Affordable Health Care key for Green?

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Permalink Reply by Andrea Davis on January 11, 2009 at 10:15am

Well, I am of the opinion that having a car makes people fat. Mainly because not having a car makes one exercise.

I realize it's not a perfect philosophy, but I know my health insurance appreciates how much less I go to the doctor when I am walking and riding to easy places. So I think that being frugal and green helps health care stay affordable.

If a person's home life is a microcosm of the larger economy, then I have been able to save money by being green in all the directions the larger economy is suffering. For example, living close to work and car-pooling and for a long time not having cable television made it possible to keep decent credit for buying a home.

I know that it's hard to prove to people with science that climate change is real. It's NOT hard to do the math about how much a second car payment and no cable television can add up to. It's harder to prove that it helped my health without plastering medical bills up here. But nasty habits are nasty habits, and I've gained weight back when I don't use the health food store next to me and the bike on my porch. It makes sense to me when I keep it simple.

The oldest person to have lived in Nebraska had never had a car. She went without a few other things, as I recall, though, too. :)

But I realize it's just not always possible for everyone to arrange transportation like this. It is a good start, though, and the economy may prescribe it out of necessity rather than choice here, again. I don't believe gas prices can stay this low, for example.

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