Driving Green: 10 Ways to Be More Eco-Friendly on the Road

Every year the largest glacier in North America, the 120-mile long Bering Glacier, sheds seven times the water volume of Lake St. Clair near Detroit. It’s melting at a rate of 30 cubic kilometers per year, according to the Michigan Tech Research Institute. Many scientists believe that accelerated glacier melting is only one part of an alarming global-warming trend, part of which can be traced to the 140 million automobiles we drive 1.7 trillion miles yearly.

There are simple techniques every motorist can apply to reduce a vehicle’s negative impact on the environment and save money on fuel. Here we highlight 10 things any driver can start doing immediately with virtually no inconvenience to daily routine. They include actions as simple as clearing out the trunk to reduce weight, making sure tires are properly inflated and turning off the engine when the car is parked.

Automobiles are serious polluters. Each gallon of gasoline consumed generates about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to the EPA (click here to find out how they calculated this). The typical passenger car delivers six tons of CO2 to the atmosphere per year.

The CO2 that motor vehicles emit through their tailpipes gets trapped in the atmosphere for periods ranging from decades to centuries. Once in the atmosphere, the CO2 absorbs heat from the sun and radiates it back to Earth. Over years, this has caused the temperature of the oceans and the air to rise and has contributed to the phenomenon called global warming, scientists say. Gases in the atmosphere, like CO2, that contribute to global warming are called greenhouse gases. Others include water vapor, methane and ozone — some of which can be naturally occurring.

Many of the tips in this article help mitigate CO2 emissions by reducing fuel consumption; others address proper disposal of hazardous materials associated with vehicles.

Environmental well-being aside, an economic case for more conscientious motoring is equally compelling: The U.S. holds only 2 percent of the world’s crude oil reserves, but we consume 25 percent of what’s produced each year, according to the Department of Energy. Our cars, trucks and industries depend on 20.5 million barrels of oil everyday for the energy to sustain our mobility and prosperity. Nearly 60 percent of that oil is imported.

Instead of relying on industry and government to take measures to reduce pollution and fuel consumption, ordinary citizens can assume an active role with intelligent alterations of their daily habits.

To quantify the benefits of some tips on this list, author Don Sherman dug up data from tests that he helped engineer and conduct while he was an editor at Car and Driver. The data is from 1981 but is just as relevant today as the laws of physics are immutable and the internal combustion engine has changed relatively little in 20-plus years.

Image Credits: 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation

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