‘On the couch’ with Jasminda

DEAR Jasminda,

THE cost of fuel is ridiculous. How do I make travel arrangements to my work and my gym and my social engagements when it is so expensive?

Leanne M.

Dear Leanne,

It is hard not to feel particularly vulnerable at the moment, when there are many external factors impacting domestically.

A trip around Australia in a Winnebago suddenly seems frivolous, when fuel costs are out of control and news reports are suggesting we take unnecessary items out of the boot to improve fuel efficiency.

While governments are trying not to alarm people, there’s a sense of COVID-like economic uncertainty in the air with suggestions like working from home coming into play (which isn’t tenable for many occupations).

You know, sometimes I fantasise that this is some grand plot by the ‘drill baby drill’ brigade to force us to realise how much we need to refocus on local solutions and sustainable options.

Isn’t this just another wakeup call to show that if more money and time was spent on funding ways of life that preserved resources, we’d have a fighting chance?

It’s hard to focus on individual commitments to plastic reduction and EV use and market gardens, though, when countries are blowing the bejesus out of each other.

In relation to your personal plight, are you able to access public transport to work?

Are there any car-pooling opportunities?

Could you combine your gym and work travel by riding a bike to work?

With social engagements, local opportunities can offer that much-needed sense of community and friendship without the high travel costs.

Buying local is another way to save on transport costs and it also gives a boost to regional areas, which currently need all the help they can get.

Earth overshoot day shows that globally we are using natural resources 1.7 times the rate that the earth can replenish them, so clearly our world leaders are doing something wrong.

Now, Leanne, excuse me while I drink some water with a squeeze of lemon through a paper straw while people with too much power and more money than they could ever use make decisions fuelled (no pun intended) by greed that the rest of us will pay dearly for.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.