I was all set to purchase a new Hybrid car in an effort to do our part to reduce world wide energy consumption and help with the fight against Global Warming, when Nancy came up with what I thought was an even better idea.

Since our conservatory workshop is located in a very rural area in Maryland, east of the Chesapeake Bay, most of the people who work at Tanglewood Conservatories have to drive from some distance to get here. Nancy posed the question: “why couldn’t people car pool?”

Lot’s of our people live in places close to each other yet for years have been driving their separate vehicles back and forth to work each day. Imagine the good that would be accomplished if instead of just replacing our own car with one that is more efficient, we could completely eliminate five or ten separate trips of as much as 60 miles each day!

We would also be helping everyone save considerable sums of money at the pump—a very real and valuable side benefit.

It seemed to be a win-win idea all around. To encourage everyone to participate to the fullest, Tanglewood agreed to contribute to the cost of the gas for those carpooling in this way. This would constitute an even greater savings for everyone.

The idea received a warm reception and was quickly put to the test. We did some legwork to identify potential riding companions and meeting places and came up with a plan.

I’m happy to report that a few weeks after it’s inception, the program is working.

We have taken approximately 350 passenger miles off the roadways each day and are saving people at our custom conservatory plant approximately $100 per day total! Some people saw their weekly gas bill drop by as much as 75%!

That beats by a long way the benefits that would have come from Nancy and I purchasing a more efficient car for our own use.

Maybe the idea will spread…

Alan