Tips for saving money on gas.

Gas prices are going up, again, and they might not be going down anytime soon. In the short term it’s painful, but in the long term, it may well be a useful reality check. High prices serve as a good motivator for all of us to be mindful of fuel conservation and reduce our own carbon emissions, saving money while we’re at it. Here are 11 ways you can conserve gas on the road, at home, and while you play.

Beware of public transportation. If you have a good public transportation system, by all means, use it. However, the good news is – more people will be using it. The bad news is – more people will be using it. State and federal budgets have been taking a beating, so that means that public transportation systems have had their share of cuts. The American Public Transportation Association has warned Congress that transportation systems could be overloaded if gas prices continue to rise. More funds for public transportation systems are more important now than ever, so start writing your politicians. In the interim, carpooling is another good option, and it goes without saying, drive a car with the best gas mileage that suits your budget and your needs.

Make friends with a mechanic. For those who do not have a public transportation system, no good bike path system, and have to drive – the first step is to make sure your car is in good condition. Correct tire pressure, clean air filters, wheel alignment and good general car maintenance will optimize your gas mileage.

Lose some weight. Get rid of any excess items you are carrying around in your vehicle. Extra weight makes your car work harder and use more gas. Also lose the sports racks, luggage boxes, and any other accessory that creates drag on your car when you aren’t using them.

Learn to (eco)drive. Back to driver’s education class, everyone. Give up your jackrabbit starts, quick braking, variable speeds, and just plain speeding. Embrace the posted speed limit, use cruise control whenever possible, and choose routes that have fewer stops and starts even if they are a little longer distance.

Wear deodorant. Lots of it. Summer is coming, and with it hot temperatures. While late model cars are pretty efficient, running your air conditioning can consume up to 20% more gas, so use the 4-40 rule. When driving under 40 m.p.h, roll down your (four) windows and feel the breeze. Driving over 40 m.p.h. increases the drag on your car (negating any benefit from not using your air conditioning), so roll the windows up and use your air conditioning sparingly. If you really want to avoid any impact on your fuel efficiency, drive with the windows up, the air conditioning off, and use your air vents.

Hone your time management skills. Condense all your errands into one trip on one day, instead of going out multiple days. Also, buy your gas in the early mornings or evenings when it’s cooler. Cooler gas is denser, so you get more for your money (the pump only measures volume).

Cut off ties to activities more than 10 miles away. Find things to do nearby instead. Ones that you can walk or bike to are even better. Learn to love your neighborhood and your town.

Vote for your town to build more bike paths. As much as we need better and extended public transportation, a plan to build more bike paths is a good idea in the long-term, too. Biking or walking is healthier and does more to alleviate carbon emissions than even taking public transportation. Currently, in many places, biking is simply too dangerous to be a good method of transportation. Wider road shoulders and sidewalks, paved bike trails and a refresher course of road rules regarding right-of-way for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers are all good ideas.

Let your grass grow. Buck the neighborhood association rules and consider some natural landscaping. If you must have a manicured lawn, take stock of your power tool inventory. Before you get out your power mower, leaf blower, edger, and other gas-driven yard implements, consider replacing them with manual tools. Buy a push mower and use hand clippers, a rake, and a manual edger and you can get a workout, have a beautiful yard, save on gas and lower emissions.

Don’t go into the office. If your work permits it and your boss can be persuaded, work from home when you can.

Rethink your recreation. Gas-powered boats, jet-skis, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles, dirt bikes, and recreational vehicles are all popular forms of entertainment, but it might be time to change how we spend our free time and look for non-gas-powered alternatives. Some of those weekend activities could become prohibitively expensive this summer.

image: Don Hankins

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Every time I pass a Best Buy, Wal-Mart or Target, I can almost see a pulsing blue aura hovering around the mammoth plex; or rather, an anti-halo that screams: “This facility couldn’t give a rat’s ass what it eats. Enjoy your rolling blackouts this season.” And inside, I hear the hum: A diffuse but powerful white noise surrounding me like a florescent radioactive soundtrack. This, I think, is the sound of energy consumption.

I would never have expected any of these shops to own up to the issue and take some (expensive) steps to deal with retail energy crime. But IKEA may be stepping to the plate.

The often mysterious Swedish (or is it Dutch) superstore has been making a bunch of noise regarding green corporate responsibility in recent years, from investment (IKEA GeenTech venture capital) to sourcing and sustainability. And though the store certainly has its critics, the shop is digging deep to find out ways to deal with facility energy usage. To that, witness its geothermal energy heating and cooling plans for its new Centennial, Colorado (near Denver) store scheduled to open next fall.

IKEA worked with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to design and build the geothermal system, which will be buried under the store’s parking garage. Way under. Like 500 feet-ish under (that’s down, down, a football field down and then down some more), where some 130 pipes will pump liquid that will cool and be brought back to the surface to heat or cool the facility, depending on the season.

Explains Triple Pundit: “When warm air at the surface is passed over the cool pipes, the air gets cooler. When the air is cooler than the liquid, it is warmed as it passes over the pipes.  Meanwhile, the geothermal technology helps to maintain a building’s relative humidity at 50%.”

When it’s super hot or cold outside, the system won’t be able to do the job by itself, but most of the time it’ll be able to take care of business.

IKEA says the system may serve as a model for future stores. NREL Senior Geothermal Analyst Erin Anderson (above, on-site) adds: “The IKEA/NREL project could be the benchmark for a credible standard for geothermal installation in large-scale retail stores nationwide”¦ We’re trying to collect data on how it actually performs, which could prove invaluable to future projects. By collecting actual live data on the performance of systems, you have better insight on what needs to be improved. We’ll be able to say with confidence, ‘if you do it this way, it will work this well.'”

At the end of the day, it’s not like your next trip to IKEA will be “hum-free” or that the halo will be any less toxic – much less saintly. It’s positive, though, that these things aren’t going wholly unnoticed. Whether it’s good consciousness or just good PR for the big box shops to show some energy manners, a reduced footprint is a reduced footprint. Let’s hope some more shops dig deep for some answers, as well.

Images: Håkan Dahlström and Pat Corkery

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“Sara! Want new SmartCar? Txt yes or no quick!”

Such a text message from your mother might be odd in some families, but not in mine (Mom sells cars faster than bootleg Louis Vuittons and also wields a mean text thumb). I didn’t hesitate. “Yes! Pics!”

I didn’t need a test drive. I’d been tooling around in an old, albeit fun, Jeep for several years. Well, fun when I lived in Pacific Palisades, California and a big day was driving to the beach four blocks away. My first winter in San Francisco with a canvas-topped Jeep – make that my first summer in San Francisco – was an exercise in austerity. I guess I was going for that weathered ski bunny look or at least that’s what I’ll claim in my memoirs. After some nine months of driving in all manner of weather with the plastic windows rolled up a boyfriend helpfully pointed out that they come down. Aha! That’s what those big, dangling zipper pulls were for! Who knew?

Weirdly, the Tesla roadster is not yet in my budget, so I’d resigned myself to driving my Jeep until the wheels fell off and simply parking a generous mile or three away from any green event I attended when the lucky text came.

Lest you have any worries about the safety of the SmartCar, let me assure you, it’s super sturdy. I know this because my mother managed to get into a wreck before I even took possession of my new car. Wasn’t that nice of her to test it out? To be fair, the collision wasn’t her fault. The guy in the SUV was just confused. Didn’t she know the golf course was two turns back?

This being a SmartCar, they don’t really have replacement bumpers just lying around, so I had to wait nearly a month for the damaged caboose to be repaired. (Mom emerged unscathed, caboose intact.)

Accident now out of the way, I made the trek to the homestead in Washington to pick up my little bean and bring it back to the Bay. And I have to tell you, the people you meet at gas stations and rest stops sure are caring folks. I’ve never before felt the likes of such popularity or perhaps I should say, worry.

Parked flush with our publisher’s hybrid Honda

More than once: “Are you safe in that thing?”

Chewing lower lip with concern: “Is that allowed on the freeway?” (We’ll find out!)

The polite: “How much did you pay for…that?”

And the distinctly thoughtful: “What is that?”

That, I’ll have you know, buzzed down the five at 75 mph all the way home with no trouble at all save for a few belches from semi-trucks.

Now, the Smart is what I would call an “active driving experience” – think a stubborn 3 Series. If you like being the boss of your hunk of steel as opposed to rolling over pavement like a stale marshmallow you’ll enjoy the way the Smart handles. What you may or may not enjoy are the looks. And chuckles. And pointing. And being flagged down from three blocks away by really cute men. Which finger you display all depends upon your personality and relationship status.

Smarty has some surprises up its cage. I call it the “Alice in Wonderland effect”. While resembling a glorified jujubee on the outside, the thing is damn near cavernous inside. I wouldn’t say it’s palatial on a scale of the Hummer, but the interior is so roomy you soon forget you’re in half a car. Of course, if you need a reminder just look in the backseat. Kidding! There isn’t one.

The Alice effect is so pronounced you’ll want to be extra alert – I have to remind myself every time I drive that just because I can dart in and out of traffic like a Tonka Toy on Red Bull doesn’t mean I should. This is a car for defensive drivers only. That said, it’s very solid for its size at 1800 pounds, earned a 5-star safety rating, and of course it’s loaded to the crannies with airbags. In other words, this is a blowfish waiting to happen.

Other features include a non-retractable “panorama” sun roof that is virtually the entire top of the vehicle (think Jurassic Park but without the dinosaur part) and lots of clever storage spots and witty accents for design geeks to love. True, the spare tire may be ridiculous, but the engine’s in the trunk – how cool is that? You won’t have much use for such convenient placement, however, as even after two road trips the machine didn’t sip so much as a drop from its two-quart oil well. (Oh, the satisfying sentence this writer has to forgo because they couldn’t make it pint-sized. Wholeness eludes my post – and let’s be honest here, my soul – once again.)

My model, the Passion, is the less pricey version but still comes pretty well-equipped with leather, daytime running lights, AC and tiptronic shift control. And being a web marketing gal, I appreciate the cool social network, Destination Smart, that doesn’t suck a digital egg, unlike Chevy’s Voltage. (I always loved MINI cooper’s marketing but never did fork over the cash.)

For a 1.0 liter, 70 horse, 3-cylinder car, there’s a pleasing amount of get-up-and-go. It’s not my turbo Volvo T5 of yesteryear, but one could call it zippy with a straight face. The only thing that took some getting used to for this stick-shift girl was the oddball gear transitioning: it’s an automated manual transmission. After two months of ownership, though, I only really notice the shift lag when my espresso bean is puffing up to the crest of Franklin. My friend, Nancy, likes to pat Smarty’s dash and say, “Come on, you can do it!” If you want more power, you can go with the BRABUS model (BRABUS as in Mercedes, the maker of SmartCar; there’s also the starter model, Pure, as well as the new cabriolet).

Already in need of a bath…

Anyone who has had to fork over $30 for parking in San Francisco can appreciate the Smart. While I have yet to perform a perpendicular parking job, the bean has been invaluable for errands and evenings out in the city. San Francisco, by design, has an abundance of short curbs between townhouse driveways that are often empty as only motorcycles and sub-compacts have a prayer of fitting in. But these almost-spaces are perfect for Smarty!

And oh, the gas mileage. I go weeks without filling up and look back fondly on my trips to Napa and, yes, the South Bay. Thanks to a respectable sound system and supportive seats with butt warmers even jaunts to San Jose are dreamy. I do get pulled over by cops quite a bit more now (what, you don’t?), but then I also get out of the tickets so it kind of works out!

Moving along. Road trip numero uno under my belt for the grand total of $35 in gas (Smarty’s tiny tank takes premium only, baby), I thought, where to next?

Westside girl and EcoSalon writer, Kim, had her birthday at the beginning of July, so it was off to LA for me. Despite all the heels and dresses and handbags five days in Los Angeles requires, the Smart has surprisingly ample storage. So at the last minute I thought, what the hell, I’m bringing the cat. I’m sure she’ll be as thrilled as I to see the old stomping grounds, right? Besides, cats love long car rides almost as much as they like being deposited for slumber parties with dogs at your buddy’s SoCal house. It’s one, big happy family!

My cat, Roo, on the road…

Roo upon learning she’ll be staying with dogs.

There’s no rating standard for this at Consumer Reports, but I’ve never seen a cat or rather my cat behave so well on a road trip. I mean, I’m not in the cats-on-road-trips business or anything, but surely this counts in Smart’s favor. Roo, a queenly Maine Coon, curled up in her carrier the entire way sans sedative, only occasionally popping her large, fluffy head out to remind me that I was in the presence of greatness.

Unfortunately, once in LA I took a curve on Sunset a tad too sharply, causing her to tumble out – of the carrier, relax! – and having figured out that she was not actually confined to her travel case, all subsequent driving was less than festive. The psychological jig was up. Ever tried putting a cat back into anything? Pandora had it easier. Once again, kudos to the SmartCar’s handling.

Two big road trips for a mere Benjamin later, I love my Smart even more. The only problem is that now I want to drive everywhere. Meet me for mojitos at the Parker in Palm Springs? I do have a birthday coming up!

Images: Claire Gordon, Sara Ost

The post 1 Cat, 2 Road Trips, & an Accident: Adventures in My SmartCar appeared first on EcoSalon.

We got a Nintendo Wii for Christmas and it’s been in full use ever since. Tennis, golf, baseball – you name the game, we’ve played it. Of course, being energy conscious, I’ve been making sure that everyone unplugs it at the wall when not in use. I’ve also been patting myself on the back, because according to the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Nintendo Wii uses the least amount of energy of the three available game consoles. (The device uses an average of 16 watts in active mode compared with the energy sucker Sony Playstation that uses a whooping 150 watts in active mode.)

I was feeling pretty smug, really. Until I started reading Playing Dirty, a Greenpeace report published last year that examines what the game consoles are made of. Let me tell you – it sure ain’t pretty.

According to the report, all three game consoles – Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo – contain hazardous chemicals and materials. And chief among them are bromines and phthalates, toxic chemicals that are bad not only for our health but the health of the planet. It made for depressing reading. And to make matters worse, it seems that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are in no hurry to take any action to fix this.

But as usual, Greenpeace is on the job. They are laying out all the grime facts on their Clash of the Consoles website. They have created a form letter that you can email to the different companies telling them that it’s time they started making the world a greener place to live.

And they have even provided the manufacturers a blueprint (or in this case, a greenprint) on what they need to do to produce a true green console:

Produce energy-efficient products and inform the consumer on best practices to reduce energy consumption.
Take global responsibility for the full lifecycle of the products, especially when discarded.
Make upgradeable and recyclable products.
Design out toxins by removing hazardous chemicals and materials from products.

Now, if only the manufacturers would listen.

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