From Guest Blogger Kara Masterson: Four Ways You Can Minimize Your Car’s Impact on the Environment
Cars are widely assumed to be bad for the environment: they guzzle gas like teenagers drink soda, they release pollutants into the atmosphere, and they utilize vehicle fluids that are harmful to plants, animals and humans alike. However, minimizing the impact of your personal car on the environment is not as difficult as it seems. Here are a few tips that can help both you and your automobile reduce your respective environmental footprints.
Purchase an Environmentally Friendly Car
Easy enough, right? There are so many cars on the market currently that are the antithesis of the classic 1950s muscle car — the new and improved Tesla, the Prius, and even the Ford Fusion all utilize different environmentally friendly technology to reduce the car’s dependence upon fossil fuels. Although drivers used to have to pay a premium to be environmentally conscious, prices are coming down now that formerly innovative technology is becoming available to a wide variety of companies. This is the easiest way to reduce your footprint — nip your environmental destruction in the bud.
Drive Smarter
There are many things that you as a driver can do to minimize your impact on the environment. For instance, only use your car when it is absolutely necessary to. If you can walk to your next destination, do it! If you can ride your bike to work, do it! By doing that not only can you get good exercise, but you can help reduce your carbon footprint. However, if you have to drive just remember that your behavior inside the vehicle matters, too! Try to idle less, and make sure to turn your engine off even if you are only going inside for a quick visit.
Use More Environmentally Friendly Accessories and Parts
Windshield wiper fluid and antifreeze are a serious danger to animals and humans. Manufacturers and private companies have created safer versions of these liquids with natural ingredients that can be used without harming the environment. You can also buy used auto parts in order to recycle more appropriately — dealers like ‘U Pull & Pay‘ offer excellent deals on top-quality equipment that would be wasted otherwise.
Cut Down on Gas Usage
There are many ways to do this, and all of them are relatively simple: use cruise control on the highway, or use higher quality gas, or even drive at a lower speed. Cars lose much of their gas efficiency at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour. Keep all of these tips in mind when you next find yourself on the road, and your driving experience will be much better for Mother Nature.
Overall, reducing your carbon footprint doesn’t have to be as hard as you originally thought. There are so many resources and tools out there to help you be as environmentally friendly as possible. You definitely want to make sure that you take as much advantage of those resources as possible when you get the chance.
Kara thank you for sharing basic good tips on being more auto efficient !
Many could improve their economy and reduce negative impacts with basics like these
All the Best
Good tips!
Unfortunately, here in the U. S. of A., many people are purchasing much larger vehicles than they need, including big crew-cap pick-up trucks, SUVs (UTEs for British English speakers), and vans. Granted some people have good reasons to purchase vehicles like that, but it seems that now about 40% of private vehicles on the road are such types.
I would favor legislation to discourage purchasing unnecessarily large vehicles. In addition to using more fuel than necessary, they make the roads more dangerous. Those huge vehicles do more damage when they hit another vehicle. Also, in parking lots, they make it impossible to back up safely by blocking the view.