Petrol reacting with plastic bottlesOn Mon, 7 Aug 2006 16:31:08 +0100, Clive George was popularly supposed to have said: Frankly, you can probably get away with a lemonade bottle for a short time, as long as you don't do...
The biggest problem IMO is that there is no realistic alternative in many situations other than using a gas-guzzling private vehicle. My local supermarket is less than a mile away, but I cannot walk or cycle to it because I'd never be able to manhandle the shopping back - so I take my car. I commute 20 miles to & from work in my private car. There is no bus or train service that would be a practical alternative.
How about making a reasonably priced electric vehicle? A very small car - 2 adults or 1 adult with 2 young children. Range of maybe 50 miles. Easy to park in small spaces. Promote it for shopping-commuting, maybe set up the bulk of town and supermarket parking for exclusive use by such vehicles, or make the parking fee for other vehicles far higher.
Or, maybe some enterprising company could get a fleet of such vehicles and fit them with tracking boxes and card readers. The idea being that a person applies for a card, and thereafter can simply use a fleet vehicle wherever he finds it, similar to a self-service taxi. special "taxi rank" parking encourages them to be left in known areas. Company employees periodically go around to collect vehicles left in quiet places where they are unlikely to be utilised, and drive them into more busy areas.
-- Cynic
