Road trip

Don't just carry reusable containers on your bike. Carry them on trips in your car, too. Photo: http://www.livingstreetsalliance.org/

Summer’s here and the livin’ is easy. Well anyway, summer’s almost here. And what that means for lots of folks are day and weekend trips to nearby haunts.

If you’re planning either a road trip or to get to your vacay destination by car, you’re probably still looking at your overall expenses. Gas, tolls and pre-trip car maintenance are a given, leaving you with variables like lodging, food and entrance fees.

I find one way to keep expenses down whether on a day trip, a state-hopping car tour, or just getting to your vacation spot after a 6 hour ride is to pack your own food.

Saving money, time, and trash

Not only does this mean you can avoid tithing to the corporate behemoths who curry not in curry, but rather in corn syrup and fat, but it also means you can use almost entirely renewable resources rather than make a deposit at that destination’s landfill.

The convenience here is legend. There are fewer stops to slow you down and always something to hand to a hungry child in the back.It also means lower expenses as groceries are just cheaper than restaurants.

If you’ve taken my advice to start using reusable produce bags, you can take that idea one step further and use reusable sandwich and snack wraps, too. (I’ll give this it’s own story, soon.) This means that on a trip your cooler can be an entirely zero waste packing station. After the meals are consumed on the way to your destination, they can be reused for the way back. What a perfect storm.

Listen up

I’ll be talking about exactly why that’s such a good thing tomorrow on Real Life With Jennifer Till, the radio show “for women who are ready to really love their life!” You can listen live locally (Charlottesville, Virginia) at 8:00am on 1070AM WINA Newsradio or listen on the Web, or follow the earlier link for Jennifer’s archive page.

Jennifer’s interested in how I use the phrase “no self-respecting woman would be caught without _____________.” The blank is usually filled with something like carrying your own cup, your own bags to the store, and heck, even your road trip zero-waste snack and meal stash. I know she’s going to ask me about it.

It’s true that I’m increasingly taking a hard-line stance on reusable items because it just makes sense.

If you can avoid adding one more short-life span disposable utensil or napkin or I-Never-Biodegrade piece of plastic to the landfill, wouldn’t you want to? It makes your trip through this life that much sweeter, and certainly leaves a better world to your kids.

P.S. (Don’t forget to take your bike on your road trip for getting around once you get there.)

–Lindsay Curren, Lindsay’s List

If you enjoyed this article please share and follow Lindsay’s List on Facebook and Twitter.