Thursday, December 23, 2010

One fewer car

Do you know the difference in meaning between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’? ‘Less’ refers to something that can’t be counted, e.g. flour, love, blue. And ‘fewer’ refers to something that can, e.g. people, plates, cars. Lots of bikes bear ‘One less car’ stickers. But I’ve never seen a ‘One fewer car’ sticker. Anyway why should a sloganeer respect correct English usage? All of this notwithstanding, last Sunday the number of cars in a certain Daylesford carport reduced by one – from one to none. Darling Meg, PJ and Zephyr (pictured) have chosen to become a carless household. And last Sunday it happened. They’re the only carless household I know of. Carlessness brings advantages (e.g. environmental, health, financial). And some disadvantages (e.g. time, convenience, comfort). I assume that currently for Meg and PJ the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Or at least they aim to determine if this is so; or not. I understand their decision. Good luck to them for trying. Tomorrow they’re each picking up a cargo bike – called a Kona Ute [1]. Meg tells me hers is green and PJ’s is brown; and both bikes have brown panniers, front (dog) baskets, and super bright front and back lights for country riding. Oh what fun. I look forward to seeing the Kona Utes, and how it all works out. I’ll keep you posted.

2 comments:

Permapoesis said...

thanks for posting farmdoc, it feels like a pretty signif chapter in our transition. we ceased supermarkets three years ago, air travel a year ago, and now our car is gone.

our dependency on gas is next on our radar, stay tuned...

life just gets richer.

p xx

farmdoc said...

Here's Meg's take on it [1].