This post was brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers via sheblogs. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
The kids have been back to school for a few months now and we are all settling into the routine. Early mornings, lunches packed, bellies filled with breakfast and run out to catch the school bus.
Even the little dude who just started kindergarten.
That was one of the biggest changes to our lifestyle when we moved to the island and out of the suburbs. Mornings used to be racing to load the kids in the car, zipping down to the elementary school, fighting for parking, dragging the kids up to their classrooms (while toting a baby/toddler. . or both) and then back to the car, and back to home, or errands or lord knows where.
And then at the end of the day, we would do it all again, except at that time I was usually waking up cranky baby/toddler from their nap, or leaving dinner half prepped on the counters for the dogs to grab.
Rural living created this new lifestyle for us in so many ways, but the schools were a huge shift.
Walking up the driveway in the mornings to get the kids on the bus, and then meeting them at the end of the day. Not having to drive there, and back and there and back again, every day!
And if you do wander into town in the mornings you will see all the island’s kids travelling by school bus from their homes to their schools, and back again.
We chat about “public transit” and how much better it is for the environment, and the school bus is a prime example. Being able to use car pooling for the kids in my home, all going to 3 different schools has not only reduced our time, and wear and tear on our vehicle, but also our consumption.
And while I wish walking to school was an option, with their schools being over 10K away, that is one heck of a walk.
We aren’t all in ‘walkability” neighbourhoods, but we can still make choices to reduce consumption when possible. The oil & gas needed to transport my kids via bus is a far better choice than using it for multiple, independent vehicles making the trip morning and night.
Did you know the oil and gas industry in Canada makes payments to our governments that average $18 billion/year and goes towards hospitals, schools, roads, and social programs. The industry employs more than 550,000 people across Canada, and that doesn’t even include our bus driver!
There are always ways, and we all have choices and our biggest choice is education.
For more information about the Oil Sands industry visit oilsandstoday.ca
This post was brought to you by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers via sheblogs. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.