Well for a start, I'd have to give up work, or find somewhere else to work where I don't spend my day driving from one appointment to the next. I'd probably have to move into the city because I have lots of activities in which I'm involved and it would be difficult to give them up, along with the car, so a change in geography would definitely head the list.

On the other hand Noveau Ashram might be the go too, the bush has always appealed and a change from routine and employment does sound like bliss. Then the flowing tie-dyed see-through muslin skirts and cotton tee-shirts are very liberating. We wouldn't need the supermarket because we'd grow organic veggies - that's if we discounted the chemicals and mining dust that waft over our way from nearby industrial sites and a coal mine close by.

With a bicycle as my new mode of transport my carbon footprint would be reduced and it wouldn't be long before I sported a new and svelte body shape.

But no, indeed I could not live without a car for a year - the move to the city, alternative employment or even twelve months living the alternative lifestyle would not be practical. The thing is I don't have the money to make a move to the city neither could I afford to be unemployed. I enjoy living where I do as well as my work. Therefore, the long and the short of it is I could not live without a car for a year. Unfortunately then, I have to forfeit the svelte new body and maintain my carbon footprint until such time as I can afford to retire to the bush, tie-dye my muslin skits and tee-shirts and ride my bicycle between commune members' shanties to barter goods.

So it seems we need money to have a car but on reflection it seems we need money to live without one.