With a gasoline prices as high as they are, getting the biggest bang for your buck at the pump is essential. In fact, families are reportedly spending more on transportation than on food these days. That is anyone who drives a vehicle needs to be aware of some of the basic fuel economy tricks of the trade.

Now, you may be aware of some of these already, you might even do a few of  them off and on, but when it all comes down to it, if you really want to save money and improve your fuel economy, take the following suggestions to heart. You’ll be glad you did.

Infographic provided by Staveley Head

As I said earlier, when it comes to saving gas and increasing fuel economy, there are many steps you can take. The key is to first learn about how your driving technique is impacting your fuel economy. From there you will be able to make changes that will allow you to save time, money, and heartache. Add in a little Green Plus® Gasoline fuel saver or Diesel fuel saver and you’ll see your vehicle’s harmful emissions going down and your fuel economy going up. Sounds like a win-win to me.

I decided to write this blog post because we are currently in the middle of a few rain storms in Southern California and I thought it might be good to go over some tips and information regarding how rain can affect your commute and fuel economy. If you’ve even been to Southern California you probably know heavy rains are not a common occurrence. Many drivers aren’t used to driving in the rain around here and when it does rain, you end up with accidents, flooding, mud-slides and other rain-related problems.

So here are a few rainy day driving tips that could not only help you stay safe on the road, but could potentially improve your fuel economy in the rain as well:

1) Quick acceleration and/or breaking fast can reduce your fuel economy by up to 33% on the highway. With slick roads and sometimes poor visibility due to rain, a good tip is to slow down and give a little more room between you and the vehicle in front of you. Your vehicle does not react the same on a dry road as it does on a wet road, so you’ll need to compensate for the difference.

2) Watch out for areas of standing water. Areas of standing water could cause your vehicle to hydroplane or if the water is deep enough, could cause your vehicle to get stuck. Especially if it’s the first rain after a long dry spell, you’ll have the concern of oil and other spilled fluids that can add to the slick surface of the road. While it may be fun to go racing through a “puddle” to watch water splash everywhere, you never know what that puddle could be hiding.

3) Ensure your tires are in good condition. Worn out tires have shallow grooves and don’t provide the type of traction you need when driving in the rain. Improperly inflated tires can wear your tires down faster and affect your ability to maneuver on wet roads. Plus…don’t forget, tires can lose up to a pound of pressure for every 10 degree drop in temperature. And unaligned tires can create unneeded friction while driving and this too can cause tires to wear out and lower fuel economy.

4) Ensure you and your vehicle are properly prepared for a rainy day drive. Although I recommend having basic emergency supplies in your car at all times, when you go out driving in the rain or snow this becomes even more important. Accidents and traffic are commonplace in bad weather and you should be prepared for that. Ensure your car has a basic emergency kit, water, blanket(s), snacks, etc. Fill up (or fully charge your vehicle if you have an electric vehicle) before you head out. You can also use a proven fuel additive to add to your fuel economy. You never know when a “short” drive can turn into a long trip.

Basically, when it all comes down to it, your vehicle and fuel economy are not the same in dry conditions as they are in wet, rainy conditions. You must factor that in when driving in the rain. So before you head out for work, school, errands, etc. brush up on your “Tips for Driving in Rain” so you can have a safe and happy drive!

Image by biofriendly

No matter what form of transportation you use, one of the key things you should factor in is cost to you and the environment.  How much does it cost to run that vehicle?  How much is your car polluting the air?  How much will a proven fuel additive help lower emissions and improve fuel economy? Is it better for the environment and less costly to you to use public transportation?  Is time a factor in whether or not you are using public transportation?  How easy is it for you to get to the bus or train station?  Is there a station near your work?  All of those questions are a factor when it comes to deciding what form of transporation is best for you.

We’ve been doing that in our family and continue to find new ways to cut down.  First of all, out of necessity, we became a one-car family.  Even though we have two kids and a 70-lb dog (who goes with us a lot of the time), we just didn’t want to continue to make 2 car payments or pay twice as much insurance, especially since I work from home.  We also recently moved and there are a lot of stores and activities in close proximity to us, so walking is a great way for us to get around (when it isn’t 103 degrees outside).  Getting rid of one car saved us about $500+ per month on just car payments/insurance, not to mention gas, maintenance, repairs, etc.  It also saved about 9 tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted into the environment every year.

Shortly after that we started driving my husband to work one day a week so that we could use the car.  We use it to go visit the kids’ grandparents.  We manage to see two sets of grandparents every time we do it, so it saves us time, gas money and emissions.  To further save gas/mileage, my husband car-pools home from work those days.

Then our most recent step was actually started due to a new program his work set up.  They now pick up employees from Union Station in downtown L.A., if they ride train to work.  His office is about a 10-minute drive from Union Station, so prior to the new program, it didn’t really work for him to take the train to downtown then try and catch other lines/buses to get closer to work.  It took too much time and he would arrive at work late.  But since his company set up this new shuttle service, it has been working great.  He takes the train once or twice a week, when he needs to go to his downtown office, and the company picks him (and others) up.  He likes it because it is a lot less stressful, he gets to relax or work on the train, it doesn’t cost us as much and is less wear & tear on the car.  Oh…and did I mention, when he buys a 10-trip pass and uses it, his company reimburses him for 50% of the cost.

So, no matter who you are or what actions you are currently taking to curb your transporation costs and pollution, take some time to research what else you can do.  You may be pleasantly surprised as your city may have just the right program for you.  For example, in New York there is a group call Transportation Alternatives and their mission is “to reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives”.  In the San Francisco and Boston areas, there is a car service called PlanetTran which provides “the Nation’s first public auto service to utilize ultra fuel efficient hybrid vehicles exclusively”.  In Portland, in addition to being a bike/pedestrian-friendly city, they have Tri-Met which includes buses, the Max light rail, WES commuter rail and the Portland streetcars, one of which can pretty much get you anywhere you want to go in Portland.

But no matter where you live, big city or small, you can always check the websites of your local Metro trains, buses and even the EPA has a great “Green Vehicle Guide” to help you cut costs and environmental pollution.  What are you waiting for?

Image from PathtoFreedom.com 

When it comes to sustainable-living, not many people can say they are living a sustainable life, much less a green one.  Don’t get me wrong, many people have parts of their life where they are trying to be green or trying to act more responsible when it comes to the environment, but aside from maybe using biodiesels, driving a hybrid, recycling or trying to conserve water, how much are we really doing?

Well the DerVaes family in Pasadena, CA decided they wanted to do more.  Over the past 20+ years, they have transformed their early 1900′s Craftsman bungalow home and run-down yard into a whole new level of urban living.  Determined to live a self-sufficient, low-impact life right in the middle of a big Southern California city, the Dervaes set out along their “Path to Freedom”.

Here are just some of their accomplishments on their Urban Homestead:

To start off, they try to do four days every week without using their car.  That’s four days where they walk, ride their bikes or take public transportation.  The other days when they do drive, they use their own homemade biodiesel.  Since they average less than 4000 miles a year on their car, every month or so they just brew up a 30-gallon batch of biodiesel made from used vegetable oil provided by one of their restaurant clients.  (NOTE: For those of you who don’t have vehicle that runs on diesel or don’t have a hybrid/electric vehicle, using a reliable fuel additive is another good alternative to help reduce emissions and increase fuel economy.) 

They have organic vege-fed ducks and chickens which provide eggs and goats which are used for milk.  None of the animals are grown for meat purposes, but the manure from those animals (and their rabbits) is another re-usable product and great for gardens and future growth.   

They have about 4350 sq ft of gardens where year-round they grow fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs and even edible flowers.  Any excess the family doesn’t use is usually sold to local restaurants and caterers, however individuals can also get on the mailing list to be notified when excess produce is available.  They grow over 350 varieties of edible and useful plants (seasonal, of course) totaling about 6,000 lbs per year.

They have cut their energy use in half with 2/3rds of their energy coming from their 12 solar panels.  They also follow key energy saving tips such as using rechargable batteries, line-drying their clothes, using energy-efficient appliances, using olive oil lamps and homemade candles.  They use people-power to run many of their small applicances including a hand-powered toaster, bike-blender and radio.  They even have a solar powered oven.  They have no A/C and no central heating, but have solar attic fans and a wood-burning stove which uses up their scrap wood.

They have dramatically cut down on their water-waste, even with the large volume of produce they grow throughout the year.  They have incorporated low flush toilets and solar outdoor showers into the household.  They also do hand watering, mulching, re-use laundry water, etc.

I, for one, am very impressed not only with their dedication but with their accomplishments.  They aren’t living on a 12-acre farm somewhere, instead they have turned their city home into a profitable and viable way of sustainable living.  Incorporating everything from biodiesel to water waste, the DerVaes family has set the pace for urban homesteaders everywhere!

Biodiesel Home Brewing Guide photo from Peddlerswagon.com. Garden photo from DerVaesGardens.com.

Image by CSatch

The other day I was flipping through Woman’s Day magazine and I saw this great little article titled “the best way to recycle it”.  It basically said how to recycle old outdoor equipment.  Of course that got me thinking, what other odds and ends (or even every-day use items) can you recycle rather than toss?

So I figured I’d do some looking and see what I could find.  Here are just a few things I found:

• Old sports equipment, balls, hockey sticks, skis, camping gear, etc – donate it to your local community center or youth organization.  I’m sure there are many kids/adults who would be happy to use your “recycled” equipment.
• CDs, DVDs and their cases – If you don’t want to donate them for someone else’s enjoyment, you can always give them to a recycling program to be recycled into an egg carton or automotive part. 
• Tennis shoes and other athletic footwear (no cleats) – Nike has a great program caleld Reuse-a-shoe that turns athletic footwear into a material called “Nike Grind” and then uses it to surface playgrounds, running tracks and outdoor courts.  Talk about giving back to the sport.
• Glasses, please don’t throw them away – You can donate glasses or frames to the Give the Gift of Sight Foundation or drop them off at your local eyeglass chain such as LensCrafters or even Walmart has recycling bins for glasses/frames (cell phones, too).
• Your “old clunker” - rather than trying to sell it to someone else so that they drive around in your high-emission, low-mpg vehicle, trade it in at your local dealer as part of the Car Allowance Rebate System (aka Cash for Clunkers).  Oh wait, they just suspended that program as it was a little “too successful”.  Well, you can still donate your old car to programs like PurpleHeartCars.org where your donation supports combat-wounded veterans and their families.

And remember, until they reinstate the Car Allowance Rebate System, you can always do simple actions to increase the fuel economy and lower your emissions.  Rotating and properly inflating your tires, using a proven fuel additive, getting your car a tune-up, etc. all help lower emissions and improve fuel economy.

Now of course most of these items can be donated to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, your local church, shelters or other non-profit charities that accept goods.  The main thing to remember is even if you can’t use it or no longer use an item, it doesn’t mean you should just throw it away.  If it is in workable condition, someone else can most definitely make good use of it.  If it really is “junk”, then ensure you recycle it if you can.  You never know what wonderful things your recycled junk could bring to life.

Image by ** Maurice **  

I’m off today through Monday for the 4th of July holiday weekend.  Going to be spending some time with my family!  I hope all of you get a chance to enjoy the beautiful weekend and spend sometime outdoors as well!  Happy Independence Day! 

Here are a few tidbits of information I wanted to leave you with for this holiday weekend:

• Please remember that your pets may not appreciate fireworks as much as you do.  Keep these tips in mind when planning your firework fun! 
• “Fourth of July fireworks unleash a shower of toxins into the soil and water, and scientists are only beginning to figure out what that means for human health.” – Mother Nature Network.   But whether you are already planning to attend a local fireworks show or if you are looking for a more eco-friendly way to celebrate, please take a moment to read their blog.  It has quite of bit of good information.
• Before you leave for your holiday, ensure your car is tuned up, fluids checked, tires properly inflated and of course it’s always helpful to use a good fuel additive.  Each of these steps can help you save money and get better fuel economy…always a good thing.
• Last but not least, drive safe!  If you are planning on drinking, don’t drive.  AAA offers So Cal members a “Tipsy Tow” service for the vehicle and driver for up to 7 miles.   The service starts tonight at 6pm and goes until midnight on July 4th.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Image by biofriendly

They state they are “Cleaning the air we breathe…” and their program is designed to provide information to people to help them make smarter personal transportation decisions.  Decisions that will be better for the environment and help improve air quality.  Who are they?  Cleanairchoices.org.

Have you ever heard about them?  Well, I found out about them while driving home one day.  I saw an SUV that was basically a cleanairchoices.org promotion, so I figured I’d check them out.

The website itself mostly provide links and information from a variety of agencies and organizations.  But one of these was a link to greenercars.org.

Greenercars.org is the official website for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) Green Book – a unique consumer resource that provides Green Scores on the environment friendliness of every vehicle on the market.  They also have some great “green driving tips” such as:

• Avoid “jack rabbit” starts and aggressive driving.  Flooring the gas pedal not only wastes gas, it leads to drastically higher pollution rates.  One second of high-powered driving can produce nearly the same volume of carbon monoxide emissions as a half hour of normal driving. (Really?!…I didn’t know that)
• Take a load off.  Carrying around an extra 100 pounds reduces fuel economy by about 1%.  Take a few moments to unload your cargo area.  (I’m sure this doesn’t apply to having another person – extra pounds – in the car from car-pooling or ride-sharing, as you save by taking one car rather than two.)
• Combine trips.  Warmed-up engines and catalysts generate much less air pollution, so combining several short trips into one can make a big difference.  (I try to do this as it saves time, money and with two kids it’s definitely easier to combine trips.)

They also have maintenance tips, careful fill-up tips, prudent parking tips, information on “commuter choice” programs and more.  For more information you can go to their website.  So, when it comes to keeping the air we breathe clean, any tips you can learn and adopt into your life, will be all the better for the environment.  Take a minute and see if you can learn something new.  If you have any good tips for green driving, improving air quality, etc. I’d love for you to share them here.

Image by biofriendly

If you ask almost anyone, they know that ride-sharing, car- or van-pooling and using public transportation will definitely make a difference to your fuel economy.  It will also save you money.  So, why don’t more people ride-share or car-pool?

Maybe it’s because they don’t know how much they will save.  Now I don’t live in the Northeast, but I recently starting following a company on Twitter and thought I’d go to their site and check it out.  It’s The Rideshare Company.  So I went to www.rideshare.com to calculate how much we would save if we had my husband ride-share or van-pool to work (I work from home, so no car-pool needed). 

I filled out their form and it showed that the estimated cost per mile for gas, maintenance and tires ran us about $0.2437.  Then it showed the estimated cost per day for vehicle depreciation was $11.63.  His overall estimated drive-alone commuting costs were $448.98 per month and $5387.76 per year.  Ouch!  Then they gave me the estimated cost for full time ride-share costs in a full size van – $1584.00, breaking down to about $132.00 per month.  Well, that’s a heck of a lot better than the $448.98 per month in drive-alone costs!

They also give you some environmental impact results they’ve had so far, including contributing to: 402 million less miles traveled, 11 million fewer vehicle trips, 201 thousand fewer tons of emissions released into the air (could be reduced even further with a good fuel additive) and 19 million gallons of gasoline conserved.  And that’s just from one ride-share company!

So, if every car emits its own weight in CO2 per year, then cutting just 25 miles a week from your regular driving could apparently save 1500 lbs of CO2.  Plus just think of the fuel economy, the savings and the lowered stress levels you would have by ride-sharing even just once or twice a week.  Honey…your ride-share is here!

Image by sylvar  

Something happened the other day to a friend of mine that got me thinking, are car repairs and car maintenance a biofriendly necessity in this day and age or are they just a waste of money?

As most of us know, new cars tend to come with a maintenance plan (or at least one you can add on to the purchase price of the car).  If you take advantage of this plan, you can go in and get regular oil changes, tires rotated, liquids checked, brakes checked, etc.  Each of these things along with good driving skills, use of a good fuel additive, decent road conditions, etc. help keep your car running well and contribute to increasing your fuel economy and lowering your harmful emissions.  

But let’s say you have a used car and/or something goes wrong?  Let’s say, for example, your check engine light goes on.  What do you do then?  It’s not something you want to ignore because heaven forbid you all of a sudden break down.

My friend had her check engine light go on a few weeks ago so she took her car to an auto repair shop.  She then received a call from them telling her she had a cracked cylinder and it would cost around $4000 for it to be replaced.  She didn’t know much about cars but she knew she didn’t have that kind of money and besides, that was more than the car was even worth.  What now?  Luckily, when she told her husband he suggested they get a second opinion.  They took the car to a different repairman and he told them there was no cracked cylinder…that’s right, no cracked cylinder.  He told them what was wrong and that it would cost a little under $200 for him to fix it.  Needless to say, they had him do the repairs.

What would you have done in that situation?  Well, I know for me, I try to get at least 2-3 quotes on almost everything I do.  Especially nowadays, I want to find the best deal at the lowest price, so I think it’s worth shopping around.  But how do you know you aren’t being “taken”…this blog I found gives some common sense tips on how to get an accurate car repair assessment and estimate.

Car repairs are sometimes a necessity just to keep your car running much less running well.  But when it all comes down to being biofriendly or a waste of money…well, I guess that depends on where you go.  I say keeping your car well-maintained is good for you and for the environment.  Just be careful not to get ripped off.

Image from wired.com/autopia

You may have seen it or at least something like it, but Chrysler’s new fuel economic car is quickly drawing attention all across the country.  Aptly named the “Peapod”, Chrysler’s new car may be small, but when it comes to fuel economy it is anything but that.  Requiring only about two cents a mile to run, it’s a pretty economic solution in this day and age.

It has a few environmentally-friendly features as well: it is made almost entirely from recycled materials and it totally electric (thus the great fuel economy and no harmful emissions).  A standard 110-volt outlet and six hours is all that is needed to re-charge the car’s batteries.  So while you sleep you can charge your cell phone and your car all on the same outlet.  (Of course I wouldn’t recommend parking your Peapod in the bedroom, if that’s where you currently charge your phone.)

Its seats are made of mesh and apparently it is more like sitting in a comfortable office chair than a regular car seat.  And yes, if you look at the car and think it is smiling at you…it is.  As Designer Peter Arnell told the Today Show, “It’s smiling at the planet.  It’s a green car, so we thought it might be important for the image of the car to be happy all the time.”

Please note though, the Peapod is not legal for highway travel.  Mainly because it has a maximum speed of around 25 mph and only gets about 30 miles per charge, but that make it perfect for tooting around town, popping over to the grocery store, picking up the dry cleaning, taking the kid to a friend’s house, etc.

So while you may feel you need one vehicle (which hopefully is a hybrid or at least uses a good fuel additive to keep your emissions down), you could always get rid of that second vehicle in favor of the new Peapod.  Peapods become available October 2009 and are estimated to go on sale for about $12,500.  Is it for you?