One quick tip that we will do this vacation to help reduce our carbon foot print:  we will pack light.  When flying, each additional 10 pounds per traveler requires an added 350 million gallons of jet fuel per year.    I always tend to over pack, and not use several items that I take with me anyways.  This year we will audit what we normally bring and ask ourselves. “do we really need this?”  We will bring  smaller sized things, like toothpaste, shampoo and soaps (ones that we have gotten free from hotels anyways).  Since we will only bring one bag between the two of us, we will have less baggage charges and it will require less time for the ticket counter to process us.  It’s a win-win situation.  Feel free to leave us any of your own experiences traveling lighter.

I found this video today about co2 emissions and thought I would share it with all of you.  It is a little bit graphic, but certainly gets the point across.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxis7Y1ikIQ

Another week has ended and I have learned quite a bit about green driving.  The actions I have taken this week will help not only the environment, but also our pocket books.  Our driving has an effect on the amount of gas we use and each gallon saved prevents over 19 pounds of greenhouse gases from getting into the atmosphere.  Our daily driving can dramatically impact the amount of greenhouse gases that are spewed into the atmosphere.

Probably the biggest changes I have made and expect to continually follow are checking/filling my tires and also to keep track of my mileage.  By keeping track of my mileage and mpg, I will be able to make a game out of this and try to get the best mileage possible.  I like that kind of stuff.  Checking my tires is something that I did know about, but have just failed to do.  I have now created a game to motivate me and numbers that I can chart or follow.

I will also try and change my actual driving habits to drive slower and take it easy on my breaks as Ashley recommended this week.  This might be a bit difficult for me though since these are habits I have been forming for nearly 20 years.  I think I already drive like a grandma, but will do my best to slow down (but always driving like those around me to ensure safety).  The game I created may come into play to see if speed helps me get better mpg.

Also, I did a bit of poking fun at NASCAR and implying that they are bigoted against right turns.  The message I was really trying to convey is the waste that surrounds this sport.  Also, on the other end of the spectrum, we had a guest post from EcoGeeco who owns a GEM electric car and charges it with solar panels he built.  Very cool stuff and really appreciate the guest post.

It has been an environmentally productive week and I am continuing to make changes every week that is having long term benefits.  If this is something I can do, it is something anybody can do.  Follow me via RSS or email to go through this journey with me!

I think it is important for me to step away from the normal topic of my blog (going green) and bring up a topic that I feel needs to be addressed if we are to move forward as a people.  NASCAR needs to start respecting the right orientation now.  I started this topic with the intention of relating it to this week’s task of increasing driving efficiency, but looking through the various NASCAR tracks I noticed almost NO tracks where they could turn right.   It appears that NASCAR is bigoted against the right turn and I am asking you to sign a petition for orientation equality!  Save the right turn.

Yes to the Right Turn

I was trying to write an article that highlighted the horrible gas mileage (about 5 mpg) over long periods (about 500 miles) and not really going anywhere, but this obvious bias to the left turn kept on nagging at my soul!  I think I even got to the part where they indicated between 9 and 14 sets of tires are used during a race, but then had to change my topic.  NASCAR needs to stop being bigoted to the right turn!

There are many things that are wonderful about the right turn.  Some of which are follows:

1. Could you even have a left without the right?
2. You can turn right on red lights.
3. This song would not be the same without the right orientation.
4. Most people would not be able to write without their right hands.
5. The loss of Righty Tighty / Lefty Loosey will cause hours of inefficiency and worldwide safety issues.

There are many other things that are wonderful about the right turn and NASCAR should act now to treat the right turn as an equal to the left turn.  NASCAR might be turning over a new leaf and just starting to try and go green by putting someone in charge of green innovation, but I still think they should put someone in charge of right turn equality.   Some may think it hard to excuse the 14,000 TON carbon footprint of the 2008 Daytona 500, but I think the obvious bias to turning left cannot be overlooked any longer and this is where the real outrage should be.  Save the right turn!

People of the universe… join me in this great cause.  Once I have collected as many signatures as possible, I will submit this to NASCAR along with this post.

This week’s task, efficient driving, is somewhat new to me.   I started researching it more when the gas prices were soaring way above my comfort level.  I needed to make my tank of gas last longer between fill-ups.  I came across an article in thedailygreen.com just around that time that talked about several ways you can conserve gas just by changing your driving behavior.  You can save 10% on gas by utilizing these simple changes.

Ben already touched on some general car maintenance tips that will help save you gas, but I would like to go more into what I believe gives you a noticeable change in your gas consumption right away.  Some of these things require some thought right away, but you eventually it becomes a part of the way you drive that you don’t even think about it anymore.  First thing, pay attention to the traffic lights.  If you notice that the light has turned yellow and you are still far enough away, take your foot off the pedal.  This will slow you down enough, that you probably won’t have to break, and the light will turn green before you get there.  This not only saves idling time, but also wear and tear on your breaks.  Cost savings:  66-70 cents per gallon.

Second tip; don’t use your cars’ heat or air conditioning unless you absolutely need to.  This last summer I don’t think I even used my air conditioner once.  I opened the nice little window, and that worked enough to keep me comfortable.  Also don’t idle your car.  This incorporates warming up your car in the winter, which I am not sure if I believe it doesn’t help, but if I am planning on waiting over 30 seconds, I turn off my car. 

Third tip; clean out your car.  For every 100 extra pounds carried around, your vehicle loses 1 to 2% in fuel efficiency.  Not only does this make your car easier to car-pool your favorite co-workers, but also saves you an extra 3 cents per gallon for every 100 pounds of junk removed. 

Fourth tip; slow down.  This has many facets to it.  First don’t “jack-rabbit” start and stop.  Rapid acceleration and breaking can decrease fuel economy by 33%.   Also, mind the speed limit.  You burn 10% more fuel at 65 mph than you do at 55.  At 70 you lose 17%, and 75 mph you are 25% less fuel efficient.  Ah-hem Ben!  Mr. “I like to drive 80 mph to keep up with everybody else” Myhre.  I also learned that there is an organization drive55.org that promotes this notion of staying at 55 mph or below will keep you safer and improve the fuel efficiency of your car dramatically.

A lot of things to teach yourself, but these things become a part of your driving habits quickly.  Before I would fill up every 2 weeks; now that it’s colder, and I have implemented these new driving habits I have increased the amount of time between fill-ups by a week.  If there is any other tips you have for improving the efficiency of your car, leave us a note in the section below.

This week’s task is to try and improve the environment through better driving. Since Ashley and I drive little Saturn vehicles, I did not think we could do a whole lot more to improve, but I was 100% wrong and astonished with the information I found.  I understand that the less gas we use the less impact on the environment and will convey what I learned about a driver’s impact on the environment.

What is the impact that one gallon of gas has on the environment and why is it important to conserve gas?  According to Slate, one gallon of gas equates to 19 pounds of greenhouse gases. The average person drives about 12,000 miles and Google.org indicates that the nation average mpg for trucks and cars are 19.8 mpg.  This equates to 606 Gallons of gas per year or approximately 11,500 pounds of green house gases per person per year.  If a person drives for 50 years, this ends up being 575,000 pounds or 287 tons of CO2 per driver over a lifetime.  With over 190.5 million drivers in the US, this adds up to 2,190,750,000,000 pounds CO2/year or 109,537,500,000,000 pounds over a lifetime.  Holy Greenhouse!  This seems high to me and if anyone notices my math is messed up, please let me know!

OK, so now that I am dizzy with numbers, what can we do as one person?  How about this short list:

1. Make sure your tires are filled. Properly inflated tires result in a savings of 20 gallons of gas every year or saves 380 lbs of greenhouse gases.
2. Keep your engine tuned. Using statistics found here (based on 12,000 and 19.8mpg), keeping your engine tuned can save you about 24 gallons of gas a year or 456 lbs of greenhouse gases
3. Drive sensibly.  Aggressive driving lowers your mpg.  The sited link indicates a driver can increase efficiency from 5-33%.  Using an average of 15% (based on 12,000 and 19.8mpg), that is 91 gallons of gas or 1729 pounds of greenhouse gases.
4. Follow the speed limit.  Apparently fuel efficiency dramatically drops after 60 mph.  The link indicates a fuel economy benefit of between 7-23%, but I am just going to average it out at 10%.  This ends up being 61 gallons or 1209 pounds of greenhouse gases.
5. Remove excess weight – Do you have extra heavy stuff hanging out in your car that could be removed?  This can provide 1-2% fuel economy or about 12 gallons/228 pounds of greenhouse gases.
6. Avoid idling – You get 0 mpg if you are standing still.
7. Use your Cruise Control when appropriate – This will save you gallons on the highway.

Just by following these few simple tips, we can reduce our greenhouse gas output by 4002 pounds per year!  Every driver can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2 TONS if they take just a few steps.  Once again, the numbers I have found amaze me.  I can be responsible for tons of waste spewing in the air.  Over 50 years of driving, that is 100 tons of greenhouse gases.

To be proactive on this topic, I am going to act like my late grandpa (love and miss ya Ralph!) and start a log to keep track of my mileage.  Like my grandpa, I am assuming that I will save boatloads of money every year, but possibly I am making a huge impact (or lack of) on the environment also.  If you know of other things a person can do to increase mileage or have any additional information about my information, please post in the comments area below.

A new week begins and my new green task is assigned.  My challenge for the week is to drive in a more environmentally fashion.  I think my lovely wife believes I drive like a maniac and that I am wasting all sorts of energy because of how I drive.  While, at the same time, I have other friends who believe I drive like a slow grandmother.  I am torn on what to believe!  What I am not torn on is what I need to do this week.

My job is to investigate and research ways that I can drive or maintain my vehicle in an environmentally responsible manner.  Since I used to travel as part of my job, I do understand that there are some basic things a person can do to increase gas mileage.  I will look into this further and the environmental impact of driving behavior. I am not exactly sure where this week will take me yet, but I may look into road quality as well as driving as a possible factor in increased gas mileage. 

I know there are millions of cars on the road and they all impact our environment in one way or another.  From the Hummer to the Prius, I suspect they all have a negative impact on our environment.  How one drives and the maintenance of those vehicles can affect the impact on the environment.  Stick around this week to work through this challenge with me or let me know any tips you might have in the comments area below.