Tips to drive less

We bet that poor petrobeast drunk dinosaur wagon you call a car would like to rest too. Keep on going. Let your car rest. Did you know that cars and trucks account for 25 percent of the United States’ carbon dioxide emissions?

More bicycle riding and other lifestyle changes are desperately needed to reduce the climate-altering carbon emissions that threaten our planet, that is why we should walk more and drive less. So how do you do it? How do you give your car a rest?

Start with your routine Friday night run to the video store. How about walking or bicycling there? Or eliminate the trip entirely by joining Netflix or Blockbuster By Mail.

When you run errands by bike or receive your DVDs by mail, you become part of the solution to global warming. If we all gave our cars a rest even once a week, we would markedly reduce global warming gases, and save money as well.

Driving releases some six pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gas into the air. Walking or biking short distances add up to big savings in pollution (and big gains in weight loss)! Even driving five miles to the video store twice a week can add hundreds of extra pounds of pollution in a year’s time.

Here are some simple yet powerful things we can do to cut our emissions, with or without our cars:

Carpool. By sharing rides, you can help to cut carbon emissions and traffic congestion. Carpooling is a great idea for getting to work, but it can also apply to running errands and going to recreational activities. If you organize a shared weekly trip to the grocery store with your neighbors, you will likely have more funas well.

Use mass transit. The key to mass transit is the word “mass.” The more of us who use it, the more global warming pollution it prevents. A bus with just 7 passengers is more fuel-efficient than the average car. A full bus is 6 times more efficient, and a full train is a whopping 15 times more efficient.

Public transport and rail systems are paving the way for the transition to low-emission electric vehicles, and our next generation of diesel trains promises to be superbly energy efficient compared with today’s engines.

Walk more often. Besides the obvious benefits to our planet, walking is great for you, both physically and psychologically. And you will notice natural beauty and things of interest in your neighborhood that you miss when driving by. So why not do it more often?

Avoid a trip. Consider if you need to run that single errand today or if you can combine two or more errands in one trip tomorrow. Also ask yourself if your errand is something that could be done online.

Ride a bike. Similar to walking, the health benefits of safe bicycling are tremendous. If your neighborhood is full of inclines, consider an electric bike or skateboard.

Slow down. Did you know that cars burn 20 percent more fuel at 75 mph than they do at 55 mph? In addition, aggressive driving (rapid acceleration and breaking) can lower gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and use an extra 125 gallons of gas each year.

Lighten up. An extra 100 pounds in your trunk can reduce your mpg by as much as 2 percent. Leave heavy items at home in the garage unless you need them for your outing.

Avoid rush hour. As you idle in traffic, your mpg drops to zero. If all drivers found a way to eliminate just 2 minutes of idling time each week, we would save 400 million gallons of gas every year.

To defeat global warming, we will need to reduce our carbon trails. By implementing this step once a week or more, we will make a real impact on greenhouse gas production and help to halt global warming.