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I was at the library and this book popped out at me. Its called How To Live Well Without Owning A Car by Chris Balish. I really enjoyed the book, it made me review my own driving habits and realize how much I use my car unnecessarily. This is another example of how attempting to live greenly makes me see how much I WAS doing that was so wasteful. With our current economy scare, its not even a matter of living green anymore for a lot of people; just hoping to get by with gas prices sucking our pockets dry is enough to cause a serious change in behavior.

This "is the first practical, accessible, and sensible guide to living in North America without owning a car. This inclusive guide: • exposes the true costs of car ownership and shows how getting rid of your car can simplify your life and put you on the road to financial freedom. • is packed with realistic, economical alternatives to owning a car, including chapters on carsharing, carpooling, and even car-free dating. • includes more than 100 real-world tips, strategies, and success stories from people who are happily car-free or "car-lite," from cities to suburbs. • according to a 2004 American Automobile Association study, the average American spends $8,410 per year (roughly $700 per month) to own a vehicle (more). "
"Despite what $20 billion of automobile advertising every year would have us all believe, buying or leasing a car, truck, or SUV is the worst financial move most people make in their lifetime. And they make this mistake again and again, at a cost of literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. High gas prices, car payments, insurance, depreciation, parking, repairs, maintenance, and nearly one hundred other expenses add up so quickly and silently that most car owners don't even notice -- they just see how little money they have left at the end of the month and wonder why. As you will read in Chapters 1 and 2 (Free PDF Download), cars devour cash, increase debt, reduce savings, and make financial freedom difficult to achieve (more)."
Carfree Times great resource for those living sans car.
My town, though small, is not understanding when it comes to watching out for bike riders and pedestrians, just because autoists haven't really had to think about bike/pedestrian safety here. So for safety's sake, I usually opt to drive. I wish there was a way that I could read this book to everyone in my town. It makes living without a car something I can't wait to do. You can buy the book here, or check your library for it-- that would be the greener option. If you're addicted to your gas guzzler, but are feeling a pinch in your bank account because of it, this is a book you need to read!

i'm posting this, as a subscriber of the ideal bite daily email, because i want to share the information they sent out to us today.

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this seems pretty obvious to me now, but there was a time when i, too, was a water waster. it was really difficult to get used to letting my spit sit in the sink bowl while i brushed. it just grosses me out.

to break the habit i had to put it in perspective. i set a couple glasses under the faucet to see how much water collected while i brushed. it filled up like three or four glasses FULL of water (which i then used to water plants in the house- i'm not kidding haha). "Turning off the water while you brush your teeth will save about 4 gallons a minute. That's 200 gallons a week for a family of four (source)". this is when i knew i had to stop!

"If 10,000 Biters turn off their faucets every day while scrubbing their teeth, in a year we'll save enough H2O to grow wheat for nearly 160,000 loaves of bread".

Thats an odd way of calculating it, but wow!

by doing this, you may not feel like you're making much a difference in the world, but seriously... every little bit helps.

here's a couple more links:
green your...bathroom>sink look on the left side for 8 more links on how to green your sink.
Turn the faucet off, save water and save energy