So today is Earth Day. Happy Earth Day everyone! We own three cars. My New Beetle, a Honda CR-V (hope to replace with a TDI Tiguan) and a 1965 Buick Skylark (should be a Notchback but it was inherited). The Skylark runs but has been in the garage for a long time. The New Beetle and CR-V are the daily drivers.
The Skylark is a V8. The CR-V gets great mileage as is and my New beetle avgerages 22.2mpg city and have peeked at 32.2mpg/tank 96% highway. Not bad for a mod’d 1.8T.
There are a few ways I try to equal out our gas use and environmental impact. Reuse, recycle, buy local, buy from companies that make smarter choices and offset with windpower or so (Kettle Chips, Clif Bar. Yes, there are plenty of holes to poke in anyones story.
One site we like to use is terrapass. We are not affiliated with them. They have updated their carbon calculator with better support for alternative fuel types, one way flights and home with multiple cars.
Once you’ve calculated you carbon use, you can balance it buy buying carbon offsets.
Here are some good tips to remember but always maintain your vehicle, have it checked when needed! It’s really not that hard.
Reduce your CO2 emissions
- Lose any excess weight inside the vehicle.
- Check your tire pressure regularly. You’ll be safer and save gas at the same time.
- Brake and accelerate smoothly. You’ll save up to 30% of your gas.
- Use cruise control on the highway to maintain a constant fuel-efficient speed.
- A roof rack increases drag. Remove it when it’s not being used.
- Replace your air filter once a year. You’ll get 10% more mileage.
- Don’t idle for longer than 30 seconds. Turn the engine off instead.
More resources:
Car Talk resources
Better Fuel economy
Give our shiny new carbon calculator a spin
Lots of improvements — including better support for alternative fuel types. We just launched an overdue rev of our spiffy carbon calculators. Try ‘em out for yourself. A quick rundown of some of the new features:
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