Cars they are nothing but trouble but when they go wrong is it a wake up call to be greener?
On Thursday morning we went to communion and the focus of the reflection was our care for others and God's creation. It was an excellent act of worship with hymns underpinning both the scripture and the reflection. A well crafted service reminding me how much I am enjoying receiving than giving as I have for 38 years. Among the many thoughts it generated I was left wondering more than ever before, that not only do we need to downsize our car, to go electric, but also to use any car even less. This was brought into sharp relief because of what has been happening.
As our car gets older we now find bills getting higher for necessary repairs. Having had a fairly expensive year with a major service a damaged tyre etc I was hoping for a respite.
On Saturday I pulled up at the petrol station and very kind person asked 'Do you know your exhaust is hanging down?'
It was too late for my garage as the mechanics had gone home and Kwik fit couldn't do it without ordering a new exhaust next week so they claimed. This was not much use as we needed to be going to London. So I took the car to my garage and left it with them to look at on Monday.
So we had to catch a train. Of course being a Sunday travel was not straight forward. We were faced with a replacement bus service from Banbury. Thankfully son-in-law took us to Bicester village and we got a train to London. But train travel is not cheap especially when it's a last minute booking.
Our garage contacted us Monday with bad news. Yes a new exhaust was needed but they can't get the part and don't know when they will be able to get one. 'A Brexit benefit' So they began to negotiate with Renault to hire a car while we wait in the hope it puts pressure on them to get a part through quicker. But we could be looking at a few weeks. It's strange how you then feel immobilised without your car.
Getting a hire car was agreed but it took a lot longer than you would expect. So I had to ask my garage for a curtsey car so we could do our grandparent duties on Wednesday. They let us use a car thankfully and it was electric which I really was impressed with. But then we had to give it back and wait till a car came available with the car hire firm. Thankfully it did Thursday afternoon. Mind you only because we actually went in to put pressure on, so we have a Fiat 500 for a week. What will then happen we wait to see.
This ongoing experience serves as a challenge to how we are going to reduce our carbon footprint. We know we will be doing a lot of journeys for some years to come. We would use public transport more but its so expensive. This highlights the fact that as a society we need to invest in a true inter-grated transport system that makes it the sensible and affordable option rather than using a car. Till then we will have to explore going electric. But the electricity still has to be generated. So can we use a vehicle less to reduce our consumption? and can we find the will as a society to generate electricity that is more sustainable which we know is achievable. On shore wind farms are more cost effective but face the resistance of those who don't want them on their landscape. So our personal dilemma is actually a community one. As we were reminded in worship. God gifts the planet to us for our benefit and to care for it. To care for it also means to care for others. If we are to care for the planet and others then we will need to stop using our petrol car, go electric but use it less and whenever possible use trains. This in turn will mean we cause less damage to the planet and other peoples health. It's only a part of what is needed but we all need to act, and to act before it is too late.
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