Statement of intent

During my 3-week long summative, I will be giving up the usage of gasoline. I myself use up a fair amount of gasoline per week. I usually go through about 3 quarters of a tank of gas in my car, while I mow my front and back lawn weekly with a gas-powered mower. I drive to school every day which takes about 15 minutes each way. If i were to take the bus, I would be forced to transfer onto 3 buses each way. This is a major sacrifice in my opinion. I would also have to wake up every morning a half hour earlier! Considering how late I go to sleep every night, 30 more minutes of sleep in the morning really makes a difference. I also run many errands for my parents. Whether it be going to buy some groceries, or drive my sibling around to sporting events or whatnot, it adds up to a lot of fuel being burned weekly. I realize that when I tell my parents that I will not be driving at all for three weeks, it might have a negative effect on the entire cycle of chores in my house.

When it comes to mowing the lawn, I have pre-arranged with my next-door neighbour to use his electric mower. I have use an electric mower before, and I did not like the fact that a wire follows you around. It is inconvenient while going in circles to cut the grass. I need to make sure that I will not run over the wire, for it will instantly cut off the power, enabling me to continue to cut the lawn.

One positive thing about this experience is that it will save my parents some money on gas, while at the same time they cannot rely on me to pick them up anymore. I have a bicycle I may use to go places. I may even take it to school or to work rather than taking the bus. I look forward to starting this. A lot of my friends have told me they do not believe I will be strong enough to make it through three whole weeks. I beg to differ, I went to school every day by bus for 10 and half years, three more weeks can’t possibly be that hard.

I feel that I am not making much of a difference by not using gasoline but many beg to differ. By me not using gas, it means I will not purchase gas, lowering the amount of gasoline usage in my local neighbourhood, which ultimately lowers the amount of gasoline that is brought into Ottawa. This will lower the price of gas. Lower demand = lower price.