Many of us want to help the environment. We care about global warming. But we also need transportation.

Especially for those of us that live in large cities not well equipped with public transportation, or those who live in out-of-the-way areas tens of miles away from civilization - without a vehicle to get around in, we can't get around at all!

So I took the liberty to discover ways I could help the environment driving the car I already own. And I also investigated some alternative fuels.

Tips for Driving Your Existing Vehicle in Environmentally Friendly Ways

A. Put the road rage aside and get comfortable with cruising! Just smile at every tree you pass and remember to drive at a controlled, steady pace. Don't immediately speed up to the speed limit just to hit your breaks at the next stop light. And try to shift into the next gear as soon as possible, instead of letting the RPGs get too high.

Why does this help? Because sudden acceleration and braking burns far more fuel. More fuel being burned means greater emissions. Also, the best speed for fuel economy is between 50-60 mph. If you're on the freeway and traffic moves at a faster pace, try not to go above 75 mph as anything above this seems to burn inordinately more fuel.

B. If you get stuck in traffic, or behind an accident, turn off your engine. Idling uses fuel, especially if you drive a manual vehicle and must constantly rev the engine or ease the car forward.

C. Save air conditioning for must-need moments. Running your air conditioner will actually increase fuel consumption by as much as 10%, so roll down your windows and suck in the fresh air you're trying to protect! If you must run your air, recycle it within your vehicle and turn it off once the temperature in the cabin goes down.

D. If you're in the market for a new vehicle, of course go smaller and more compact when possible.

E. Take off any racks, boxes, or other items that may be on the roof of your vehicle. These cause wind resistance and add to the weight of your auto. Unfortunately this will reduce your fuel economy - sometimes significantly.

F. Car pool. Yes it's obvious, but still people forget to do this. More importantly, unless you're hauling a family of 7 or the entire soccer team, go with the smallest vehicle possible that gets the best fuel economy. And if you're meeting a friend somewhere, take turns picking each other up for your get together. That can also save on parking costs and hassles in highly crowded cities

G. Use cruise control when appropriate on highways and freeways. Always be safe, but if you can comfortably use your cruise control, do so. It will ensure that as you drive, you don't accidentally slow down and speed up, which is normal on long drives as our attention gets waylaid or we inadvertently drive at the same pace as the car next to us.

Author: Jaime Mintun

I completely agree. In addition, choice of car to purchase is significant since there is much variety between standards of automobile manufacturers. Some tend to develop more environment friendly engines while the others ignore this fact and try to improve the speed of cars just for popularity concerns. Buyers should be aware of these points prior to they decide what model of automobile they want to buy.


Post-purchase precautions should also be taken for the sake of the regularity of the natural world. Cars with high emission rates had better not be preferred since these seem to turn out to be very hazardous for the world atmosphere in the long term.


I have recently seen a commercial of Acura SUV, developed for maintaining high speeds in curved tracks. Unfortunately, there is no reference to sensitivity of this car model for the environment. I am in favor of protesting such campaigns since we must always be conscious about the problems natural world is to face, and we should rake action to impose new standards on the development phases of modern cars.