Economizing and being green

"What a fool I was, what a dominated fool,
to think that you were the earth and the sky,
What a fool I was, What an elevated fool,
What a mutton-headed dote was I!
No, my reverberated friend,
you are not the beginning and the end."

"Without You", from the musical "My Fair Lady" by Lerner and Lowe

It occurs to me that the drum thumping we're hearing about "being green" is just a new way to sell us stuff.

I bought my first car of my own choosing in 1977. I bought my first brand new car in 1978. I have slavishly followed the introduction of new chrome trim, of slightly more horsepower, of new upholstery since well before I had a driver license.

I have spent, in a rough estimate, $117,800 in depreciation since 1977, plus all of the interest to have a few weeks of feeling like I had the newest, most up to date ..whatever.

Call it an even hundred fifty thou. To have six brand spankin' new GM cars and three brand spankin' new Ford cars that made me feel like I was the leader of the pack for a total of three months each, so twenty-seven months.

Five Thousand, Five Hundred, Fifty Five and 55/100 Dollars per month. $185.00 a day.

The point of this is that last week, I drove my twelve year old Buick to Dallas and back the same day. She achieved more than 28 miles per gallon on the freeway.

I paid $3800 for her, and she'll be worth $3800 tomorrow, next week and next year.

There is no loan, so she's costing me nothing, sitting out there in the car port. Just the insurance, which is only sixty bucks a month.

What do I give away by not having the newest, the most up to date car?
Fuel economy? Nothing.
Comfort? Nothing.
Gadgets? Nothing, once I install a new stereo into her.
Unique appearance? Find another one; I'm practically driving a flying saucer
Environmental emissions? Sure, my emissions aren't as clean as a brand new car - BUT I'm not consuming any new natural resources, or contributing to any new emissions related to the manufacturing process.

So, owning the car costs me nothing but the repairs, the gas mileage is equivalent to nearly anything sold newly, my safety features are up to date, my toys and features are up to date and this thing will NEVER cost me interest or depreciation.

And yet, the pull of the new car is so very strong.

But I'm done being a fool.