My Pal BART

I've been thinking this week about being more energy efficient and noticing little things that bug me. The water cooler/heater at work that is plugged in 24/7 to make a few cold bottles of water and hot cups of tea per day. The shredder - same deal, it's rarely turned off even though it's shredding about 2 minutes a day.

As I've written before, I'm hanging out my wash to save using the dryer. I've been going around turning off lights in unused spaces and feeling pretty smug. In fact, I'm in serious danger of becoming a pain in the patootie.

But, the part of my energy savings that gives me the most pleasure is my friend BART. For five years, I commuted by car to the wonderful little school, The San Francisco Art Institute. The work was great and the students were terrific but the commute by automobile was awful, staring for nearly two hours a day at the bumper ahead of me. Thank heavens for NPR or I'd have been a basket case by the end of the five years I worked there.

Imagine my delight when my new job returned me to the loving arms of BART! Now, my hour commute is spent reading, relaxing and, occasionally, napping. My fellow riders are a pleasure, too - we recognize and greet each other, exchanging stories about ailing relatives or grumbling companionably about the weather or our work. My commute is now a pleasure and I feel pretty good to be using only one tank of gas every two months or so. If you're near a BART line and haven't tried it, you're missing a chance to reduce your carbon footprint while decreasing your blood pressure.