Sustainable transport can save you money, improve your health and reduce your environmental footprint. Jane from the Sustainable Overton travel team gives her ideas on how to help reduce the damage.
Try not to use your car
Walk for short trips. Walking helps reduce body fat, lower blood pressure and is free. It may also take less time than you think. Studies have shown that most people will underestimate time related to car journeys and overestimate the time it will take to walk.
Cycle instead.
Burn some of those calories and save on greenhouse gas emissions.
Consider car-pooling. It's a great way to share the costs of fuel and parking - and to break the monotony of your daily commute.
Think ahead. Bundle a number of small errands into one trip to save time and fuel. Maybe a phone call, email or letter would do instead?
Have a local adventure. Next time you are planning an outing or holiday, consider having some fun close to home.
Make low emissions a priority. When you're buying a vehicle, compare the available range of electric and hybrid vehicles
Green Driving: if you can’t avoid using a car, reduce your impact by employing these green driving techniques:
Regularly check your tyre pressure. Under-inflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by three per cent and take 10,000 kilometres off the tyre's life.
Service your car regularly. A well-tuned car can use 15% less fuel.
Don't idle. If you are stopping for more than ten seconds, turn your car off.
Drive smoothly. Stopping and starting uses more fuel.
At lower speeds, open your window rather than using your air conditioner - you will use less fuel.
Screw on your fuel cap firmly to avoid evaporation and leaks when you turn corners.
Travel light. Don't use your car to store heavy equipment for long periods of time, an extra 50 kilograms of weight increases fuel consumption by 2%.
Remove roof racks or anything fixed to the outside of your car when you don't need them, to minimise wind resistance.