Keeping with the theme of "greening" my driving, I am also going to start keeping the speed limit. I'm not a speed demon, but I do tend to drive about 10 km/h over the limit.
According to the Eco Driver, "For every 10 km/h you go over 100, fuel efficiency drops by 10%. Driving 120 on the highway instead of 100 is like paying 20% extra for gas." (www.ecodriver.org) Yikes! With the cost of gas over $1/L, I don't need to pay an extra $0.20 or more per litre for a tank of gas.
Now to convince DH to do the same thing....
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fossil fuels. Show all posts
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Use cruise control whenever possible (Day 54)
Our Honda Civic is a great little car. Fuel efficient, handles well, and has lots of trunk space.
Our minivan, however, is not exactly fuel-efficient. It has a V6 engine, and seats 7 comfortably. It handles like a tank. It is also the vehicle I drive the most, since DH has to commute to work by car.
According to the Eco Driver website (http://www.ecodriver.org/), "about 13% of Canada's carbon dioxide emissions are due to cars and light trucks on our roads. The average car emits one tonne of carbon dioxide every 5,000 kilometres and for those of us who drive, about half our personal greenhouse gas emissions come from driving......Reducing fuel consumption by just ten tanks a year can save you hundreds of dollars, and reduce your personal CO2 emissions by almost a tonne."
By maintaining a steady speed using cruise control, I can be 10-15% more fuel efficient. So I plan to use the cruise feature on the van whenever possible.
Note to my readers: NEVER use cruise control when driving in the rain or on wet roads. The vehicle can hydroplane, potentially causing a serious accident.
Our minivan, however, is not exactly fuel-efficient. It has a V6 engine, and seats 7 comfortably. It handles like a tank. It is also the vehicle I drive the most, since DH has to commute to work by car.
According to the Eco Driver website (http://www.ecodriver.org/), "about 13% of Canada's carbon dioxide emissions are due to cars and light trucks on our roads. The average car emits one tonne of carbon dioxide every 5,000 kilometres and for those of us who drive, about half our personal greenhouse gas emissions come from driving......Reducing fuel consumption by just ten tanks a year can save you hundreds of dollars, and reduce your personal CO2 emissions by almost a tonne."
By maintaining a steady speed using cruise control, I can be 10-15% more fuel efficient. So I plan to use the cruise feature on the van whenever possible.
Note to my readers: NEVER use cruise control when driving in the rain or on wet roads. The vehicle can hydroplane, potentially causing a serious accident.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Banning all Styrofoam (Day 53)
I'm not sure if this change will be sustainable.
As a general rule, we don't use Styrofoam products in our house (e.g. bowls, cups). Our biggest consumption of Styrofoam is in packaging for kids' toys and in the meat products we consume. I don't really have a lot of control over how much Styrofoam is in the packaging, but I will endeavour to buy things that don't contain it.
The biggest issue for us will be meat packages. I buy almost all of our meat at the grocery story or Costco. Both places sell pre-packaged meat, in Styrofoam containers. Banning Styrofoam in the house means one of two things: 1) either reducing the amount of meat we consume or 2) changing the way I purchase meat.
Instead of buying meat in pre-packaged containers, I will now have to go to the butcher counter and have my meat wrapped in butcher paper, or actually frequent a specialty shop. The problem with the later is that there isn't a good butcher near where I live. So I would have to drive about 15 minutes away (burning fossil fuels) and make an extra trip, in order to avoid the Styrofoam issue.
I can try the butcher counter at the grocery store, but based on my past experiences, they don't offer the greatest selection of product. I will, in the coming months, attempt to reduce our meat consumption altogether, but for now I still have to tackle this problem.
So which is worse - Styrofoam or fossil fuels? There is no easy answer to this one, but for now I'll say Styrofoam, and go check out the butcher shop.
As a general rule, we don't use Styrofoam products in our house (e.g. bowls, cups). Our biggest consumption of Styrofoam is in packaging for kids' toys and in the meat products we consume. I don't really have a lot of control over how much Styrofoam is in the packaging, but I will endeavour to buy things that don't contain it.
The biggest issue for us will be meat packages. I buy almost all of our meat at the grocery story or Costco. Both places sell pre-packaged meat, in Styrofoam containers. Banning Styrofoam in the house means one of two things: 1) either reducing the amount of meat we consume or 2) changing the way I purchase meat.
Instead of buying meat in pre-packaged containers, I will now have to go to the butcher counter and have my meat wrapped in butcher paper, or actually frequent a specialty shop. The problem with the later is that there isn't a good butcher near where I live. So I would have to drive about 15 minutes away (burning fossil fuels) and make an extra trip, in order to avoid the Styrofoam issue.
I can try the butcher counter at the grocery store, but based on my past experiences, they don't offer the greatest selection of product. I will, in the coming months, attempt to reduce our meat consumption altogether, but for now I still have to tackle this problem.
So which is worse - Styrofoam or fossil fuels? There is no easy answer to this one, but for now I'll say Styrofoam, and go check out the butcher shop.
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