We've all heard that we should save up all our errands and do them at one time, instead of one a day or something. Part of the environmental consideration here has to do with miles driven. If you plan your errands in a nice circle around your town, you'll considerably cut down on the number of miles you cover versus going home in between errands or retracing your own tracks.
Another issue here, however, has to do with your car's emissions. As Green Is Sexy tells us, your catalytic converter works best when it reaches temperatures above 600 degrees (about 6 miles of driving in average outdoor temperatures). Therefore, if you take a bunch of short trips, your car is cool, and you're damaging the environment more than just your carbon footprint for the miles.
Walk or bike for nearby errands if you can. If that's not possible, plan your driving carefully and efficiently.
UPDATE: Commenter Ben says, "I'd like to also add that if you floor it from a stop, you not only reduce the amount of emissions converted by the catalytic converter, you actually can damage the converter and reduce its overall lifetime (~100,000 miles is the current standard, I think). So no jackrabbit starts!"
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Learning to live self-sufficiently and sustainably in the South.
Posts
1 comment:
I'd like to also add that if you floor it from a stop, you not only reduce the amount of emissions converted by the catalytic converter, you actually can damage the converter and reduce its overall lifetime (~100,000 miles is the current standard, I think). So no jackrabbit starts!
Post a Comment