Daily Fuel Economy Tip

Top 5 Easiest Ways to Cut Back on Driving and Gasoline Consumption

I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to realize that the less you drive the less gasoline you’re going to waste.  Unfortunately, many of us believe that if we need to go somewhere or get something that we need to get in our car, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you should ride your bike 100 miles to go visit your grandparents.  Obviously there are going to be plenty of times when not driving isn’t an option. 

That being said, there are going to be plenty of times when we can get away from having to drive, and we need to do a better job taking advantage of those opportunities.

So, here are the Top 5 Easiest Ways to Cut Back on Driving and Gasoline Consumption:

1. Walk or ride a bike.  This one’s pretty obvious, but it’s worth stating - if you can get where you’re going by walking or riding a bike, go ahead and do it.  All of those quick half mile car rides to the grocery store or post office add up pretty quickly.  Relax, enjoy the nice weather and go for a stroll.  Besides, it’ll help you keep the pounds off, which will help increase your gas mileage even more.
2. Use mass transit.  Before I start getting angry comments and emails, I understand that good mass transit isn’t available to everyone, especially people who live in rural areas.  That being said, there’s really no excuse for people to live in suburban or urban areas to not take advantage of mass transit.
3. Carpool.  Whether it’s putting together a car pool for soccer practice or for the work commute, car pooling is a great way to reduce the number of cars on the road.  Think about it, if you could get three other co-workers that live relatively close to you to join a car pool, on any given morning there are three less cars on the road.
4. Shop online.  This one’s a personal favorite because I absolutely hate shopping in crowded stores.  By shopping online you get the convenience of easy comparison shopping, you get the products delivered directly to your home and you don’t have to drive to a bunch of different places to find what you’re looking for.
5. Combine trips.  That being said, if you do have to run out to the store, or make multiple stops, go ahead and combine the trips.  There’s really no sense in running to the grocery store, driving home and then going out 15 minutes later to return a DVD.  Put all of those trips together and save a lot of needless driving and wasted gas.

In case you didn’t notice, most of these instances required you to give up driving short distances - with the possible exclusion of your commute - so you probably shouldn’t be put out too much.

And just think, you’re going to reduce the amount of miles you put on your car, the amount of pollutants you put in the air, and you’ll probably even get some exercise.  All things considered, that sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

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