We're S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, we're shopping

We have had unexpected visitors for the weekend. This has been an immense pleasure and an interesting experiment in how to ensure that eight people can get around without a car. One of Lexy’s two best friends - the one who moved to Cornwall - her sister and mother (one of my best friends) were given a lift back here for the weekend. We knew on Friday afternoon which was no problem only it gave us little time to shop.

Part of the carless business relies on us using the internet to do grocery shopping. I would happily use an independent local grocery store if only I could afford it and if it stocked what an average family needs. The two near us fail on both counts (please, I want more than frozen pizza and tinned meat pie for every meal and how can I afford cat food at THAT price?) which leaves the small and expensive branch of an international megasupermarket (they keep the savings down at the small ones) or the internet. I understand that it is this type of attitude that has led to the demise of the local corner shop, but there is a limit to my charity.

If I did not have the internet I do not know how we would afford to shop. I appreciate that having the internet costs money but it seems money well spent. We must save the amount it costs several times over by buying online. Of course, when shopping at a distance it is easy to press that button and buy that expensive bottle of wine that you would put back in the shop, to mistakenly order 50 yoghurts that will not fit in the fridge, or to buy what you think is reasonably priced cheesecake for six only to find it is an over-priced slice for one (still, at least the rest of the family can eat yoghurt).

But overall, if we didn’t have the internet our shopping bills would be much higher and our arms would ache more as this weekend demonstrated.

Shopping for eight involved three trips to the local small megasupermarket branch and if shopping lugging ever becomes a recognised sport, I shall be a champion. 

That’s not a problem for the weekend and our friends shared the cost, but it underlined the issues faced by those who have neither internet nor car. Last year 27 per cent of households did not have the internet. Those who do not have the internet tend to be older and/or without formal qualifications. The same groups of people have higher numbers of non-drivers among them. So, the poor get hit again.

Something else I noticed about being carless this weekend was the need to look for entertainment locally. Usually when we have guests, we get in the car and go somewhere. We have been known to take guests to the same beautiful arboretum two visits in a row and remember only later (the guests were very polite and said nothing). This time everything we did was within walking distance as the thought of herding everyone onto the bus was too much. My friend K did express a desire to visit the local town to explore the charity shops as the ones near her were apparently as nothing compared with ours - and that is yet another reason why she should not have moved - but how could we fit that in with the commitment we had already made to join the local community group in making Mother's Day presents? Teenage Ted wanted to go to the large shopping centre to buy presents though I suspect he had ulterior motives, our carlessness having coincided with his increased interest in fashion. But there was no time so instead cheap and cheerful presents were made at the community centre, and K and I appreciated them, though perhaps not the way the soil from the pot plants was mixed in with the cakes.

So I guess local shopping did save us money. It also made us feel nicely smug. Not only were the presents homemade and therefore somehow worth more, on the way up the road we passed a stretch limo which had been hired by a family to take their son out for a pizza as a birthday treat. What a carbon footprint we laughed with superior confidence. Yes, but I bet he felt really special and had a day to remember. I might just get my kids a cheap pair of trainers each to use when they walk to the take-away for their birthday treats.