Hauling things by bike

I had really hoped to have a more spectacular re-launch of CFA2 in time for Curb Your Car Month 08, but it's been way busy on the non-motorized transportation front lately (which is a good thing) and it turns out it's not that easy to find bloggers who are not already blogging. So we'll do the best we can and maybe hope to have lots of new posts in time for World Carfree Day in September.

I'm (finally) prompted to post by an excellent recent Grist article on cargo bikes. Who could resist a title like Haul's Well that Ends Well?

Now, anyone know if anyone in town has an Xtracycle?

grocery run

Homeless Dave points us to yet another way to get groceries home without a car, or without leaving the house for that matter.

Place an order online or by phone with Grocery Run and they will do your shopping, at your requested store, use coupons that you mail to them, and drop your order off at your door. You can send them to as many different stores as you are willing to pay for ($5/location). They cover any customer and any store within a 40 mile radius of Ypsi and deliver until 8pm on weekdays.

The costs of this service put us off a bit.
You can become a member for $40/year (you don’t have to be a member to order, you just pay lower fees if you do).
$100 in groceries costs $15 service charge and $5 delivery for members ($20/$7 for non members), so a non-member would pay $77 to have $50 in groceries delivered.

Another downside is having to place your order by 5pm the day before scheduled delivery.

If cost isn’t an issue, this may be a good option, especially if you buy lots of groceries at once (the fee percentage drops drasticallywith size of order).

White Market delivers

White Market delivers Tuesday through Saturday afternoons within Ann Arbor city limits. If you live in a house or apartment, they will deliver to your door. If you are in a dorm, they deliver to the front desk. You can call in your order up until noon of the day you want it delivered. They will deliver anything they carry in the store so you can either call in specific items, or say that you want "crackers" and they will work with you to figure out what you want. The minimum order is $20 and they have a $3 delivery fee. If you call them in the morning (663-4253), anyone who answers the phone should be able to help you.

Contributed by: Julie Weatherbee

diaper delivery

Dydee offers delivery and pick-up of cloth diapers including hamper and diaper covers for a cost comparable to buying disposables. This eliminates the need to both haul diapers home from the store and out to the curb after use. All the benefits of cotton diapers (Cotton diapers also reduce diaper rash!) without having to clean them.
Website: www.diapersunlt.com
Phone: (800) 589-2229

Contributed by: Karen Smith

Calder Dairy Delivers

Grocery shopping is one of the bigger challenges to car-free living in Ann Arbor. While I usually have space in my backpack for veggies from the farmers' market and a hunk of meat from Sparow's, heavy items can be a burden. Dairy ranks at the top of the scale. Ice cream (mandatory item on my shopping list) has the additional risk of melting and potentially leaking all over my bag if I don't head straight home from the freezer section.Besides offering a great tasting product, Calder Dairy provides a great solution to dairy transport woes by offering home delivery. They will deliver a wide variety of dairy items, including over more than 20 flavors of ice cream, as well as eggs, OJ, cider, and other tough-to-transport items. The delivery routes include "the downtown area" of Ann Arbor. www.calderdairy.com Unfortunately prices are not listed on the website and you need to phone in orders. Still this is a great way to reduce the weight of your grocery load and get great dairy.
Website: www.calderdairy.com
Phone: (313) 381-8858

Contributed by: Scott TenBrink