A Guide For Adjusting Your Driving Habits to Drastically Reduce Your Impact on Global Warming

A guide to changing your Driving Habits to dramatically reduce your impact on Global Warming

Extract from “200 Ways You Can Fight Global Warming... Do Your Part”

New Release eBook and Audio Education Program from Our World E Products

By Adam Smolak

Adjust Your Driving Habits

Let’s start with driving habits. First of all, find ways to be able to drive less. Consider the following statistic: Americans drive an average of 614.5 billion miles to and from work. 614.5 billion miles. Think of the amount of carbon dioxide we are spewing into the air as we commute. Here’s another statistic: according to www.hybridcars.com, since 1970, the number of vehicle miles traveled in America has increased 150 percent, while the population has increased only 40 percent. In America, there are 200 million cars, while worldwide there are 700 million.

Have you ever considered telecommuting as an alternative? With the advent of home computers and high-speed internet, this is an option that is becoming more and more feasible for a lot of people.

For people that drive company cars, a fantastic bargaining tool to get your employer on side is to point out the fuel and vehicle wear and tear savings to them, not to mention the savings in carbon emissions.  Many professions such as writing, advertising, public relations, psychiatry, and others lend themselves to working from home. Besides being good for the environment,

there are huge benefits in worker satisfaction as well. You can work in your pajamas if you choose, and take breaks when you want to. You can spend time with a child or pet as you pace yourself throughout the work day.

Even if you could telecommute just one day a week, it would make an enormous difference. According to statistics on the Environmental Defense site, if all commuters worked from home one day a week, we would save 5.85 billion gallons of oil and 143 billion pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

Another easy thing to do is group errands. Don’t dash out to the store to buy milk—wait until you need other groceries, too. And better yet, wait until you have clothes to pick up at the dry cleaners (you can choose an environmentally friendly one), books at the library, and business at the bank. Then plan your route to take the most efficient way, without backtracking or traversing the city.

How you drive can make a difference also. For starters, slow down. You might not have realized that exceeding the speed limit by even five miles per hour can result in a decrease in fuel efficiency of six percent. And, really, is that extra speed going to really get you there that much faster? How many times have you sped around a slow car on a city street only to have it catch up with you at the next stop light? As a side benefit, your stress level will be way lower. That is also true with our next tip—don’t drive aggressively.

Aggressive driving is fast stops and starts, and it can be an enormous drain on your gas tank. It can lower your gas mileage by 33% on the highway and by five percent in town. We already know that driving aggressively is bad for the emotional health of you and others, so add the environment to the list. Wouldn’t it be nice to actually enjoy the drive to work and home again instead of dashing about and making screeching stops?

If you are going on a road trip, travel light. For every extra 100 pounds the car carries, it reduces the fuel economy by two per cent. Also remove car carriers and bike racks when they are not in use. That will cut down wind drag and in turn boost your fuel efficiency.

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