Electric cars don’t solve every problem with private vehicle ownership but they’re certainly a step in the right direction. Most EVs average an equivalent of more than 100mpg versus most ICEs, which are around 30-40. You can also power an EV with renewable resources. This isn’t possible with ICEs (yes, I know you can power certain diesels with biofuel, but it’s horribly inefficient).
“Buying a new car is worse than keeping an old one” is an incredibly situational phrase that has a million exceptions for so many people.
While it’s true that the U.S. is the most convenient market for Mexican cartels, it’s worth knowing that it’s far from the only one. Mexican drug cartels have major connections to markets across the globe. and that Mexico specifically is the de facto administrator of drug trade in the western world. For example, a drug bust in India found fentanyl that had been purchased in Mexico from China. . That’s not the sort of arrangement that the US can ever hope to do away with through domestic legislation without undermining the autonomy of dozens of states around the globe.
While removing the cartels’ access to the American market via decriminalization would certainly take away a lot of funds, let’s not act like black market operations don’t exist in legal markets anyway.
In this hypothetical situation where the US is responsible for Mexico’s drug cartel problem (which I disagree with), I don’t think the road to success ends at the US legalizing drugs.
+1 on the other commenter mentioning Hot Hands. They’re disposable and don’t last forever, but they’ll feel like a Godsend when you need them.
I’d suggest some kind of blanket. Space blankets don’t provide a lot of insulation but are great for windbreaking which makes them a great top layer over a normal fleece blanket.
I mentioned this in my other comment on one of your posts, but please consider including just a little bit of cash. Every person you meet will always have unique needs or wants that you can’t possibly be expected to account for. Even $5 can give them the agency to see to these specific needs on their own.
Honestly? Just give the $200 to the shelter to spend on whatever they think they need. As someone who used to volunteer at a no-kill shelter, everybody wants to donate a bag of dog food but no one wants to donate cash. After a certain point, we were throwing away old stock of unopened dog food because we ran out of storage for it.
Edit: completely misread the part about helping people specifically not in a shelter. My main point still stands though, I think most unhoused people would take the cash over material goods.