Buying into the addiction without selling my heart

The other day I fell in love with a car. Which to me seems strange. I am supposed to be Miss Eco-friendly, and yet here I am biking by a 1987 Volvo 240DL every day to look at it.

I think that it seems even stranger to me because I live in Portland, Oregon, which is ranked on some lists as the greenest or second greenest city in the world. It is the city of bikes and public transportation. We are paying tax dollars to build a bridge across the Willamette for bus, bikes, and pedestrians only. We have closed roads off to cars for bikes. It’s almost harder to park a bike in Portland than it is a car. So why on Earth would I ever need a car?

A typical day in Portland

The answer is not wholly justifiable. There are some things that simply need a car. For me, a portion of that is getting a job. Sure, I can bus anywhere in the city. But I can’t just bus anytime. If I get a job that is a night shift or in a part of town in which I don’t feel completely safe, a car is necessary. Also my adventures into the forests of Oregon easily accessible without a car (except Forest Park).

But this is not my resignation from travelling green. I am addicted to biking. I love biking in Portland. There is a culture here surrounding biking that I doubt I could find anywhere else. It can even be a tourist attraction to some. I worked as a volunteer at a concert festival as a bike valet and people were taking their pictures in front of the hundreds of bikes. People from other cities couldn’t believe that so many people rode bikes here.

I don’t even mind the public transportation that much. When I get passed up by a bus or it comes too late, of course I yell obscenities and curse the public transportation gods. Yet, I have rode buses and MAX’s my whole life. I only struggle with coming up with the $1.50 in change.

So here’s my pledge:

I, the Green Stump  pledge in the event that I purchase a car and gain my license, that I will only use it in circumstances that I cannot easily utilize public transportation or my bike.

Living in Portland, I don’t think that I will be able to avoid bikes or public transportation. I will always have a constant reminder of this pledge.

There is also a financial advantage of making this pledge. A bike doesn’t cost anything but upfront and maintenance. The bus only costs a couple dollars every two to three hours. A car costs fuel, maintenance, insurance, and more.

Falling in love with a piece of clunky machinery doesn’t mean I won’t forget my love of the planet.