Washing or maintaining your car has an impact to the environment. Fortunately, there are some preventive maintenance steps every car owner can take in order to make sure that their vehicle is as environmentally friendly as possible.
While driving to work or home, you might want to consider some of the actions listed below and help protect the environment.
Drive smart
While driving your car, you have to understand that the way you drive has something to do with fuel economy. Jerky and aggressive driving may increase wear and tear on your vehicle and decrease your miles per gallon (MPG). Avoid sudden stops and starts and observe speed limit.
Use a commercial car wash
When washing your car on the driveway or street, soap, tire dust and oil along with other chemical residue build up goes down the drain and flow into nearby streams or rivers. The water from commercial car wash, on the other hand, flows into the sanitary sewer system. Here, they make sure that the water is treated by waste water treatment plants before entering the local waterway.
Check gas caps
Checking your car’s gas caps is important. This is because a damaged, loose or missing gas cap may indicate that gas is evaporating, wasting money and harming the environment.
Have spark plugs checked and replaced
A vehicle may have 4, 6 or 8 spark plugs. These spark plugs may fire as much as 3 million times every 1,000 miles; thus, resulting to heat, chemical and electrical erosion. Additionally, a dirty spark plug may cause misfiring, which in turn may result to fuel wastage.
Avoid idling
If you are just sitting there while the engine is running, then you are choking the planet. Idling your car for as little as 20 seconds could emit more CO2 and burn more gas compared to turning the engine off and turning it on again once you’re ready to drive.
If you are stuck in traffic, we suggest shifting to neutral. Over the course of a year, you’ll be surprised at how much less CO2 shall be emitted.