Is boycotting BP/Arco a good idea?

I stopped in a 76 station today and asked the clerk if she knew why gas prices were going up everywhere in the area except Arco, when news reports indicate that gas prices are going down nationwide. We discussed it for a while, but she had no idea either, and said I should call corporate headquarters. And once more, I gritted my teeth and paid for gas that was 24 cents more a gallon than at Arco.

Later, I read this comment on a blog I follow, Ta-Nehisi Coates at The Atlantic, and it made me rethink what I was doing:

I would just add, not buying gasoline from BP really does nothing to hurt them. Oil is a fungible product, so as long as you're buying from someone else, the price stays the same. Contra popular belief, the vast majority of gas stations are not company-owned, so you may put the franchise owner out of business, but the oil companies are collecting their revenues on the liquid, diffuse wholesale market, which sure as hell isn't going to boycott BP.

Only by using less oil do you hurt oil companies. That's how fungible commodities are different from everything else--BP's oil goes in the same pipelines as everybody else's.

Crunchy Chicken made a similar point on her blog tonight, as did the blog Fake Plastic Fish. The latter includes links to a number of articles about how all of us are contributing to the problem, by driving and the use of so many plastics in our lives. Here's a good one, among many: 23 Ways to Use Less Oil.

There is so much to change, which can feel overwhelming again, so I repeat my mantras: Small Steps. Do the Best You Can. On an upnote, a recent article about Pierce County Transit noted that the overwhelming response of people in our county has been to ask them not to make any more cuts in bus service, even if taxes have to be raised to maintain them. Breaking our oil addiction will only work if we keep pushing for alternatives to driving!

On a personal upnote about using less energy, we received our latest bimonthly Tacoma Public Utility bill today (which covers electricity, including heat, and water). Our April bill was twice that of February's, and equal to that of April last year. I had lamented the fact that our track record of reducing our energy usage had been broken (although the bill seemed too high for what I'd thought we'd used; c'mon, we used more energy in April than in February?!). Turns out, the bill was too high, and TPU corrected it. The resulting bill for June is a negative $91!

I will end this post with a challenge from Beth, the blogger at Fake Plastic Fish. This challenge is more for me than for anyone who might be reading. I don't want to start thinking, "Whew! I can buy the cheaper gas at Arco again!" This whole issue is so much bigger. Here's Beth:

The point is not whether we drive some or buy some plastic or eat some meat or carry a reusable bag. Those things won’t matter if we don’t change our basic mindset of entitlement. As far as I’m concerned, we’re entitled to have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and clothing on our backs. We’re entitled to healthcare and fair treatment and the opportunity for self-actualization. We are not entitled to a new car or prime rib or an iPod or expensive shoes. We’re not entitled to a latte wherever and whenever we want one or even a hamburger. We’re simply not entitled to destroy the planet, its animals, and the 85% of the world’s population who earn less than $2,500/year so we can have these things. We’re just not.

Some good news

Today is an absolutely gorgeous day: about 60 degrees and sunny, witn clear blue skies. And we got our latest utility bill: our heating costs are down about 70% compared to this time last year.

I needed some good news, since my frustration with Washington state has reached its peak recently.

Small surprises

We just received our most recent utility bill, and our efforts to reduce heating costs have succeeded. Our energy usage is down 40% since last year! What's most remarkable about that is that at this time last year, we hadn't yet experienced any freezing temperatures. In contrast, we had a ten-day freeze during the time period covered by our current utility bill.

Another small surprise is that I have hopefully discovered a new local company to purchase products from. Until now, I have done a lot of my shopping for affordable natural products at Trader Joe's, but the store in my area has been slowly reducing the size of their health, beauty and household products sections. A conversation with a store manager confirmed that they, indeed, are downsizing in those areas, based on slower than desired product sales.

One of the products no longer at TJ's is their peppermint castile soap, which they had sold for $3.49 for 16 oz. Dr. Bonner's castile soap is available at other stores, but it's much more expensive.

Today, I stopped at Grocery Outlet, a grocery store that sells overstock items from other stores and producers at discount prices. I spotted a brand of castile soap from a company called Seattle Organics, in a variety of scents including peppermint. A quick glance at the ingredients list showed that it's all natural and is being sold for $3.99 for 16 oz.

As when I discovered the Alaffia shea skin care line, based in Olympia, WA, I got really excited about possibly discovering another company that is local and natural for household products. The only problem is that a google search didn't turn up a company by that name. I had only run into Grocery Outlet for something else quickly today so I didn't purchase the soap, but I will return and buy some and check the label to see if they have a phone number or web url. However, my search did turn up another pleasant surprise: a green directory web site called GoGreenLife that allows you to search for local, sustainable companies.

12/23 Update: I purchased a bottle of the Seattle Organics castile soap today. Unfortunately, the bottle only has a P.O. Box address on it, and no phone number or web url.

Final reflections on No Impact Week

I've already talked about setting a goal to generate less trash by making changes to my daughter's snacks. Here are a few more random thoughts, in no particular order:

On consumption: Hubby recently got a short-term subscription to the Tacoma News-Tribune (I know, not very green. He was responding to a sales call). As a result, I now am able to do something I used to do all the time: read through the Sunday circulars and coupons, trying to find good deals. In doing so, I realize just how far I have stepped away from the consumer culture, because the vast majority of things advertised, I have no interest or plan to buy.

We buy all our clothing, toys, appliances and electronics second-hand, except for my 6'7" hubby, who is only able to shop at Casual Male Big & Tall or Men's Wearhouse two to three times a year when they're having big sales. (Note: one of my challenges/ goals is to try to find something he can wear at a thrift shop). So I can immediately dismiss ads for all these things.

With a few exceptions (Alaffia Everyday Shea body lotion, Trader Joe's TeaTree Tingle conditioner, Tom's of Maine deodorant, and KissMyFace sunscreen), I make our skin and hair care products, and use resuable menstrual pads. So drugstores are now places where we only buy perscription drugs, unless someone gets sick and needs something OTC. Thus, the drugstore ads don't apply.

Although I do read the supermarket circulars to see what's on sale, even the Sunday coupons are mostly useless. A few items I clip for: bread, cereal, cooking oil, vitamins and cold medicine. But we have very little use for most of the items in the coupons, such as frozen meals, Hamburger Helper, Pantene Pro-V conditioner, and the like.

It was kind of nice to know I've really come a long way in this area.

Eating local: This is an area where we could grow a lot. Although we have made strides by growing some of our own veggies and connecting with farmers and urban gardens in the area, we make a lot of our food choices based on what we like plus what is cheapest. Until our finances improve, cost still has to take a priority over local. However, I'm sure I can do better by learning more about local food menus and availability.

Transporation: My daughter and I did a lot more walking this week. We walked to and from the park several times (30 minutes each way), and we drove to the town center and parked and walked to each of our errands, which probably amounted to about an hour's worth of walking. We were tired at the end of it--4r and of course, several times I had to carry my daughter on my back. But walking a lot is getting easier, especially taking the steep hills to and from the park. We'll keep at it.

Energy: The house we live in is very cold: it is large, drafty, built into the side of a hill with eaves over most of the windows (which means very little sunlight), except for the two windows overlooking the Puget Sound which are so huge they also have a huge cooling effect. Great during the summer, terrible the rest of the year. Nevertheless, we're determined to not turn on the central heat unless we absolutely have to. We're doing what we did in Boston: huddling in one room with the doors shut and using a space heater. That's good for family closeness, too!

Preparing for winter

Our heating bills almost killed us last year. I may have posted about this before: we moved to Washington state to live in the home of military relatives who are overseas for several years. They told us that our heating and cooling costs should be cheaper than in Boston, because the area doesn't have the temperature extremes.

Reality is a little different. The house is cooler in the summer, by virtue of being built into the side of a hill (we have a big spider problem, though). However, Washington had one of the coldest winters and THE hottest summer on record this year. Add to that the fact that in Boston, we lived in a small apartment, and now we live in a large house with huge windows and an old, inefficient furnace. Our heating bills this winter were twice what they normally were in Boston during the winter, and five times what they were when we were striving to be energy efficent (described below).

Needless to say, we can't survive another winter with bills so high. So we are going to try something we did in Boston that reduced our heating costs by 60%. It will be tougher to do in a house, but fortunately, the temperatures here don't often drop below freezing, so I think it will be survivable.

In Boston, we turned our heat down to 55 degrees (except on the bitterly coldest days), and carried a space heater around from room to room as needed. This is what we're going to try this winter here.

I was able to get good deals on two Honeywell surround heat space heaters, purchasing one at Value Village for $8, and another at a moving sale for $5. These are good heaters because they're energy efficient, heat a wide space, have child safety features and automatic shut-off if tipped, and are small and light enough to be carried around easily. I've also found at yard sales and thrift shops such things as bathroom rugs and slipper socks. Now the challenge is making my husband and daughter wear sweaters. I'm always wrapping up, but they like to be freer than I do!

One other part of the plan: bubble wrap insulating our windows! I've heard it really works.