Priced out of Green Transport

Luke Richards (@hypnotic) Posted by Luke Richards (@hypnotic)
Wednesday, 30th December 2009

I'm not the greenest of people. I'm not a climate change denier, I'm not opposed to the green movement, I'm just not terribly caught up in it either. I do believe in need to take action to tackle climate change and I was as disappointed as the next man at the weak accord that came out of Copenhagen, I just don't have the enthusiasm about green campaigns as I do about many others.

That said, when I look at my life and compare it to how it would have been lived 15 years ago, I can see we, as a society, are increasingly environment-conscious. I recycle as a matter of course at uni because the council provide us with a recycling service. While it's more difficult at home in Kent because the Tory-run councils don't do a thing for the environment, my family does what it can.

My one big personal let-down, though, is my car. I drive a lot. I have a car at uni, and I use it for the daily 8 mile each-way commute to campus - often on my own. I visit friends a fair bit and I take the car because then I'm in control of the journey. When I go home for the weekend, I take the car. I know, I know, this is not good.

Just today though, I was making plans for my trip from Dover to Cambridge for New Years tomorrow and I looked up train prices. Just a quick trip, I thought. Only staying a night and I'm the only one going. I got some books for Christmas and it'd be nice to read one on the train, I thought.

£41 for a single, I discovered.

The journey, by car, would cost me £15 in petrol at most.

I'm sorry, I'm a student, I have very little money and I just can't afford to take the train. Instead, I've decided to take all my stuff up to Cambridge with me and head straight from there back to uni a few days earlier than planned to avoid making the unnecessary return journey back to Kent.

I'm not the greenest of people but being priced out of the greener transport option really isn't helping the matter.
 

More Posts by Luke Richards (@hypnotic)

Post a comment

Name
Email
Website
Comment