Posted on June 26th, 2008
Keeping fuel consumption low is important to your wallet and to the planet. The best way to save gas is to drive less or to share your ride with someone else. If you’ve got a road-trip planned and you've just got to do it alone, consider your gas tank before you adjust the temperature. Air Conditioning sucks up a lot of fuel, so roll down the windows to stay cool at low speeds. Should you find yourself hitting the highway, roll up the window and opt for the AC. Yep. The AC may suck up fuel, but aerodynamic drag will suck up more. At high speeds your car will get better fuel ...
Posted on June 18th, 2008
If you’re headed to a tourist hot-spot at home or on vacation this June, consider taking the bus instead of driving there. More than 15 million fans attend major American sporting events games each year. If only half of them drive to the game, that’s still one massive amount of gas and carbon emissions. Imagine if you add all the amusement parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, fairs and monuments to those sporting events. Holy cow! That’s a heckuva lot of cars! Don’t miss the experience, miss the traffic and the parking instead! The nice thing about touristy venues is that they’re often easily accessible by bus or rail. Hit the ...
Posted on May 31st, 2008
It’s almost bikini season – is your car ready? According to AutoZone, extra weight decreases gas mileage. Since every 200 pounds of unnecessary weight shaves one mile per gallon off your fuel mileage, you may want to reevaluate what’s sitting in your car. Do you really need to haul that snow-blower you borrowed from your Grandpa around all summer? Helping your car shed some pounds will increase your gas-mileage (more money in your pocket) and reduce your impact. Remember: every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, so every increase in fuel efficiency makes a difference. In this case, lean is green -- keep your car ...
Posted on May 30th, 2008
Today, May 30th marks the annual Drive Nowhere Day. The online organization, Environmental Action has deemed this the day to walk, run, bike, skateboard, surf or take public transit around town (or play hooky - we won't tell) and leave the car at home. Annual consumption of gasoline is approximately 7,637,900,000 barrels, expenditure is $485,312,166,000 and the pollution caused in metric tons is about 2,579,000,000 and that's just in America alone! So if you can, pitch in today, save yourself some money, give that engine a rest and join a growing collective that choose to cruise another way. If you want to take one step further and make a pledge with the Environmental Action group ...
Posted on May 19th, 2008
For a heavy duty spring clean, collect all your household hazardous waste and make a trip to your local haz-mat depot to ensure corrosive, flammable, explosive, or poisonous waste is disposed of properly. When poured down the drain or thrown in the trash, toxic waste can wind up circling back into our food, water and land. Find a safe and cool out-of-the-way spot in your home or garage to stockpile these items until you can get to the depot. It’s better to store them yourself for a time where you can keep an eye on those nasty bits and bobs and then make one big trip - maybe plan a neighbourhood collection to cut down on ...
Posted on May 8th, 2008
Keeping fuel consumption low is important to your wallet and to the planet. The best way to save gas is to drive less or to share your ride with someone else. If you’ve just got to do it alone, consider your gas tank before you adjust the temperature. Air Conditioning sucks up a lot of fuel, so roll down the windows to stay cool at low speeds. Should you find yourself hitting the highway, roll up the window and opt for the AC. Yep. The AC may suck up fuel, but aerodynamic drag will suck up more. At high speeds your car will get better fuel economy with the windows up. ...
Posted on May 7th, 2008
Headed outdoors to wash your car? A
commercial car wash is better for the environment, but isn’t nearly as fun. If the first car wash of Spring just has to be a home job, try pulling up onto your lawn while you squirt, scrub and squeegee. Washing on the lawn ensures that all of the chemicals and nasty bits accumulated on your car will run onto the lawn and be absorbed by the grass, instead of into the street and down to our waterways. The soil and grass can filter out the bad stuff, but your driveway can’t. Washing your car can be sexy, especially if it’s on the lawn.
Posted on May 6th, 2008
If you’re headed to a baseball game this season (or any major sporting event, for that matter), consider taking the bus instead of driving there. More than 15 million fans attend major American sporting events games each year. If only half of them drive to the game, that’s still one massive amount of gas and carbon emissions. Don’t miss the game, miss the traffic and the parking instead! The nice thing about major sporting venues is that they’re often easily accessible by bus or rail. Hit the net and look up the transit schedule for your city – it’s a cinch to figure out the routes these days. Why spend $20 ...
Posted on April 24th, 2008
Do you wish your favorite market labeled its local produce, that compost was accepted at your curb that your local pub offered organic beer? All you have to do is ask...and maybe ask again. It sounds a bit simplistic but a good company will give the customer what they want. It worked on Enterprise Rent-A-Car. A recent ride with one of Enterprise's managers led to an interesting conversation. Mr. Rent-A-Car admitted the company had been holding out on adding the hybrid to its fleet of available vehicles in hopes that the car was nothing more than a trend, a fad, a passing fancy. No such luck - he was plagued with requests to ...
Posted on April 17th, 2008
When the gasoline nozzle belts out that satisfying "click" and shuts down, let that sleeping dog lie. Topping off gas tanks releases extra huge doses of benzene into the great blue yonder, which ultimately finds its way inside the otherwise pristine lungs of the Prius driver behind you.
