Guy In Wisconsin Is Refusing To Buy Any More Damn Gasoline... For A Month
Brian LaFave of Sheboygan, WI has had enough of high gas prices, so he's parking his truck and biking to work... for a month. Brian used to put 300 miles a week on his trusty pickup truck, but no longer. He's biking to work, not accepting free rides unless his friends are already in his neighborhood, and taking the money he saves and donating it to charity.
From Yahoo!:
"I did like a practice run ... two days in a row to make sure I could do it," he said. "I'm not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die."
It's a big change for someone who put 300 miles on his truck the week before he stopped driving it.
LaFave fills out a chart each day listing how many miles he bikes, the destination and the gas price that day, among other things. He plans to compute his savings and donate that amount to a charity that provides food to children in Africa.
"I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it," LaFave said. "People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, `I'm not gonna pay this much money for gas.'"
We think what Brian is doing is sweet (the charity part), but we won't really be impressed unless he extends his project into the delightful Wisconsin winter...
Wis. man won't buy gas for 31 days, maybe longer [Yahoo!] (Thanks, Angela!)
(Photo: Nabity Photos )
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I bet you after the month is over, he won't want to go back to driving. He probably won't even be able to remember why he did it so much in the first place.
Money talks BS walks. If more people do this, it WILL lower the price of oil. I am a believer.
I'm not naive, I know there are other factors, but consumer boycotts do work.
I'm going to cancel out Brian's effort by upping my weekly driving to 600 miles a week.
He can take a break in the winter and during that time someone here in Houston can take over. Then they can switch again in the spring.
Good on him.
I'm very lucky in that I'm able to walk to work. I look forward to my stroll each day now - it's about 15 minutes at the longest, and I get to see more of the neighborhood.
Nice.
you go girl!
I used to do this for entire summers before I got a car. It might be a bit slower but it saves money, gets your body great exercise and it's a lot easier to avoid traffic jams.
Winter biking in Wisco is totally doable. I'd recommend moving elsewhere, however.
Good for him. I spent the last year taking the bus and walking to work and it was pretty nice. Kinda wish I still could, but I just moved to a city without a decent public transit system.
Uhh...
Anyway, I wish it was practical enough for me to do. I actually enjoy biking, but my current workplace is simply too far away, if not downright inaccessable for biking.
Did this when I lived in Arizona. Saved a lot of money and was in great shape.
Now I live in Oklahoma and have a 40 minute commute to work. No way I am biking that.
3 hundred miles a week? Amateur.. I used to drive 550 miles a week, and 300 of those at 5-10 mph.
God Atlanta traffic sucks.
@Bladefist: Yes, consumer boycotts can work if done properly. The common "don't buy gas on Sunday" emails that go around don't work. The secret isn't "don't buy gas", it's don't DRIVE. Find another way to run that errand. Pushing it to another day doesn't work, you have to run the errand without your car. Walk to the store, take the bus to work, etc.
And before everyone flames me, yes I realize there are people who can't make those changes.
@ptkdude: oh you'll get flamed either way. I agree. If more, not a ton, but more, people took other forms of transportation, it would send a message. If not to the oil companies (the foreign ones), to the government who is not collecting as much tax as they would like.
@outinthedark: An old job of mine had an in-office shower set up for precisely that reason. Trust me, in the humid New England summers, it was needed.
@Scuba Steve: Well I used to drive 880 miles a week and most of those in reverse at night with no street lights and my truck bed filled with huge boxes blocking my view.
God one-upping people online sucks.
@oyvader: I walked to school in 90+ Florida sun but now in Virginia every other day is a new adventure with the weather. I bought a motorcycle so I could get 60+ mpg and save a little on my 12 or so mile commute. every other day I have to garage it because the rain is so scattered here. At least in Florida I knew when it was going to rain.
I think I might find out some options and find a cheap bike off Criagslist.
That comment got a good laugh out of me.
I already drive about 600 miles a work-week (5 days). It sucks paying $4 a gallon near/in NYC, but I like my job, I like where I live, and I like my car.
Nope, I'm not riding my bike 50 miles to work and taking public transportation is not an option.
Err, he's so fed up with high gas prices that he's biking to work to give the money he saves to charity? Isn't that a zero sum gain for Brian? Seems irrational... I do not understand why he wouldn't SAVE the extra money he SAVES from biking, people living in WI are a virtual charity case already!
As a regular commuter in DC, I'm noticing more people riding the subway these days. Now if Maryland, DC, and VA could pull their act together and provide a steady funding source to Metro then I think more people would ride the subway/bus to work.
Just because he may not do it year round does NOT mean his efforts are meaningless.
In related news, the train line I ride into work keeps adding additional trains and cars due to squeezed capacity. I hope that these new riders are making a permanent change and don't cop out as soon as it gets cold again.
@outinthedark: Besides, part of the message is "I am choosing to cut back" as a contrast to "my budget forces me to cut back".
golly gee willikers! pin a f*cken medal to his chest.
i mean jeeze... i've _always_, since the 70s, made a point of living within cycling distance of work/shopping etc. Still do. where's my pony??
Looking at my calenders i see 641 car-free days in my life between may'04 (when i started keeping track of that parameter) and today.
Like i said, give the guy a big shiny medal.
My driving is going to get cut down to next to nothing once I start school this fall. Screw paying this kind of money for gas. I'd start now, but my work situation prevents it. (Live in a city and work way out in the country with no bike-safe roads to take)
How much extra food is he going to have to eat now that he is biking to work?
It shouldn't take high prices to remind people of this kind of waste. Driving is a luxury in many parts of the world, regardless of whether we think of it as a necessity. Still seems like a dramatically written post, though... Whatev.
I can see the morning meeting now if I biked 11 miles to work. "Ugh...what's that odor?". "Sorry guys...you know, biking to work and darn if it isn't already 80 degrees by 8 am today!"
@Bladefist: It's sort of an unfortunate cycle. If more people rode their bike to work and took public transportation, prices would probably go down (holding other variables even). Of course, the problem is that once gas prices go down, people will either: a) start driving again; b) become more wasteful in their driving habits general and/or c) buy big SUV's again because gas is more affordable. Most likely all of these will happen depending on the consumer type.
Then the cycle will start all over again.
And since this site always turns to politics, let me get that started with a news conference with Ari Fleisher:
Q. Is one of the problems with this, and the entire energy field, American lifestyles? Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?
MR. FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one. And we have a bounty of resources in this country.
Q So Americans should go on consuming as much more energy than any other citizens in any other countries of the world, as long as they want?
MR. FLEISCHER: But the President believes that the American people's use of energy is a reflection of the strength of our economy, of the way of life that the American people have come to enjoy.
This article should be retitled: "Physically abled American with Inefficient Oversized Transport Inconvenienced By Conequences, Chooses Sensible Alternative"
Maybe I am the only person that this bothers but...Here goes, why is he giving the money that he saves to children in Africa, if he was really attempting to effect change in this matter by biking instead of diving then shouldn't the money that he saves go toward research for alternative methods of fuel??? hmmm...
Nothing says pay attention to me like saying pay attention to me.
@theblackdog: When I lived in Alexandria and worked in DC, I took the Metro every day and actually liked it. Great chance to catch up on reading, etc.
Only downside is the service sucked on federal holidays.
Why only for a month? I've been biking to work 9 miles each way for six years. Yeah I take the bus/train or ride with roomate if the weather really sux -- but my bike is my primary method of transportation - and i live it.
I hope his efforts continue and inspire others to make the change. Not only that, but if people biked or walked more places, I'm sure that'd go a long ways towards curbing the obesity epidemic.
I find it amusing how he can't even cycle a mile without wanting to die. either he's using his bicycle wrong or he lives at the bottom of the grand canyon.
Its called a gearshift!
...And he can take public transit when the weather is inclement, why you gotta be a hater, Consumerist?
It would be nice if someone would check up on him in a month. I know lots of people cycle to work etc but thsi guy is a typical joe-truck-driver, so he may prove a nice example to other truck-tards.
boy, first the bedbugs decide to take public transportation, now this guy is biking to work... what is the world coming to?
How in the shit is this newsworthy? There are tons of people doing this, have been for years. There are people out there that have been living without a car for decades. Why in the world is some random joe coming along saying "I'm gonna just not buy gas this month" worth talking about?
@Saboth: Actually, from a lot of the people I've talked to about this, since they drink a lot of water anyway, their odor isn't nearly as bad as it would be for someone who isn't fit to ride that distance. There's also deodorant and bringing a change of clothes (most people aren't going to want to wear office clothes while riding anyway); not to mention showers at the office. While office place showers are becoming more common, I've also heard of people who have a gym membership near their place of business, where they stop, shower, and change before getting to work. There's also the fact that anyone who is serious about it is going to think about where they live and work, and their mode of transportation, together; and not as separate entities (really, even people who use cars would be much better off doing this)
@Rajio: Haven't been to Wisconsin much, have ya? Where he lives (not that far from me) there isn't much in public trans unless your in a major city.
And even if you take public trans, your still giving money to the oil companies.
$7.36 per gallon in Ireland.
/just sayin' is all
Go Brian! It gets easier!
@ptkdude: Yeah, you can't really go too far around Berkeley without somebody posting "DRIVING" to the STOP signs.
Maybe city-dwellers and college students can pull it off long-term, but for the rest of us this is a hopelessly futile gesture.
@ARP: Well, politically, he says that to combat the other side, who would like us to live in mud huts to save the polar bears. And the American way does use lots of resources, and I guess I totally agree with Bush. There is an amount of resources on this earth. A max. And who gets them is determined by economics. If it isn't us using it, the price will be driven down, and someone else will.
It's all about responsible consuming. The definition of that is debatable. If a population started using other forms of transportation, I'm guessing many wouldn't go back. They would make it part of their lives, see the savings, and never go back. Thats not true for everyone, because some people would be very inconvenienced, while others, not so much.
The concept that Americans use more, has always been known. And everyone knows the American life is very comfortable. I've always been proud of that, are you telling me I should be ashamed?
I'd do this if there was a shower at/near work.