Do this |
Because |
|
| Buy an old efficient car |
Why
buy new? Making a new car requires a lot of energy; an old car was made
a while ago and keeping it on the road longer may make sense if it is
an efficient car. Efficiency is not a new invention. Small, efficient
cars were built even in the late 80's. You can get a gas mileage of
higher than 40 mpg with some old cars IF they are well maintained and
you drive them very conservatively. |
significant |
| Use Biodiesel or fuel from used vegetable oil |
Biodiesel
has the benefit that it creates as much carbon dioxide as it consumed
when the plants grew that are used to make the biodiesel. However,
biodiesel is not a solution for the transportation problem. There is
not enough land to grow the plants to make enough biodiesel for all of
us. It works for a few right now. Same for used vegetable oil. And
watch out for the IRS. They want your fuel taxes. |
not enough |
| Remove the roof rack, roof box, bug deflector, etc. |
Taking
of the roof rack, or anything else attached to the outside of your car
that is not necessary, decreases the cars wind-resistance. Without the
attachments on the outside of the vehicle your car slips through the
air easier and uses less gasoline.
Store your
roof-rack or roof box somewhere when it is not in use. Permanently
remove bug-deflectors, wings, air scoops, etc. Let the car be the way
it was when it was manufactured. Most likely your vehicle was
wind-tunnel tested by the company who built it. If the car would use
less gas with the attachment, the car's manufacturer would sell the car
with such an attachment to begin with. |
noticeable |
| Park your car in the shade |
If
you car does not get hot inside you may not need air-conditioning. The
use of A/C decreases your gasoline mileage and pollutes more. |
not enough |
| Put up sun reflectors |
By
installing reflectors on your dashboard (or whereever the sun hits you
car), it does not get as hot inside you may not need air-conditioning.
A/C decreases your gasoline mileage and pollutes more. It is much
better to install the reflectors on the outside of the vehicle (hold in
place with wipers) to prevent the sun from even reaching the inside of
the car. |
not enough |
| Use car's air conditioning instead of wide open windows for long drives at high way speeds |
If you open the windows wide while you are driving fast
you are seriously disturbing the air flow over your car. Your vehicle
will slip through the air less easily and air resistance is what slows
you down at high speeds. The A/C does require the engine to work more.
At high speed this increase is still less than having to push around
additional air because of the open windows. Opening the windows just a
bit or all the way while you are moving slowly is fine. |
noticeable |
| For slow speed drives open the windows and turn off the A/C. |
At
slow speeds the air resistance of a car in not as significant as the
extra load for running the A/C. Opening the windows at slow speeds has
little impact. However driving slowly with the windows closed and the
A/C on puts extra strain on the engine and increases fuel consumption. |
noticeable |
| Drive the speed-limit or below. |
At
high speeds the vehicle uses much more fuel than at lower speeds.
Driving 70 mph almost doubles the wind resistance of your car than
driving it at 50 mph. Going slower saves a lot of gas. |
significant |
| Drive super-smoothly. Don't accelerate or brake hard. |
Every
time you accelerate hard you put a lot of strain on the engine and burn
much more fuel than if you accelerate slowly. The same applies to
slowing down. If you coast to stop (whenever it is safe) or brake less
hard you use the inertia of your car without using additional fuel. A
coasting car covers some distance without using much gas. A car that is
driven hard breaks down and needs to be replaced sooner and wastes a
lot more gas. |
significant |
| Install a "smooth driving" meter |
It
will show you how smoothly you drive and reduce your gas consumption.
All you need to do is put a flat but not sticky object (milk bottle
cap, map, bag with candy) on a level portion of your clean dashboard
inside the car. The moment it starts slipping you have driven beyond
what we consider "smoothly". |
significant |
| Turn off cruise control in hilly areas. |
Cruise
control keeps your car at a constant speed. If you get to a hill your
vehicle's computer senses the natural slowing down of the vehicle and
increases the fuel flow to the engine and possibly even shifts down to
continue with the programmed cruise speed. That uses a lot more gas.
Drive without cruise control and let your car slow down at an uphill. |
noticeable |
| Use cruise control where it is flat. |
Cruise
control keeps the car at a constant speed much better than you can do
it in a flat area. Little variation of speed means less gas consumption
when it is flat.. |
noticeable |
| Drive with correctly inflated tires |
Tires
that are under-inflated result in more friction with the road. That
additional friction causes more gasoline consumption. This, as well as
over inflation, also results in premature wearing out of the tires and
necessary replacement. |
noticeable |
| Maintain car's engine well |
A
well maintained engine uses less gasoline. However do not repair
cosmetic damages that have no impact on engine efficiency,
aerodynamics, and friction.. Fixing your car (or anything) requires
parts and energy. |
noticeable |
| Avoid dripping or spilling any gasoline on the ground. |
It
may only be a few drips but with 120 million cars on the streets of
North America it adds up. Gasoline needs to stay out of the air and
groundwater. |
not enough |
| Stop adding more gasoline when the nozzle clicks off . |
Topping off increases the risk of spilling gasoline and could
compromise or even damage the gasoline vapor recovery system of the
gasoline pump. Avoid spills of gasoline. It is bad for the soil, ground
water, and air. Spilled gasoline can also damage the asphalt (which
then has to be fixed sooner). What is wrong with having to pay $17.63?
Your credit card company really does not care if the number is not
even. |
not enough |
| Choose gas stations that remove gas vapors while fueling |
Even
though the vapors seem not significant to you with 100 million cars on
the roads in the USA alone it adds up. Vapor losses of gasoline are a
factor in regard to pollution. |
not enough |
| Warm up your car while driving it, not when standing still. |
A
modern engine does not need to warm up longer than 30 seconds unless
you hit the highway within the next few minutes. If you are cold inside
the car wear clothes appropriate for the weather. If you need to get
rid of the ice, consider scraping. That gets you warmer too! How about
putting the car inside the (unheated) garage in the winter. |
significant |
| Shut down the engine when standing still |
If
you know you are going to be standing still for longer than 10 seconds
turn off the engine. It saves gas and pollutes less. Check and remember
how long certain lights take to turn green. Turn off the engine if you
leave the vehicle. All it takes is a little twist of the hand to turn
the key. |
significant |
| Wash your car rarely |
Every
time you wash your car you create water run-off that is rather dirty
and should not end up in our lakes and rivers. If you use chemical
products to wash your vehicle it is even worse. Let the rain wash your
car. There is no technical reason to wash your car other than getting
rid of the salt in the spring. So, maybe wash it twice. When the road
salt season is over. |
noticeable |
| Wash your car on the lawn, not in the street |
Washing
the car on the lawn forces the run-off to pass through the lawn before
it reaches the storm drains. That filters the water a little bit and
reduces the pollution that reaches rivers and lakes through the storm
drain system. |
not enough |
| Keep your car longer |
If
you keep your car longer you delay the purchase of a product that takes
a huge amount of energy to develop and manufacture. Even if the new
product uses less energy it is much more likely that purchasing a new
vehicle every few years results in more pollution than keeping your old
car longer. Making one car and driving it for a long time pollutes less
than making three new cars and driving them even if the newer vehicles
have a better gas mileage. |
significant |
| Combine trips |
Be
smart - think ahead about where you have to go when and combine trips
that need to be done with the car. If you have to go tomorrow that
direction anyways, why not wait with the purchase of whatever until
tomorrow? |
noticeable |
| Avoid trips |
The
ultimate way to pollute less: Don`t drive! Do you really need to take
the car? Could you take the bike or even walk? Is that road trip
necessary? |
significant |
| Car pool |
Sharing
a vehicle with just one person to get the work and back can cut the
pollution in half because only one car is doing the polluting. If there
is more people involved it gets even better! |
significant |
| Drive with at least one passenger |
If
you are using the car, at least make sure that you pack the car full of
people where ever you are going. Unless of course these people don't
need to go where you are going. Sign up for a service that helps you
find one or more people to travel with you. That may even pay for your
gas while you pollute less since you are not driving alone. Forgot the
name for this service. "Mitfahrerzentrale" in German. That does not
help much, does it? Some "car pooling service" I guess. |
noticeable |
| Use your car only when you need to travel long distances |
The
car's engine does not have a chance to reach the right operating
temperature for the catalytic converter to function properly if it is
used only for a short drive. Walk instead. Bike instead. Wait until you
have to go that way some other time. |
noticeable |
| Move closer to your place of work |
If
you currently travel long distances to get to work consider getting a
job closer to home or moving closer to you work place. That way you can
cut the pollution caused by you every day with your vehicle. A move
like this may even change your situation in such a way that riding a
bicycle or walking become excellent options. That would be even less
polluting and include the benefit of physical exercise. In addition you
save money since you pay less for gas and maintenance of the vehicle. |
significant |
| Share/rent a car |
If
you need a vehicle infrequently why not share a car with someone or
several people? In some places you can share a vehicle with others by
signing in and obtaining everything you need to use the car over the
internet. More and more car rental companies are now renting their
vehicles by the hour. |
significant |
| Buy a small car rather than a SUV |
A small car uses much less gasoline to move you around. Get a trailer if you sometimes need to move bulky things. |
noticeable |
| Forget the second car/pleasure car/muscle car/sports car |
Even
though you can only drive one car at a time, your second (or third)
vehicle is probably designed to be fun and not to be efficient. In
addition, driving for pleasure means driving when it is not really
necessary. Owning a pleasure car contributes to our car culture that
causes so much pollution. |
significant |
| Take the train |
If there is a train going where you need to go, take a train and pollute much less. |
significant |
| Use public transportation |
Consider
taking the bus or subway when it is possible. The bus/subway drives in
any case, you might as well be on it and leave you car's engine
standing still.. |
significant |
| Avoid rush hours |
Stop
and go traffic results in a lot of pollution because this sort of
driving requires your engine to work inefficiently. You cover little
distance while burning more gasoline. Go there earlier. Leave later. |
noticeable |
| Consider making right turns only |
In
city traffic, especially during rush hours, making a right turn is
often possible without having to wait for the intersection to clear.
You may arrive at your destination faster and burn less fuel than
sitting in the intersection waiting for your chance to turn left. Check
your route for those situations and adjust your route if you see a
benefit. |
not enough |
| Refrain from modifying your car. |
Currently
popular vehicle modification include engine modifications to increase
power, body modifications to increase aerodynamic resistance but make
the car "look" faster, exhaust modifications that make the car louder,
and other "upgrades" that have very little to do with preventing
pollution. It may be fun for you right now, but most likely results in
more pollution. |
noticeable |
| Replace dirty air filter |
Replacing
the air filter lets the engine breathe easier. Air can enter the engine
better and the fuel gets burned more efficiently. |
noticeable |
| Make your tires last longer by driving less aggressive |
The
faster and harder you drive your car, the faster the tires wear out and
have to be replaced. Don't forget, there are around 120 million
vehicles on the road in the US and Canada. It takes a lot of energy and
resources to make, distribute, and dispose tires for so many cars. Keep
what you have longer to pollute less. |
not enough |
| Install narrow tires |
Narrow
tires roll easier, have less aerodynamic resistance and pollute less
when you drive your car conservatively. They also give you better
traction in snow and hydroplane less easily in heavy rain or thick
slush. |
noticeable |
| Purchase a two-wheel-drive car. |
Cars
whose all-wheel-drive cannot be disengaged use more gasoline than a
similar vehicle with only two powered wheels. There is much more
friction in the drive train of a all-wheel-drive car. Look for a
vehicle where the four-wheel drive can be turned on and off. Most
likely you don't need it anyways. |
noticeable |
| Pack your trailer aerodynamically |
Packing
your trailer or anything exposed to the flow of air in a way that the
air flows easily over the load results in less pollution than packing
without regard to aerodynamics. Keep it tight, keep it small, keep it
smooth. Imagine how well water would flow over it. Air does the same. |
noticeable |
| Scrape snow and ice |
Melting snow and ice with the heat of the engine creates pollution. Scraping it yourself does not. |
significant |
| Ignore the remote car starter |
If
you start your car more than 30 seconds before you get in, you are
polluting the environment. If you are cold inside the vehicle put on a
coat. If you scrape the snow and ice of the car by hand you get warm
faster. |
significant |
| Ignore insignificant damages to your car |
Every
time you get your car fixed you consume energy for making the parts. If
it is cosmetic, forget it. If it compromises safety, durability, or
efficiency get it fixed. |
not enough |
| Choose manual transmission for city traffic |
Generally
speaking, if you know when and how to shift, a manual transmission is
more efficient and gets a better gas mileage especially in traffic with
a lot of speed changes, such as city traffic. In constant speed
situations the difference is not that great. The vehicle with manual
transmission pollutes less if you travel in the highest gear the engine
can manage easily (without coughing or shaking when you accelerate) and
if you shift into this gear as soon as possible while picking up speed
gently. |
noticeable |
| Lighten up the car |
The
less stuff is in your car, the less you vehicle weighs. Reducing weight
has a positive influence on gas consumption because the car (or truck)
responds easier when you want to accelerate. |
noticeable |
| Install low rolling resistance tires |
A tire that has a lower rolling resistance will save some gas and pollute less |
not enough |
| Push in antenna |
If
you drive a long distance and you are not listening to the radio, you
will save some gas if you reduce your car's air resistance by pushing
in the antenna. Not much though. |
not enough |
| Accelerate on down hill |
When
you want to go faster wait until you can do this with the
pollution-free help of gravity. Accelerating when you are moving down
the hill pollutes less than trying to go faster when it is flat or even
goes uphill. |
noticeable |
