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The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook

1001 Little Ways to Save Our Planet: Small Changes to Create a Greener, Eco-Friendly World

Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists

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How to Green Your Transportation

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How to Green Your Workplace

How to Green Your Car

Whether or not you use public transportation to commute, you probably still drive a car. If you do, consider the following ways to make your car as environmentally friendly as possible.

Buy a Hybrid

If you’re like the vast majority of American drivers and drive a conventional gasoline-powered car, the most effective way to green your car is to replace it with a hybrid. Hybrid cars run on multiple sources of power. The most common hybrid cars on the market today combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor to reduce gasoline use while providing all the power of a conventional car.

Why Buy a Hybrid?

Hybrids are much more environmentally friendly than conventional gas-powered cars.

Hybrids burn much less gasoline.
Some hybrids release up to 97% fewer pollutants than government emissions standards.
All hybrids emit fewer pollutants than gas-only cars.

Though they’re typically more expensive to buy than comparable gas-powered models, over time hybrids tend to be less expensive due to the fuel savings they offer. Most major automakers now offer hybrid models—the most popular U.S. model is the Toyota Prius. (For more information on hybrids, see the Quamut guide to Buying a Hybrid Car.)

Alternatives to Hybrids

As hybrids have grown in popularity, so too have cars powered entirely by other environmentally friendly, renewable fuels, such as biodiesel (a mix of plant-based oils) and vegetable oil. For information on how to convert your car to run on either of these fuels, see the following websites:

Biodiesel: www.biodiesel.org
Vegetable oil: www.greasecars.com

Adjust Your Driving Habits

You can further reduce the environmental impact of your car by following certain driving practices:

Consolidate trips: Rather than jump into the car every time you need to run an errand, try saving up errands until you can do several in one trip. You’ll save both time and gas.
Drive the speed limit: Speeding causes your engine to operate less efficiently, wasting gas.
Drive properly: Braking and accelerating excessively wastes gas. Brake slowly and smoothly, and accelerate gradually instead of slamming on the gas pedal.

Improve Your Mileage

You can improve your gas mileage significantly by keeping your car in top operating shape.

Perform required maintenance: Consult your car’s owner’s manual to determine when your car needs its standard required maintenance—usually at 5,000, 15,000, and 30,000 miles, and then every 30,000 miles thereafter. Skipping required maintenance can worsen your car’s performance dramatically. For instance, failing to replace your air filter at the proper intervals can decrease your gas mileage by 10%.
Change the oil: In addition to regular maintenance, make sure to have your oil changed roughly every 3,000 miles. Doing so will help keep your car running smoothly and efficiently.
Check your tires: Keeping tires filled to the correct air pressure improves gas mileage.