Four Ways To Honor Earth Day, While Cutting Your Gas Cost

In honor of Earth Day, we've put together four ways to honor the day or in fact change your driving habits by following the suggested tips.

1. 1.Consider changing your driving habits. Try to consolidate trips, avoid 'jack-rabbit' accelerations and sudden breaking, and consider using cruise control on less-congested roads. Some new cars these days has a Eco feature on the vehicle,allowing drivers to be conscious of their driving habits. All of these things can be done to maximize fuel economy.
2. Consider alternative transportation. The bus, train or subway system not helps cut down on the number of vehicles on the road these days, it will save you the stress of sitting in traffic behind the wheel for what seemingly could be hours, at times. This could also save in the pocket book too. One public transportation expert said this could save up to $6,200 annually in comparison to operating a vehicle.
3. Consider participating in a car pool. Websites such as erideshare.com and ridesearch.com are good places to start. Also check to see if your employer offers car pool incentives such as gas cards or be proactive and suggest that your company offer such a program. This could also earn you direct access to drive in some HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes depending upon how many folks are carpooling with you.
4. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars are the wave of the future. Although this niche category represents less than 3 percent of total new-vehicle sales, they do cut fuel costs tremendously, especially with the all-electric and plug-in vehicles. The downside is that most of us can't afford them, because of their price premium over fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles and the cost to replace the hybrid battery once the warranty expires could be equal to a small monthly car payment. However, the federal government, a number of states and some employees provide government credits or tax allowances to help off set some of the costs of owning a plug-in or an all-electric vehicle. Also owning one of these vehicles could allow you access to HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes, too, when traffic is congested. For more details on hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, visit fueleconomy.gov. In our opinion, these vehicles are better suited for leasing due to all of the financial assistance being offered these days.