Monster Truck Fan

I have read subtle and not so subtle anti SUV blogs, so risking judgement, I am admitting I own one of those giant, gas guzzlers. Please hear me out. I live in a semi rural area, on a dirt road, I haul bales of straw, grain and bedding for the care of my girls (chickens). With my sister and her kids, and me and mine, that's 7 people I transport on a regular basis. Occasionally a Grandma too! I have driven loads of parents on field trips and half a troop of Brownies. Any time I can carpool I do.

My family camps as the majority of our family vacations. Some times tent, sometimes family cabin, but mostly we pull our vintage 1964 Avion Camper that we lovingly restored. A little car wouldn't do. Most hotels aren't earth friendly.

I sell my stuff at several arts & craft shows a year and everything fits inside and still has seating for me and 2 kids.

For the most part it's usually just me and my family of 4. Do I feel guilty? no. I average about 6,000 miles per year, way less than most. When I do have to go somewhere, I fit other errands in the trip. I have a clothesline and on warm sunny days you'll see my undies out flapping in the breeze. At least half of my family's clothing is bought used through garage sales or thrift shops. Reducing manufacturing and packaging. I pack my family their lunches. No juice pouches for this family. I use reusable containers (garage sale purchases). Did you know the lunch trays at school are foam and everything including the plastic utensils gets pitched?

Until the temp in the house gets hotter than 85 is only when I turn on the air conditioning. On the crisp fall mornings I won't turn on the heat, I'll just bake something. We grow and process quite a bit of our own food. I make most of our foods from scratch, reducing packaging and landfill waste.

Our Vehicles were all purchased used. Is a used, low mileage, driven till it dies, gas guzzler vehicle worse for the planet than a new, driven a lot, replaced frequently hybrid?

I hit a huge deer last winter during a night time rain storm, some vehicle damage but I am sure if I hit that deer in a little car, it would have come in the windshield and my son and I probably would have been hurt not just scared. I feel safe in that car.

Bottom line for me is there are very few people in this country who live off the grid doing everything right for the planet. But there are a lot of us out there who do what we can to reduce our imprint in many different ways. Some of us just do it while driving a monster truck.