Gas Prices are hitting the Amish

While they lead a totally different life than you and me, the Amish community of Ohio is feeling the effect of high gas prices as well. It is important to note that will they avoid all the materialism that most Americans encourage, they still need cheap gas to get by just like the rest of us.

WKYC, Cleveland Reports:

UNITY, Ohio (AP) -- They may use horses instead of autos for transportation, but the rising cost of gasoline is still pinching the wallets of members of an Amish community in southern Ohio.

Dan Miller, a carpenter and horse breeder who bought an Adams County market in July, says several items have doubled in price from last year to this year.

Those include taking care of a horse, the cost of propane and the fuel that runs his coolers at the market.

Miller says he along with his wife and five children will make fewer trips by taxi to surrounding areas because a 10-mile trip has risen from $10 to $25.

Amish continue to survive even without a car in very rural communities. Of course they distance themselves from a lot of the modern inventions that have came into existence in the last 200 years, they still rely on some of them. I think we should look at parts of their lifestyle to improve our own. Buying local, using only what you need and living sustainably are key values that they preach everyday. I'm not advocating that we throw away everything modern, just that we do what's best for our long term sustainability.