Going Green Simply & Economically

FilterForGood (http://www.filterforgood.com/) is looking for people to pledge that they'll give up disposable beverage containers. They report that over 1.5 million gallons of oil is consumed each year to produce the plastic bottles and since most of those bottles are tossed in the garbage, the choice is clear ...

Reuse your own sturdy water bottles.

This is a economical and realistic solution because you will save yourself a lot of money while you are saving the environment.

My brand of choice has been Nalgene because the bottles are so sturdy. I've found that anything cheaper doesn't hold up well. My Nalgene bottles have remained strong (and pretty) for many years.

I bring two Nalgene 1000 ml bottles to work each and every day. I'm a faithful proponent of this time. I estimate that after several years of use I'm spend less than 2 cents a gallon for water (and that includes city water costs and fridge filter).

I saw Dennis Quaid on Jay Leno in April 2008 and he talked about how his 16-year-old wanted a Hybrid. It seems rich kid's in California worry about going green. I suspect that poor kids in California buy whatever car they can afford. Anyway, Dennis Quaid also mentioned that his kid didn't know how to drive a manual transmission.

The notion of picking a more fuel efficient car made me think about how car companies make far fewer manual transmissions than when I was 16. All my life I've always been told that driving a standard transmission saves on fuel costs. So, why don't more "green" people purchase standard transmissions?

I set out to read a little more about the subject....

I found this article (isn't exactly a scientific study) on CNN Killing the stick-shift dinosaur: Manual transmissions still have their fans, but are they really better? Not anymore. Not really.

The article discusses how advancements in computer technology have improved the fuel effeciency of modern automatic transmissions. The article states: "Just as with a manual shift, if you don't drive like a fuel-hogging freak your transmission won't either."

Then again, the article Learning How To Drive a Stick-Shift Car on Edmonds.com does advocate for the benefits of a standard transmission. "There are financial benefits to manual-transmission vehicles, too: They cost less to buy and generally save money on gas."

A little better miles-per-gallon works for me.

I used the Commute Cost Calculator at CommuteSmart.info and calculate that a 1 mpg advantage saves me 2 tanks of gas a year in commute costs to work.

Now think globally and imagine a planet where three hundred million drivers saved two trips to the gas station each year.

Definitely ... cool.

In conclusion, even if this section doesn't motivate you to learn to drive stick the title being "don't drive like a fuel-hogging freak" is also a reminder to make some driving choices that will save you a few trips to the gas station each year. Read over this list of fuel-saving tips from Edmunds.com's We Test the Tips: What Really Saves Gas? And How Much?

In that article above, Edmunds.com came to the conclusion that drivers can save up to 37% on your fuel economy if they are slow and steady rather than freaky.

The Basics

Padding a few seconds into each acceleration from zero to sixty will save you gallons upon gallons of fuel each year.

Let off the gas pedal when that light ahead of you turns yellow. Slamming on the gas pedal and running a red lights will use more gas. You won't save time in the long run as you'll be spending a lot more time at gas stations than the slowpokes.

Cruise control improves fuel economy. I commute on a freeway and use it all the time. When my cruise control was recalled and I had to wait a month without it while a new part was ordered I was sad! I told a coworker that I was missing my cruise control and she said, "You have to be careful with cruise control. I never use it because I might rearend someone." I started avoiding her on the freeway at that point. I figure if she felt that out of control behind the wheel she shouldn't be driving anyway.

The tip on their list that I need to remember is to leave five minutes earlier and drive the speed limit rather than rushing to work. The speed limit is 70 miles-per-hour outside Reno and as my coworker joked the other day, "I like to keep it at 80, so I won't get a speeding ticket." That is my only vice when it comes to being a fuel-hogging freak. I am bad at leaving late and making it up by driving too fast.