Greenversations

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Driving efficiently saves fuel and helps reduce air pollution and traffic congestion.  One tip for driving efficiently is to combine or chain trips so you complete many errands in one outing.

How many errands have you ever combined into one trip?

Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

El conducir eficientemente ahorra combustible y ayuda a reducir la contaminación atmosférica y congestión del tránsito. Un consejo para conducir de manera eficiente es el combinar viajes sucesivamente para completar muchas diligencias de una sola vez.

¿Cuántas diligencias ha combinado en un solo viaje?

About the Author: Mitch Greenberg is the manager of the EPA SmartWay Program in the Office of Air and Radiation.

Remember those ads that feature the surprise car in the driveway, complete with a big red bow on top? While I’m sure a new car is on many holiday wish lists this year, maybe even mine, in tight times like these we all have to be extra careful to make a wise investment in our wheels. If you have a shiny new car to buy for someone in your family, check out EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide to help you choose the cleanest, most fuel-efficient vehicles available.

No matter what size car, SUV or pickup you’re looking for, you may have smarter, greener options. Maybe you’ve seen our ads? You know, the ones for EPA’s SmartWay Leaf. If you haven’t seen them, the ads highlight the SmartWay brand and encourage all of us to look for the SmartWay leaf to help identify cars and trucks that are more environmentally friendly.

If you’ve been to a NASCAR race recently, you’ve probably already seen many of these cars. NASCAR and their auto company partners have been hosting auto shows at their tracks, allowing fans to get up close and personal with SmartWay-certified vehicles.

If you’re not in the market for a new car, you can still squeeze a few more miles per gallon out of the car you already own. During the holiday season, you can combine shopping trips to maximize efficiency. If you’re traveling out of town, carpool or take public transportation when possible. There are many ways to increase your car’s mileage (and reduce the amount of pollution it emits at the same time). Check out what you can do, but it all boils down to driving smart, taking care of your vehicle, and using it as little as possible.

To see what others are doing and to tell us how you’re traveling green this holiday season, check out this week’s  Question of the Week.

Remember green travel isn’t just for the holidays. You can do it year-round. Check out some of our previous posts to see how you can make your new holiday travel habits permanent.

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Thanksgiving is usually the busiest travel time in the U.S. Millions of us will be driving, flying, taking trains, or even walking to enjoy the holiday with family and friends.

How did you minimize environmental impacts while making holiday travel plans?

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En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

La Fiesta de Acción de Gracias suele ser la época de más viajes en EE.UU. Millones de nosotros viajaremos por automóvil, avión o trenes, o hasta caminaremos para disfrutar de las fiestas con amistades y amigos.

¿Cómo minimizaría los impactos medioambientales al trazar sus planes de viajes para las fiestas?

About the author: Viccy Salazar joined EPA in 1995. She works in our Seattle office on waste reduction, resource conservation and stewardship issues.

It is summer. I want to take my family on vacation but given all the focus on climate change, I am very concerned about how my travel plans might impact the environment. So, I sit down with my family and ask them – what do you want to do on vacation and how can me make it “green”? Of course, the first question was – what is a green vacation? Here is the list we came up with:

• It is fun and we can all be together
• Minimizes traveling
• Car is better than airplane
• Biking or Walking is better than car
• Can cook for ourselves using fresh ingredients
• Doesn’t damage existing natural resources
• Can stay in either a tent, a friends house or one room together
• Measure our carbon emissions and offset them

My kids wanted to know if this ruled out Disneyland. Not completely but it did make it harder to go. We would have to make choices about how we would get there, where we would stay, what we would buy while we were there and how we could offset our emissions.

Other trips we considered were camping at a lake, a train trip across Canada, the beach and a staycation – staying home and touring our own city, Seattle. Eventually, we decided to do a combination of camping, the beach and a staycation. When the kids looked at both the environmental and financial costs of all of the choices, they realized that they were getting more vacation for their resources if they stayed closer to home and chose less high profile activities. We decided to use some of the resources on EPA’s website to figure out exactly how much impact our vacations did have – tracking mileage, evaluating hotel stays, and figuring out how much we can recycle.

When I look back on the conversation, I realize that I learned lessons too. 1) being green means making substantially different choices – not just figuring out how to do the same thing using less, 2) my kids care about the environment and see it directly affecting their future and 3) it can be done but it isn’t easy. We are off on our vacations and staycations next week. I’m looking forward to it. I hope you are all having both a fun and green summer too. I’d love to hear how you are making your vacation green.

The Sierra Club has a more detailed comparison of cars vs. planes.

About the author: Dominic Bridgers joined EPA’s Office of Public Affairs as a summer intern.

I believe a lot of people are changing their driving habits. I have done so myself. Usually, I tend to make one big trip. During the week I only drive from my house to the Metro in order for my commute to work. On the weekends I take my car for a spin once or try to carpool with my friends wherever we go.

I read some typical responses from the June 30th Question of the Week: “What would convince you to change your driving habits?” Almost half of you said if there was better access to public transportation you would dump the car and hop on a bus. Then, a quarter of you said you would change your driving habits based on the high gas prices we are facing, and another bunch said if their schedule was more flexible then you would change your driving ways. The rest suggested other things that would change their driving habits, like saving money, being able to work at home, and if it was easier to bike safely.

Thanks for your time in responding to “What would convince you to change your driving habits?”

About the author: Dominic Bridgers joined EPA’s Office of Public Affairs as a summer intern.

I have a Toyota Solara, it was given to me as a Christmas present a few years ago. I love my car because it is comfortable and it is gas efficient, rounding off at about 30 mpg. I believe those should be the main reasons for buying a car these days.

Going through and collecting the stats from the June 16th Question of the Week, “What do you drive, and why?” I came up with the following. Most of the bloggers drive a midsize/sedan type of vehicle, almost half of the people that responded drive either SUVs and trucks, and a handful of people like to throw on their leather jackets and let the wind hit their face when they jump on their motorcycles, a very fuel efficient vehicle!

Most of the bloggers responded that they drive what they drive because it is gas efficient. While some people said their vehicles suit there personnel needs, such as picking up the kids or loading luggage. I was surprised to see that a handful of bloggers said they picked their vehicle because they don’t have to spend as much on maintenance, while others chose their vehicle because it is comfortable and it is what they can afford.

Thanks for your time in responding to “What do you drive, and why?” and remember to buckle up!

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Several commenters on a previous question mentioned “hypermiling,” which refers to techniques some drivers use to try to increase their gas mileage. Techniques range from simple to complex, from things EPA recommends to the controversial.

Have you tried hypermiling and what’s been your experience?

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En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

En respuesta a una pregunta anterior, algunos comentaristas mencionaron que practicaban el “hypermiling”, el cual se refiere a técnicas que varios conductores utilizan para tratar de aumentar el millaje de la gasolina. Las técnicas varían desde las simples a las complejas, así como las cosas que EPA recomienda hasta las controversiales.

¿Ha tratado de hacer el “hypermiling” y cuál ha sido su experiencia?

About the author: Dominic Bridgers joined EPA’s Office of Public Affairs as a summer intern.

I live in the DC Metropolitan area and I commute to EPA - first I drive to the nearest metro station which is about a 6 mile drive. Then I take the train to work which is about a 30 minute ride. From my house to the headquarters of EPA it is about a 24 mile drive one way. But then I would run into the DC rush hour traffic which is not a pleasurable morning ride. So therefore, I take the train which is less stressful and saves me some money on gas so I can play on the weekends. I play within a 10 mile radius from my house. I’m lucky that all the things that I enjoy doing are so close to my house because if not, I would be filling up the tank every other day.

I have read the responses to the June 2nd question of the week, “How far do you live from where you work or play?” and here is a summary. Most of you said you live within 24 miles of where you work or play. A little less than half of you said you are about 25-49 miles away. And about a dozen said you live 50-75 miles away and a handful live 75 miles or more. Wow, have you ever thought about moving closer? Thanks for your time in posting how far your commute is from where you work or play.

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Driving less, carpooling, and combining errands all mean less pollution. And with fuel prices rising, people are driving less, or driving smarter when they can. But many find it very difficult to drive less because of where they live or what they do.

What would convince you to change your driving habits?

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En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

Actividades como el guiar menos, hacer carpool y combinar mandados todas contribuyen a reducir la contaminación. Mientras los precios del combustible están en alza, las personas están conduciendo menos y lo están haciendo de manera más inteligente siempre que pueden. Sin embargo, a veces se les dificulta guiar menos debido al lugar donde viven o por lo que hacen.

¿Qué le convencería para cambiar sus hábitos de guiar?