Greening Your Life: Transportation

By now we have all heard about the damage that using personal vehicles has caused to the environment, from increasing global warming emissions to the mass consumption of carbon fuels, there are plenty of easy ways to get around town without having to further contribute to smog and emissions that clog the air and diminish our dwindling resources.

• If possible, commute to work via a bicycle. In addition to getting your heart rate up, which in turn can help you to stay in shape and lose weight, travelling by bicycle allows you to see your community and neighborhood in a whole new light.

• Turn your ignition off when you will be stopped for more than thirty seconds. Idling for more than thirty seconds burns more gas than it takes to restart the engine or than if the car were moving, and thus produces more toxic emissions.

• Keep your vehicle tuned up. A well-tuned engine will conserve gas and reduce the toxic emission produced by your engine.

• Drive slower. For every mile per hour you drive under sixty-five, you improve your car's fuel efficiency by approximately 2 percent. So, if you are driving at fifty-five miles per hour, you could potentially increase your car's fuel efficiency by up to 20 percent!

• Try public transportation for one week. There are considerable advantages to you as well as the environment, such as: saving on gas, maintenance costs, parking fees, parking tickets and possibly insurance premiums. You can also catch up on the book that you have been meaning to read forever, or even pick up a new hobby like knitting during the ride.

• Use cleaner, renewable biodiesel in place of petroleum diesel in diesel engines. This can be done with little or no modifications to the engine, according to the National Biodiesel Board. Visit biodiesel.org to find pump stations and for recommendations for making a problem-free transition.

Check out the video below, presented by RiverWired.com, which highlights the benefits and seamless transition involved with BioDiesel.