For many people, a car is an essential purchase. Without their car, they would find it difficult to get to work, to the shops, or any other places that they go during the week. However, driving is not the best thing for our planet, with road pollution being a real problem in today’s day and age. Eco-friendly driving is becoming more and more important, with more hybrid and electric cars appearing along with a range of new tips and advice to help drivers to reduce their own carbon footprint. With the right tactics, it’s possible to drive and still be environmentally friendly at the same time. We’ve put together some of the best tips for eco-friendly driving.
Carpool to Work
Using carpooling and ride share services like Ridester or creating an arrangement with your friends at work to carpool on your commute can be a great way of being kinder to the environment when it comes to driving. Not only does arranging a work carpool mean that you’ll only be required to drive every few days or once a week rather than daily, it can also save you money on gas as well as reducing the amounts of vehicles on the road, making it a win-win situation all-round. Along with that, commuting to work with your colleagues can be great for staying social and having good friends in the workplace.
Keep Your Car Maintained
Making sure that your car is regularly maintained is absolutely essential to keeping it in its best condition and ensuring that it is not causing any unnecessary pollution on the road or increasing your carbon footprint. When a vehicle is maintained regularly and any repair jobs are carried out as quickly as possible, it is better able to run more efficiently and therefore cause less damage to the environment when out on the road. Modern cars are usually designed in such a way that makes them eco-friendly in order to combat the issue of road pollution, however, without the right maintenance, the eco-friendly features on your car could be useless.
Driving Habits
Sometimes, you might have picked up bad driving habits that you may not realise are actually harmful to the environment. For example, driving in the wrong gear can cause your car to run out of fuel quickly, something which puts more exhaust fumes into the roads in a shorter amount of time. Making sure that you’re always driving in the right gear is essential for saving fuel and for reducing road pollution levels. Along with this, you should also take care when braking and accelerating. Removing your foot from the gas pedal early when stopping at traffic lights or giving way at a crossroads will allow you to come to a lighter stop with the breaks at a more suitable time, meaning that not only does your car use up less fuel to stop and start, there are also less harmful gases released into the environment.
In today’s day and age, it’s more important than ever to be kind to the environment when driving.