We do not have mail boxes in our subdivision. They claim that not enough people live here yet to justify sending the mailman here to drop off our mail. SO, we have to go to the post office to pick up our mail. While the post office is only a 5 mile round trip it is starting to get annoying after 2 years of going there almost daily.
Yesterday morning I decided to walk to the post office. Not only was it good exercise for me, but I had some time on my hands to think and calculate things. My car gets great gas mileage. Specifically, I am getting 34.21mpg around town with the air conditioning on. (If it weren't for my allergies - I wouldn't have the air conditioning on.) It has been a while since I have calculated the highway mileage, but I plan to do that soon. People are always asking me what kind of mileage I get when they see my little car and I would like to be able to give a correct answer.
At 34.21 miles per gallon, and with gas at $4.20/gallon, it costs me 12.28 cents to drive one mile. (See, I told you I had some time on my hands...) With the post office being a 5 mile trip, it costs me 61.4 cents each time I go to the post office. If I were to get my mail every day (like most of the other people in the US), it would cost me $191.16 each year just to get my mail. (That would be if gas stayed at $4.20/gallon). In order to cut back I can either walk, ride my bike, or get my mail less often. While I did enjoy the walk yesterday morning, I don't exactly have an extra 90 minutes to squeeze into my schedule every day. Typically it takes me about 30 minutes to ride my bike that far, and I don't always have that much extra time either. But, I am going to do what I can. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to walk or ride a bike that far.
They say that it takes everyone to make small changes to make a big change. I got to thinking about our neighborhood. There are about 40 homes here and we all have to get our mail at the post office because again, the town won't justify giving us a mailbox. (I wonder what the $7,000+ in taxes each of us pays is going towards.....?)
Now my car is probably the most efficient of all of the cars in our subdivision, but just assuming everyone had the same fuel economy as me - we would be talking about an extra $7,662.80 being spent on gas annually just to get mail. More imporrantly we are talking about wasting an extra 1,824 gallons of gas - just to get mail. Because everyone else's cars likely have a much lower fuel economy, these numbers are certainly going to be even higher.
Should our town decide to put in mailboxes in our subdivision we would be doing the environment some good by not burning up so much fuel. We could also save a decent amount of money as a community which could be used for something else.
If the town continues to leave us without mailboxes, perhaps they could provide some sort of public shuttle service to and from the post office twice a day? I don't know - I am trying to think outside of the box. My point is that something as simple as getting the mail is having an impact on the environment and in our wallets. This doesn't need to be the case - yet nothing is done about it. If something this simple and small is making an impact, think of the problems that exist in the grand scheme of things.
If our town would make this one small change by putting in mailboxes it coule make a larger positive change in the long run.
As we all hope to live the "American Dream" and raise our families in a clean, healthy and safe environment - I urge everyone to make small changes. Small changes add up. Look at the thousands of dollars O'Hare airport ended up with because of thousands of people leaving a little bit of change behind. The same goes with our actions. You may not think it's a big deal if you make an effort to take a shorter shower, use more efficient light bulbs, recycle household items, or use canvas grocery bags - but if we all make little changes, they will truly add up.
No comments:
Post a Comment