Save money at the pump & reduce your CO2 Emissions with Our Fuel Efficiency tips
Has an increase in gas prices made you rethink your travel plans? You’re not alone.
The global transportation sector is a major polluter. In 2020, the sector produced approximately 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The biggest source of emissions (41%) came from passenger cars.
While your Green Dreams may include an electric vehicle to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, it may not be an accessible option to make the switch right away.
A recent survey in Canada showed that 71% of respondents are considering an EV for their next future vehicle purchase.
In the meantime, try these energy-efficient driving tips to help you save money, increase fuel efficiency AND reduce your travel emissions.
Maintain Tire Pressure For Fuel Efficiency
🚗 Driving a vehicle with tires under-inflated by 56 kilopascals (8 pounds per square inch) can increase fuel consumption by up to 4%.
It can also reduce the life of your tires by more than 10,000 kilometres.
Find the right tire pressure for your vehicle on the tire information placard. It’s usually on the edge of the driver’s door.
Changing the air filter on your car can also help with fuel efficiency. It improves airflow to your engine so your car doesn’t have to work as hard. Learn how to change an air filter here!
Don't be fuel-ish! Idling gets you nowhere!
🚗 Minimize your CARbon footprint by eliminating unnecessary idling in vehicles!
For the average vehicle with a 3-litre engine, every 10 minutes of idling costs 300 millilitres (over 1 cup) in wasted fuel.
If your vehicle has a 5-litre engine, one half litre of fuel is wasted.
For every 10 minutes that your engine is off, you will prevent one pound of carbon dioxide from being released!
Trip Chaining
Plan a route that helps you cross off multiple to-dos in one journey.
According to the US EPA, combining three separate short trips (ex. bank, post office, and grocery store) into one trip every week could eliminate about 200 miles on your vehicle, and save you 10 hours and 10 gallons of gas every year.
Plus, emissions are highest when a vehicle is started “cold.” For example, starting a 5- mile trip when the engine is cold generates about 17% more nitrogen oxides and 50% more volatile organic compounds than the same trip when the car is started warm. (Source US EPA)
Continue below at a steady pace for more fuel efficiency tips!
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Drive Sensibly!
Aggressive driving is not fuel efficient!
Accelerate gently because the more rapidly you accelerate, the more fuel you burn.
Maintain a steady speed rather than rapidly starting and stopping.
Anticipate traffic so you can plan ahead to maximize your momentum.
When coming to a stop, coast to decelerate. Every time you use your brakes, you waste your forward momentum.
Carpooling is Fuel Efficient!
Benefits of Carpooling:
- Reduce Pollution – Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking a vehicle off the road.
- Save Money – Share your commuting costs for fuel & tolls.
- Bypass Traffic – Take advantage of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.
Ridesharing makes for less congested roads and highways.
🚙 With more people carpooling, overall traffic congestion will decrease, which reduces fuel consumption, commute time, and the cost of road repairs.
🎤 PLUS CARPOOL KARAOKE ANYONE?!
Take Steps To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
👣 Worried about the size of your carbon footprint? Walk it off! Or bike, skate, scoot?
🚗 Try ditching the car and choose active transportation to get from A to B instead.
You can prevent 217 grams of greenhouse gas per km not driven!
Walking has SO MANY additional benefits for your health, to increase connection to nature, get to know your neighbourhood better, be present in your body and more.
Log Those Green Actions!
📲 Many of these transportation actions can logged on our mobile App!
There are over 40+ different Green Acts you can log to help track your impact.
Download it for free to get inspiration on actions you can take to help our planet.
Earn Green Points and redeem for rewards from eco-friendly businesses and services from our member community.
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