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So my friend Doug had a car that was on it’s last legs so to speak.  It had reached the point of one repair too many and he decided to donate it.  I think donating it was a great move so that it can get further use out of it supporting a good cause.  While his car was slowly dieing, he was nudged into taking public transportation to get to and from work.  Not surprisingly, he really liked taking public transportation.  Looking back, he is saving a ton of money and seeing a number of benefits that I wanted to share with you.

Let’s start with the money because I know more people are persuaded by it.  Here is what his car was costing him before he started using public transportation:

• Monthly car payment = $0 (already paid off)
• Gas = $72.54 per month (9 gallon tank, 2 tanks per month @ $4.03 per gallon)
• Insurance = $70 per month
• Parking Fees (Downtown Cleveland) = $145

So before using public transportation he was spending $287.54 per month just going to and from work.  My initial reaction is that it isn’t that bad.

Now let’s look at what he spends without his car.

• Monthly RTA pass = $70 

So by switching to take public transportation to work everyday he is saving $217.54 every month.  That is impressive.  These numbers don’t include basic maintenance either, like oil changes. I can’t think of another way to save that much money every month.  What would you do with an extra $200 a month? 

While the money says a lot, it isn’t the only thing.  There is the whole aspect of the emissions the car puts out.  Without having the car, he is making less frivolous trips to places like the bookstore.  This means he isn’t spending money on gas, again no emissions, and he isn’t buying as many books.  He doesn’t stress about driving and can also get some work done while sitting on the bus/train.

This has been Doug’s story of going to public transportation in Cleveland.  I made the same switch when I moved to Philly.  I haven’t sold my car yet, but it is on my to do list.  I love taking the train here.  I’m getting more exercise (about 2 miles of walking a day) and I can’t make an excuse to skip it.  I don’t have to stress over the traffic getting into downtown.  I’ve also been reading while on the train, catching up on my Stephen King collection, or sometimes I watch podcasts (if I remember to charge my iPod).

I realize some people feel very attached to their cars and don’t feel that they can give them up.  They wonder how they would get to the grocery store.  In Doug’s situation, his wife still has a car, so they use it for running to the store.  In my situation, my husband and I want to go down to one car as well.  There really isn’t a reason why we need two cars for the two of us, especially when I take public transportation and my husband works from home.  You can go down to one car per household without much of an issue.  There are also other services in larger cities like PhillyCarShare and ZipCar, so you don’t have to have a car at all, but if you need one, one is available.

We are all getting upset over gas prices and looking for ways improve the outlook for fuel.  A lot of people are looking at the cars they drive, ways they commute, or perhaps even instituting flextime at work or telecommuting.  But have you thought about looking within your home?   Most people don’t think about energy their homes consume when they feel the “pain at the pump”.

According to some stats published by Owens Corning (they cite the Department of Energy, but take it for what it’s worth), 80% of homes built before 1980 are not insulated to government standards and even newer homes are only insulated to the minimum standard.  They also have the following quote on their website:

“Many Americans assume that transportation and industry are the largest consumers of energy in the U.S., but it’s actually buildings,” said Wendy Burt from the U.S. Department of Energy. “The electricity consumed by one single home puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars. The good news is there are simple energy-efficient upgrades we can make, such as adding insulation in the attic and caulking windows and doors that reduce our energy footprint and save us money.”

Owens Corning also offers a Home Report Card Quiz to figure out where your home ranks for energy efficiency.  I took the quiz for my house back in Cleveland (we sold it for those of you following my personal life as well) and it received a grade of B.  We were good with energy efficient appliances, good on the hot water heater, decent on the windows, but we could have improved on sealing up those cracks that temperature controlled air leaks out of.  Now I do realize all this information could be taken as slighted since it all comes from a company that produces insulation.  Even if half of it were true, this is still pretty amazing and they are things we should pay attention to.

Instead of getting mad and support off shore drilling, do something about it.  Add value to your home; conserve the energy you use, by making your home more energy efficient.  Whether it be to insulate your home, or just sealing up cracks around the home where heated and cooled temperatures leak.  While I’m awful at economics, I do know that by not using fuel for heating and cooling, it makes it available for other uses and would lower prices because there is less demand (or something like that).

I was reading this article today on CNN about this guy in London who figured out how to build a bicycle out of cardboard.  The market is for people who don’t want to spend a lot on a bike that might get stolen and hopefully make it cheap enough so that someone won’t even want to steal the bike.  Additionally the concept would be to replace the cardboard frame every 6 months.

Now CNN has put this in a very green aspect but I’m torn on how I feel about that. Yes, making biking an affordable and secure mode of transportation helps with all the negative impacts that cars have on the environment.  However, replacing an entire bike frame every 6 months can’t be ideal either.  I realize we aren’t living in an ideal world, if we were this blog wouldn’t exist.  Perhaps this is just a step, but is it the right one?  We get away from the infamous carbon footprint, but is generating more waste better?

Just some thoughts I had on the topic today.  Not an answer or something that we can do, but perhaps something to think about as we do look at the changes we are making.

On another transportation note, and an upcoming post will feature this, I have been taking the train into work every day and loving it.  I’ve been living here for 4 weeks now and have yet to go to the gas station to fill up.  Especially nice when gas is over $4 a gallon.

There has been a lot of news lately about how gas prices are going to reach $4.00/gallon this summer.  So I thought it would be appropriate to talk about how your driving style can directly impact the fuel consumption of your car. When a car manufacturer publishes the fuel economy (like say 35 MPG), this is achieved under closer to ideal conditions, and driving style (along with road condition) can change the actual MPG achieved.  I believe that there are essentially 3 types of drivers: 1. Aggressive, 2. PITAs, and 3. Easy Going.

Aggressive drivers waste a lot of fuel.  The real quick speeding up to get around someone or just to take off at a light really uses gas unnecessarily.  Do you really need to get in front of the next car to make it to your destination 5 seconds sooner?  The last minute breaking is also wasteful.  Aggressive drivers use full amounts of fuel until the last minute when they hit their breaks, when they could be slowing down sooner and use a lot less gas.

Pain In The A** (PITA) drivers also waste fuel.  Let me explain my term for a PITA driver.  This is the person that drives insanely slow, takes forever to make a turn, and sits at light long after it has turned green.  Some people might ask, if they are driving so slowly, how could they be wasting gas?  Think of it this way, accelerating takes more gas than just cruising.  If I accelerate at a normal pace for say 1 minute, yes more gas is consumed than if I accelerate at a slower speed for 1 minute.  But it will take much longer for a PITA driver to get up to cruising speed; therefore they are using more gas for the trip they are making.  (Yes, there is a sweet spot for this, but I think that is where the calm, easy going driving fits in.)

The easy going, calm driver fits in in-between the previous two driving styles.  Easy acceleration, but not too slow.  Takes the foot off the gas pedal and just coasts on an exit ramp when they know they need to stop.  This style of driving can achieve close to peak fuel efficiency for the vehicle they are driving.

So I’ve been watching how I drive the past couple weeks and try to be a much more calm driver.  With the instant fuel efficiency indicator that I have in my car, I can really watch how I drive impacts the fuel economy. Here is a short list of things that I’ve been watching myself do to get better fuel efficiency:

1. Take my foot off the pedal on exit ramps and just coast
2. Let myself speed up on the downhill to store up momentum (no speeding tickets from this yet)
3. Let the car slow down a bit while going uphill (what goes up must come down, see #2)
4. Don’t just “take off” from a red light, ease into it
5. Anticipate the traffic  in front of me, so that I can change lanes before reaching a car that I would have to slow down for and then speed up again after the lane change

Even with all of these changes, it doesn’t change how long it takes me to get to my destination either.  So what kind of driving style do you currently have?

Remember to perform basic maintenance on your car to also help with fuel efficiency.

I was talking with my mom the other day about my parents flying back to Ohio soon.  With everything my parents have been through in the last few months, this is quite monumental.  So I got to thinking, with my new green choices, what would I do differently on my next trip that would make it more green and came up with this top 10.

1. Bring your own food on the plane.  Carrots, energy bars, celery, bananas, trail mix.  This way the food can be more natural, healthier, and with so many airlines now charging for food, it can save you some money too.
2. Bring your own empty water bottle.  Once you get through security, fill it up at a drinking fountain.  This way you won’t be tempted to buy a bottle of water and have to deal with that cheap plastic to dispose of and save some money while you’re at it.
3. Pack a canvas bag for shopping to avoid getting all those plastic bags while on your trip.
4. Use refillable toiletry bottles filled from larger packages you already have.  You don’t need to buy travel size products if you just fill travel size containers with what you already use.
5. Bring books with you from the library instead of buying a new one at the airport that you are likely to dispose of.  Or consider bringing a favorite book that already exists on your bookshelf.
6. Bring your own headphones to watch the movie on the plane.  You won’t be stuck with headphones that only work on the airline and reduces packaging waste from the headphones.
7. E-Ticket to eliminate the paper.
8. Use recycled or scrap paper to print out your boarding pass or check out the new paperless boarding passes!
9. Pack light. The heavier your bags are the more energy it takes to transport them.
10. Use rechargeable batteries for any of the electronic devices you’ve brought onboard to keep you occupied.  Just remember to pack the charger so you can have charged batteries for the return flight.

Next time you take a trip, what are you going to do to reduce your environmental impact?