So what can I do? Part 1

"What if I don't want to buy anything?"

Of course. That's the best part of efficiency - you don't necessarily have to buy a shiny new car or whatever to be more efficient and friendly to the environment. Sure it helps simply doing that, however there are a few things anyone and everyone should be able to do.

Let's get the obvious out of the way.

1) Don't purchase a ridiculous vehicle in the first place

Okay, that's not necessarily something everyone can do (I mean if you had a chance to get a Lamborghini for free, wouldn't you take it? It's a no brainer, come on!!) but it's certainly a start. This more or less means that you should think twice about buying that huge super duty truck or a massive SUV if you're really not going to use all the size. If you need that power and space, then by all means knock yourself out.

Truth is, no matter how hard you try you can never be efficient in any way shape or form when it comes to fuel economy when you're talking about high horsepower numbers and huge weights. This applies to sports cars too, especially when you talk about V8's and supercharged engines, and then the whole tuner car culture.

My point is, you'll be fighting a very hard, and uphill battle if you want a car like that to get the fuel economy of a midsize car or better. It probably just won't work. Especially if you have a car like this:



Okay I lie, you can't buy that. That's just a pasted together... thing. If you found that funny, you should see where it came from:

http://jalopnik.com/5279008/ten-you-might-be-a-redneck-limos/

2) Drive conservatively

The easiest way to do this is to essentially drive slowly, deliberately, and carefully. You'll save yourself all the extra gas by avoiding unnecessary consumption simply by using the gas pedal a little less. Simply ask yourself - do I really need to get up to the speed limit that quickly? Is my driving subject to being called "maniac" in any way? Seriously, if most anyone calls your driving crazy, then you probably could be saving some gas by driving more conservatively.

Even if you're a mild mannered driver, you could always improve. I'm certainly guilty in this respect, as my timelyness to class matters a little more than saving some gas. So I find myself almost unconsciously driving a little faster when I'm in a rush. If you want some more information on these techniques, I suggest you take a look here:

http://www.hypermiling.com/

Like the name suggests, hypermiling is the practice of changing your driving habits to save gas - and possibly get more than the EPA's official numbers on gas mileage.

That's the end for part 1, part 2 will come soon!