will do it!
I've been tracking all the carbon footprint and cost saving (or extra spending if it will) – real data. It has been one year and two months of car-less life. I will share my experience on this blog.
