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Resources
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Drive Greener
If you are not looking to change your car
just yet there are a number of ways you can be more environmentally
friendly and help you save money by conserving fuel.
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Lighten your car to reduce weight by
not carrying unnecessary items.
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Cut your speed and stick to the speed
limits
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Drive smoothly avoiding heavy
accelerating and braking.
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When stationary for a long time,
switch off the engine.
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Closing windows will make the car more
efficient by being more aerodynamic. Remove roof bars when not
is use also helps.
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Make sure your tyres are properly
inflated as under inflated tyres cause more resistance.
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Where possible, walk, cycle or even
use public transport.
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If possible lift share to reduce the
number of cars on the road.
Carbon Footprint
To begin to control
climate change, our lifestyle decisions must also begin to include the
effect and cost of pollution. If people begin to take responsibility for
managing their own carbon footprint, we can continue with our needed
activities while mitigating the impact on global warming.
Of course, offsetting your carbon footprint is just one element of
reducing climate damage. Here are some practical first steps that you
can take to reduce your carbon impact wherever possible:
Cut down
on fossil fuel usage
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Switch to energy
efficient appliances and “green” electricity providers at home and
at work. Turn off appliances at the wall instead of using standby.
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Walk or cycle
instead of driving.
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Keep the car
parked: use phone and video conferencing to avoid the trip.
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If you need to go
somewhere, walk, take the train and bus, or cycle instead of
driving.
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If you have to
drive, carpool or drive a fuel efficient car. If you can, use
renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.
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Cut back on the
number of flights. Make conference calls to avoid the trip, or try
taking the train when you can.
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Keep a shopping and
errands list in the kitchen, so that you can take care of groups of
activities when you are out and save on transport emissions for
multiple trips.
Support
low-carbon & carbon-cleared products
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Organically grown
food is usually less carbon-intensive than traditional products.
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Try to use taxis or
personal vehicles that have offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
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Buy from companies
that have reduced and cleared their emissions.
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Recycle more
bottles, cans, paper and plastic. It usually takes less energy and
CO2to produce recycled goods than it does to manufacture
them from raw materials. If your area doesn’t have a kerbside
recycling scheme, send an email to your local representative to ask
for one.
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Get creative with
gift-giving. The gift of time, services, or environmentally positive
gifts may be more appreciated than disposable goods that are not to
the taste or needs of the recipient.
Look into those
lifestyle changes you’ve been putting off
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Work from home
more. Many organisations, when prodded a little, will accept
flexible work arrangements where there is no impact to the work that
needs to get done.
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Set up a carpool
for work or for taking the kids to school.
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Make a resolution
to reduce your carbon emissions by 10% over the next 3 months.
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