Save money and the environment in 10 easy steps
Your choice of vehicle, and how you drive and maintain it, affect both the planet and your pocketbook
As I’ve absorbed the media coverage over the past few days related to Canadian Environment Week and all that it encompasses, I couldn’t help but think about how far the automotive industry has come over the past decade or so in its efforts to do good for the planet.
Combining some of the most advanced environmental technologies ever developed and the lowest vehicle prices in a generation, automobile manufacturers have made it a lot easier for average drivers to do their part for the environment, not just on World Environment Day or Clean Air Day, but every day.
Whether you’re a driver yourself or simply enjoy offering advice from the back seat, here are my top 10 tips to help you celebrate sustainability, improve air quality and save money when it comes to your vehicle:
1. Consider a cleaner vehicle. With vehicle prices and interest rates on new vehicles hitting record lows, there’s never been a better time to reduce your emissions by upgrading to a new, more fuel- efficient vehicle.
2. Participate in the BC SCRAP- IT program and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by getting older vehicles off the road. Retire your 1995 or older vehicle and choose from a long list of incentives. Replacing a 1990 sedan with a 2009 hybrid can result in a reduction of up to 67 per cent in greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Avoid unnecessary idling. It wastes fuel, money, stresses your engine and adds unnecessary pollution to the air.
4. Get regular tune- ups. Vehicles that are properly serviced run more efficiently, waste less fuel and produce less air pollution.
5. Take advantage of the Clean Energy Vehicles for British Columbia incentive program. Receive up to $ 5,000 off the pre- tax price of a clean energy vehicle, including new electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, plug- in hybrid electric vehicles. Filling up on clean electricity in B. C. can save the average driver up to $ 1,200 per year in fuel.
6. Make sure your tires are properly inflated. Chronic under- inflation can reduce the service life of a tire by as much as 15,000 kilometres. Canadian motorists will waste an estimated 533 million litres of fuel due to underinflated tires this year alone. This needless fuel consumption will also release an additional 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
7. Recycle your scrap tires. Returning your old tires to a participating retailer to help keep scrap tires out of landfill and create useful recycled rubber products such as athletic tracks and playground cover.
8. Watch the lead foot. How you drive has an impact on how much fuel your vehicle uses and, in turn, the level of emissions. To use less fuel, slow down, maintain steady speeds and avoid jackrabbit starts and hard braking.
9. Watch your weight. Clean out the trunk, cargo areas and passenger compartments. Less weight means better fuel economy. Keeping an extra 100 pounds of weight in a car will reduce its fuel economy by approximately two per cent.
10. Get sleeker. Remove roof racks when not in use, to reduce wind resistance, which improves aerodynamics and fuel economy by as much as five per cent.