Becoming an eco-driver

There are so many things you can do to be an environmentally-friendly driver. You can switch the way your car is fuelled, or even buy a greener car. Why not join a car pool, or leave the car at home whenever you can? And, have you ever thought about offsetting your carbon footprint?

Buying green cars
Downsizing your car is a good way to lower your carbon footprint. In general terms, smaller cars tend to be more fuel-efficient and emit less CO2. It’s likely to be cheaper all round to run a smaller car, and if you’ve only got a family of two or three, do you really need six or eight seats and a massive boot?

Diesel engines tend to produce less CO2, but they pump out more pollutants than petrol. But diesel can be greener over longer distances or motorway driving, in terms of fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. On the other hand, a petrol engine may be better suited to the city, where air quality is a greater consideration. You need to think about where you do most of your driving to work out which option is going to have more of a long-term benefit.

Many new cars are now colour-coded to show their fuel efficiency rating, much the same as fridges and washing machines. The coding covers bands A to G, with A and B representing cars that emit the least CO2. Cars with lower emissions also carry lower tax! Labels will also indicate the car’s running costs, so these are well worth studying.

Green driving tips
Regardless of which car you are driving, here are six top tips for green driving:

1. Pump up
Check and adjust your tyre pressures regularly and before long journeys. Under-inflated tyres create more resistance when your car is moving, making the engine work harder, so producing more CO2 emissions.

2. Go clutter-free
An extra load in your boot will draw more on your engine, so by removing it, you could reduce your engine's workload. This will burn less fuel and cut your CO2 emissions.

3. Limit your speed
Sticking to the speed limit will make you a safer driver and reduce your CO2 emissions, while saving money on your petrol costs.

4. Stop the stop-start
Frequent stopping and starting in traffic means the engine uses more fuel and produces more CO2. Try to ease off the acceleration and cut out the stop-start.

5. Gear up
Using your gears wisely by changing up a gear a little earlier can reduce revs. If you drive a diesel car, try changing up a gear when the rev counter reaches 2,000rpm. For a petrol car, change up at 2,500rpm.

6. Switch off
When the engine is idling you're wasting fuel and adding to CO2 emissions. If you're likely to be at a standstill for more than three minutes, simply switch off the engine.

Green alternatives
There are lots of other ways you can make a difference with your motoring habits. Why not try these?

1. Car sharing
Car sharing schemes (or pooling) have sprung up all over the country. The idea behind car sharing is that both the person driving and the people getting lifts benefit. The people in the car could share the fuel costs, or agree a mileage rate.

2. Smaller carbon footprints
Using clean energy and supporting reforestation projects can help to offset your carbon footprint – you could think about getting your car converted to run on bio-fuels. But if that is not possible, ever thought of walking or cycling more to reduce your reliance on the car?

3. Reduce your journeys
A really radical way to reduce your car-related carbon footprint is not to drive at all. However, for many people, that’s not really an option. However, if your job allows you to work from home, you have a perfect opportunity to leave the car on the driveway for a few days a week. You should also try to optimise the times when you are using the car and not take it out multiple times during the day for small errands - don’t take it out for a 2 minute drive to get some milk and then again an hour later when you’ve forgotten the Sunday morning papers!

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