Driving is a major source of green 
house gasses and, is also a major drain on two important personal resources.. time and money. Ben Franklin said something such as “Do not Waste Time As That Is The Stuff That Life Is Made Of”. Let’s look at what we can do to help the planet, our pocketbooks and have more leisure at the same time.
This all boils down to three things:
- Maximize the efficiency of your driving machine…Spark plugs, Air Filter, Proper Tire Inflation and Lighten the Load…the More Unnecessary weight you’re hauling around the more gas you’ll use.
- Operate your driving machine for the maximum efficiency. You’ve heard it before no Jackrabbit Starts, drive at a constant speed (the ups and downs eat up fuel which is why a cruise control saves you $$), and anticipate stops. Also slow down. Your vehicle maximizes efficiency at the slowest speed you can properly run when in the highest gear. This doesn’t mean doing 45 on the highway which is unsafe. Rather it means doing 55 if that is the speed limit.
- Eliminate unnecessary operation of your driving machine. This is the biggest saver of all. Don’t idle unnecessarily, shut the vehicle down. Also, just cut down the amount you use your vehicle. Use public transit, a bike, walk and combine your driving trips. By combining the gym, office, bookstore and grocery into a single outing yesterday I saved over an hour and a half of driving…That’s an hour and a half spent relaxing with music. And over three gallons of gasoline not consumed that would have been converted to greenhouse gasses and taken about $9 from my wallet…. Say you did this three times per week that’s 468 gallons of gasoline not consumed, over 234 hours of time freed up from staring out a windshield and $1,404 found money in your pocket. Nice.
Drive smart..less pollution, less money & more time. It’s a no brainer.
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