I loved the Riot for Austerity! (And Sharon Astyk. Her book "Depletion and Abundance" is such a good, thoughtful look at the idea of frugal living as an ethical practice.)
Something I took from the Riot was that it was often fairly painless for families, even large ones, to reduce consumption down to 10% or less of the American average in just one or two categories. For example, at the time, I had a 7 person household (3 adults, 4 children) with a large vegetable garden, and yet somehow we managed to use less than 10% of the average American household's water consumption.
Gasoline was a harder one--we used, and still do use, about the average amount of gasoline, mostly because I work 90 miles away from the house in the middle of a transportation desert (we can walk, bus, train or bike almost everywhere other than my job.) The obvious answer is that I should get a job closer to home! But change is hard.
Re: intersection of frugality and the automobile
Something I took from the Riot was that it was often fairly painless for families, even large ones, to reduce consumption down to 10% or less of the American average in just one or two categories. For example, at the time, I had a 7 person household (3 adults, 4 children) with a large vegetable garden, and yet somehow we managed to use less than 10% of the average American household's water consumption.
Gasoline was a harder one--we used, and still do use, about the average amount of gasoline, mostly because I work 90 miles away from the house in the middle of a transportation desert (we can walk, bus, train or bike almost everywhere other than my job.) The obvious answer is that I should get a job closer to home! But change is hard.
--Ms. Krieger