Be Smart

Yesterday I paid more than $50 for a tank of gas for the first time. I had been feeling cocky and virtuous - virtuous by U.S. standards at least. I got through our unlikely June spate of high 90s temps without turning the car air conditioning on, except for one trip home from the grocery store. (Just conserving the milk and yogurt, friends.) With prices predicted to hit $5/gallon by fall, more strenuous measures are required.

Going without A/C was easy. I don't commute, and I give thanks daily for my good fortune. My driving consists mostly of running local errands a couple of times a week. I have always ganged them together to save time; saving gas too, along with the planet, is a bonus I began to appreciate only a few years ago. Even if the car and the parking lot are broiling, going from building to ridiculously ice-cold building keeps you cool enough.

I already coast down hills so I can coast up the next one, and I coast when slowing for a light or a turn too, traffic permitting. My tires are properly inflated. A more abstemious car is not possible. So what's next?