The Curly Light Bulb

Finally, someone has come up with instructions on how to conserve gas by merely changing the way you drive your car. I have already started trying to implement these changes. Hopefully I will be able to lighten my lead foot. The method is called hypermiling. According to the website:

What is hypermiling? According to a a fantastic August 2006 story in the Washington Post, it is a method of increasing your car’s gas mileage by making skillful changes in the way you drive, allowing you to save gas and thereby have an easier time withstanding the rising oil and gas prices.

So, I’m going to try it for 90 days and attempt to make it a habit. How about you? Can you drive in the slow lane? Can you lay off the breaks and leave a cushion between you and the next car so that you can coast more rather than brake? These are tall orders for an aggressive driver like myself, but I’m willing to try if it means saving gas.

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You’ve made your final payment on that 2002 model SUV. You’ve been waiting for this day; you now have a little wiggle room in your budget. What is not in your budget is one of those new hybrids that you are coveting. Your pangs of guilt each time you turn the key of your gas guzzler have caused you to give up. You are between a rock and a hard place financially, you don’t want to drive a fuel hemorrhaging SUV, but you feel like you do not have a choice. Do not despair, there are several steps you can take to make your fuel consumption closer to that of, at the very least, someone who drives a small sedan. Here are some tips (I’ve taken some from AAA and added some of my own):

1. Take public transit two days a week. This can cut your gas consumption pretty quickly. Need to pick your kids up from school? Make public transit an adventure and instill in them the value of making some sacrifices to use less energy. If public transit is not available try a carpool.
2. If you are a two car family and your other vehicle is more fuel efficient, try using it for the majority of your trips. If you have two different commutes, use the more fuel efficient car for the longer commute.
3. Try and plan your errands during a less congested time of the day when you won’t be sitting in traffic idling your gas away. On that note, try commuting to work an hour earlier or leaving an hour later to skip the traffic; inquire about flex time with your company, this can help you avoid traffic as well.
4. Go the speed limit. It is hard to follow this one but accelerating more and going faster burns more fuel.
5. Use the vehicle you were born with, you legs. Do a few errands a week by walking to the store or even walk to a friends house for a get together instead of driving.
6. If you have multiple errands to do in a day try and plan to go to a store or shopping center where you can get the majority of your errands done. The more you can do in one place the less you will be driving around.
7. Sock away some cash and make a promise to yourself that your next car will be green.

These tips can lower your emissions and help you save cash which, by the way, can be put toward your new energy efficient vehicle you’ll be buying when your pocketbook catches up with your conscience.

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