Challenge - Truckless

Today is my last day with Pinky, Barbie Truck, Pink Panther; my 1984 "raspberry" Chevy S-10, 4-cylinder, bare bones, manual, no tape or CD, regular cab, short box, truck. We've decided to attempt to get by with 1 vehicle for a few months and see how it goes.

Honestly, it's more about economics that ecologics right now, and the main reason we can pull it off is that my wife will be able to simply walk next door for work starting Monday. Nevertheless, a reduction of dependence on personal vehicles is one of the holy grails of treehugging. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Trucks and Treehugging don't go hand in hand very well - or do they? This idea has really been bothering me for quite a while. The organic or natural lifestyle encourages composting, mulching, gardening, reusing spent materials, fixing things instead of throwing them away, etc. My little pickemup is just perfect for all of that. Last year I made many trips to the municipal compost site for the free biosolids (yep: crap), composted mulch, and lime. I made many trips to the lumber store to build a play set (used composite decking with recycled plastic), and made bunches of trips to nurseries for plants and topsoil. How will I do that with 1 family sedan between us?

You might say, "Buy a hybrid or electric." OK, I say, find me a truck. Other than a few used prototypes or fleet pickups one can find laying around (usually they need new battery packs $$$), the only pickup I know of is the GM Full-size made right here in Fort Wayne. The problem? Well, the cost ($30,000 base) is the first problem. The second problem is the mileage is only improved by 2 mpg city driving. So we're talking peanuts. I could go with an E85 - equipped Silverado for around $20,000. Then the problem becomes making sure I always have enough gas to make it to the few (but growing) stations that carry it.

So making trucks more efficient, hence environmentally friendly, is one of the big challenges I see in making treehugging more practical.