Like you, I’ve come to hate my local gas station. Even though I drive a Prius, and patronize the cheapest gas station in my town (paying cash to get a discount), I still can’t help but adopt an attitude of disgust and disdain when I hand over my money. $20 doesn’t fill the tank anymore, and my car and my soul feel a little empty.

But there’s at least one person who hasn’t had to experience the humiliation of the fill-up more than once this summer. Meet Danni Brancaccio, a college student 20 years of age who has pledged to get through this summer using only one tank of gas.

Her shiny blue-green 1997 Honda Civic gas tank holds 11.9 gallons, and she is sipping that liquid as slowly as she can. The Vancouver, Washington native rides a bike 1.5 miles every morning to her nearby park-n-ride, then takes the bus to her law-clerk job 16 miles away in Portland, OR. Sometimes she catches a ride with her mom, but only if her Mom is going that way.

Her “one-tank-or-bust” idea is resonating with the media, and she’s been featured on ABC and CNN, where she represents herself with intelligence and humor. According to her CNN spot, the benefits of her experiment are not only publicity and money savings — she’s also lost five pounds.

And, it seems like she is walking and riding her way to success. With only a few weeks left in her summer, she’s still got a 1/4 tank left.

I find this kind of effort deeply inspirational, but I still don’t think it’s going to get me on an LA bus. Last time I took the bus, when I first got here 18 years ago, it stopped suddenly in the worst part of town, and the driver then demanded we all get off and wait for another bus, which took another 45 minutes to show. So I’m afraid I’m not the world’s best bus advocate. But hey — I’m only 30 miles from the beach — maybe I can ride my bike, or catch a ride from my mom.

Read Danni’s blog here.