Gas Mileage

OK. I have a very functional vehicle that I like for a lot of reasons. However, from the moment I drove it off the lot, I have been racked with guilt for choosing practicality over fuel economy. I drive a Honda Element. It's a low emission vehicle, but it only averages 22+ MPG. It's a rolling box, after all. There's no aerodynamics at work here. At all.

I know people who will idle while waiting for people to run into the store or whatever. They will idle in parking lots, driveways, whatever. I try not to do that. I try to roll down the windows and wait it out. Well, in Arizona in the summer it's difficult to do that when you have a small child in the car with you. You can't legally roast a baby for your own ecological positions. It's frowned upon anyway.

Twice since my last fill up I have been in situations where I was left idling with my grandson in the back waiting for someone to meet us. I couldn't turn off the air. (That's another thing--when there's a baby in the back seat you pretty much have to run the air, too!) As a result, after my most recent fill up I put my numbers into the gas mileage spreadsheet I keep and found that because of these idling sessions and incessant air conditioning I only averaged a hair over 19 MPG. That's crazy! I've never had mileage that low.

Thinking it over, there are always alternatives. I could have waited inside a building, or whatever. I could walked around outside with the baby. Whatever. I wasn't locked in the car. There are always choices. Next time my choice will be a bit more informed.