Today is my birthday and one of my presents to myself is to work to get this blog to become more interactive. I see it as a great opportunity for individuals and local groups to share green practices as well as events.

Today, I’d like to hear your ideas and experiences on altering urgent errands to minimize their eco-impact.

There are at least two kinds of urgent errands – occasional and regular. The first are easy to identify and avoid with advance planning. Since we are not vulcans, planning does not always work. For example, every few weeks I have to drop everything to rush to the vet’s for specialized cat food. My sweetheart frequently makes special trips for vitamins. Others sprint to get cash, return a movie or book, or purchase a tool they will only use once.

The more common ways to avoid urgent trips are borrowing from the neighbors, paying a bit more in fees and deferring desires or projects. But what about regular errands? I think about this topic frequently because very early most mornings my neighbor revs her car’s powerful engine and quickly pulls out of her driveway, scattering gravel in my ears. A few short minutes later she returns with a cup of coffee in hand. I imagine this is her morning ritual. This thought then reminds me of a New York telecommuter who takes the subway twice a day to make a distinction between his home and work life. Yes, in the short run these individual habits are minor but compounded by time and a growing population the impact can be large.

What do you think?