You’ve heard the complaints. Heck, you’ve probably spewed out a few yourselves. The cost of gas is ridiculously high and most drivers are not holding their tongues when it comes to ripping into those in charge of price gouging.
But there is one man who lives not far from my neighborhood who is doing more than just flapping his lips about the outrageous price of fuel. Brian LaFave says he has given up on complaining. In fact, he couldn’t care less how high gasoline prices climb these days. The Wisconsin man has parked his pickup truck and is refusing to buy gas for at least the next 31 days.
LaFave says the gas boycott is his way of striking back against big oil companies. While his pickup sits idle the 31-year-old is relying on two wheels and his own two feet to get him where he needs to go.
For the past week LaFave has been biking to work and walking to the local convenient store to pick up necessities. And to prove how seriously he is about conserving gas the Wisconsinite is even refusing help from friends who offer to pick him up in their own vehicles.
“If they’re not going out of their way, I can take the ride,” LaFave told news reporters. “But if they’re going out of their way, then … I’m still consuming gasoline so it kind of defeats the purpose.”
LaFave began his gas boycott on Mother’s Day. For the past few days he has been riding his bicycle to his third-shift job at a local chemical company located about 9 miles from his home.
“I did like a practice run … two days in a row to make sure I could do it,” he said. “I’m not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die.”
I give the guy credit. I saw him on TV and he really doesn’t look as though he is a fitness fanatic, yet he is still out there pedaling 18 miles a day. And considering LaFave estimates he put about 300 miles on his truck per week prior to his boycott, he has significantly cut back on his travels.
But get this… LaFave isn’t boycotting big oil just to gain name recognition. He is filling out a chart each day listing how many miles he biked, daily gas prices, and how far he traveled on foot. At the end of 31 days he plans to tally his savings and donate the amount of money he saved on gas to a charity that provides food to impoverished children in Africa.
“I think just with the gas prices being so high, everybody complains about it but no one ever really does anything about it,” LaFave said. “People continue to drive nonstop and not think about it, but I just wanted to take a stand and say, ‘I’m not gonna pay this much money for gas.'”
What do you think about LaFave’s efforts? Does it inspire you to cut back on some of your driving?
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