After nearly nine years of living car-free (with the help of our Co-operative Auto Network membership), we finally bit the bullet and bought a car! We are now the proud owners of a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid!
The obligatory cheesy shot as Dean accepts his first ever set of car keys
A brief history of my car ownership:
1995: I bought my first car, a 1991 Toyota Tercel that served me well through university.
2001: I became a member of CAN, Vancouver's car sharing network
2002: We said goodbye to the Tercel in favour of living car-free
2007: Sophie was born and we kept on living car-free
October 26, 2010: Hello Honda Civic!
Our car! (sorry, we picked it up at night, so the photos aren't great)
By daylight (photo credit: Pacific Honda)
I have to admit, as an environmentalist, I've been quite proud to go almost a decade car-free. I've expanded my walking radius, gotten to know the bus system extremely well, commuted by bike, and I've been a loyal CAN member. I even wrote about our car-free lifestyle for Blog Action Day 2009. So, it's a little humbling to have to say, "I'm a car owner." However, I'm proud to say I stood by my 2001 pledge to Honda written during the heady, idealistic days of my early twenties:
"I have pledged to never buy another solely gas powered car."
Why the need for a car, you ask? Let's see if you can figure it out...
Yes! We're expecting our second child in the spring! We're thrilled that Sophie is going to be a big sister. We have decided that the transition to a family of four necessitates the transition to a car-owning family. We'll still keep our CAN membership for those cases when we could use a van or a truck. Dean will still commute to work on his bike and we'll never give up transit, walking and cycling. But, frankly, this environmentalist stay-at-home-mom is pretty darn excited about the freedom that our new car promises! Any suggestions for our first road trip?
