Transportation
As humans we are a transiant species. From going to and from work, the grocery store, a winter get-away or a summer week-end adventure by the lake - we all need to get there somehow. Here's a few ways on how you can move it without having to lose it:
Centralize your primary location.
Just as in any consumption subject, conservation is the number one method. If you live closer to the places you need to get to then you will obviously require less time and energy to get to them.
Sure that house in the suburbs on the edge of the city limits is nice and quite - far away from the noisy streets of the inner core -but is it really worth the extra travel time?
Consider this, an average commute time of 20 minutes one way to work each day will add up to 4.7 hours a week. That's 242 hours a year! With that time you could learn to play guitar, spend time with your family & friends, teach yourself how to cook, or just plain relax! If you had an additional 242 hours a year what would you do?
Walk.
Get off your duff and get moving! Walking is great exercise. When done properly it can help your posture and tone your muscles. Walking allows you to freely move where you want to. You are (for the most part) free to roam where you wish and there's no traffic to sit behind.
Get a bicycle.
Riding a bike is great exercise.
One of the greatest health hazards in this country is a sedentary lifestyle. Less than 50% of North Americans get any real exercise, and less than 10% get enough. Exercise, although very beneficial to the body, can be very harmful under some conditions. It's dangerous to go long periods of time without exercising and then to overindulge. The weekend warrior syndrome, although not as dangerous, can also cause problems. The weekend warrior avoids exercise during the week and then makes it up during two hard, stressful weekend days. Bicycling ten miles every day at a reasonable pace will give avoid the weekend warrior syndrome and provide the 2,000 kCal recommended for a long and healthy life. Riding a bike ten km's has a health benefit which is about equal to the health deficit caused by smoking a pack of cigarettes. Even if ten km's a day is impossible, some distance during the week will prepare the body for the weekend rides and exercise. Some bike commuters, recognizing the need for more distance on their daily commutes, take the long way home whenever possible. Another way to increase weekly distance is to use the bike to run errands, such as purchasing groceries and going shopping.
Motor vehicle use degrades the environment in a number of ways, but bicycle use does not. Noise pollution, for instance, is a real problem for those living near highways, but bicycles produce no noise.
Best of all - you will most likely have a happier commute! 92 percent of workers that bicycle to work either like the ride or are neutral about it. Less happy with their commutes were those who drove and those who took the bus or train. The least happy were those who combined driving with transit.
Use public transit where possible.
Public transportation is cheaper than driving when you add up all the costs of parking, insurance and gas. It is less stressful than driving and you can listen to your music, read a book/newspaper, sip a cup of coffee/tea and various other activities that you can not necessarily do with other modes of transportation.
Use trains and light rail for land distances over 100km.
Trains are by far the most energy efficient mode of mass transportation. They are typically faster than cars and buses and are much more comfortable. A train's ecological footprint per passenger is 1/8 of a plane's, 1/4 of a car's and 1/3 of that of a bus trip. The scenic views on most train rides are also breathtaking to watch from the window.
My situation does not warrant any of those suggestions - what do I do?
Okay so you can't move where you live or work, biking an hour to get to work and go grocery shopping is not going to cut it, and in your town there is no public transit worth hopping on. There's still hope for you to save a bundle! (we're talking both the environment and cold hard cash)
Drive a greener vehicle
Drive the speed limit
The speed limits imposed on the roads are not just for your safety, they are also set in mind with traffic patterns so that you avoid braking as much as possible. Is it really worth it to charge down the road only to have to stop at the next red light?
Reducing your driving speed also extends the life of your car and is more fuel efficient. The best fuel economy for most vehicles is 90 km/h. Reduce your speed from 100 km/h to 90 km/h to improve fuel economy by 10 percent. A reduction from 120 km/h to 100 km/h can save 44 percent on fuel consumption.
As a general rule of thumb, keep your engine speeds between 1,200-3,000 RPMs, and up-shift between 2,000-2500 RPMs. Also, drive wise and minimize unnecessary miles by doing errands in one trip, getting good directions, and calling ahead.
Stay in tune
Getting regular tune-ups, maintenance, and having clean air filters will help you burn less gas, pollute less, and prevent car trouble down the line. Pump up: if every North American's tires were properly inflated we could save around 2 billion gallons of gas each year! (Check your manual for optimal pressure). Lastly, get the junk out of the trunk! All that extra weight is sapping your fuel economy.
Avoid idling
Excessive idling pollutes. Turn off the engine whenever you can. If you stop for more than ten seconds (not including in traffic), turn the engine off.
Carpool
Of course. Find coworkers, neighbors, and fellow students headed the same direction. Start with one shared trip per week. Also look into car sharing programs like FlexCar and www.ZipCar.om
Skip the rat race
Avoid peak hours of traffic when possible. Leaving 1-2 hours before and after peak hours will reduce your commute time and also your road rage!
Drive part of the way
If getting where you are going by bike or public transit alone is not going to happen, consider driving part of the way and then jumping on public transit or your bike.
Easy on the AC
Use the windows to help keep the car cool. Or try an electric or solar fan. Parking in the shade and using a reflective windshield shade can keep your car cooler when parked, meaning it takes less to cool it off when you get back in. If you car is new, however, let it air out. That new car smell is not friendly stuff.
Use a timed block heater
In the winter, you can improve fuel efficiency from 8 percent to 23 percent by using a block heater at temperatures below 0 degrees celsius. Set the timer to turn the block heater on about 2.5 hours before you plan to start your vehicle. Avoid plugging the vehicle in overnight.
Travel light
Weight is a vehicle's #1 enemy. The heavier the vehicle, the more fuel it burns. Avoid unnecessary weight such as snow salt and shovels during the non-winter months.
There are now hybrids to match almost any need: two-door, four-door, SUV, luxury sedan. They get better mileage than their conventional counterparts, have cleaner emissions, and save money on gas. If a hybrid isn't in your future, try for a car with the best MPG you can find; and remember that hybrids are not always the most efficient option, either.
For a list of hybrid cars, check out www.hybridcars.com
Biodiesel can now be found in almost any state in the US. This clean, domestic, veggie-based, carbon-neutral fuel will run in any diesel car or truck with little or no modification to the engine. Straight vegetable oil is an option for the more ambitious green driver and can make fueling up almost free. Another veggie fuel is ethanol, and there are between 5-6 million flex-fuel vehicles already on the road and you may even be driving one and not know it. Also, affordable, practical electric cars and plug-in hybrids aren not too far off, either. But whether or not you drive a hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicle, there is lots you can do to green your car right now.