When you were learning to drive, were you taught anything about ways to save gas? Probably not. Yet transportation contributes 14% to total global greenhouse gas emissions. Fumes and air pollutants coming out of vehicle tail pipes are one of the biggest sources of smog and dirty air, too.  I’d love to see driver’s ed programs include information on driving efficiently and cleanly for new drivers. Until then, we’ve teamed up with DrivingOffice.com, which helps new drivers in my home state of Michigan pass their driver’s test by taking the Michigan permit practice test. Here are 10 ways to save gas this summer you need to know, whether you’re new to the wheel or have a lot of miles under your tires.

1-Follow the 10-second rule before you idle your car.

It’s easy to think you’re only stopping for a short time when you idle in park, and not worth turning the engine off.

The truth is that, any time the engine is on and you’re not moving, you’re wasting gas and money.

In fact, idling a car for as little as ten seconds actually uses more fuel than turning off the engine and restarting it. If you spend five minutes idling, you’ll waste a perfectly good gallon of gas!

When Should You Turn Off Your Car?

⇒Turn the car off when you’re stuck at a railroad crossing, or waiting to pick someone up at school or their house, and skip the drive-throughs when the lines are long.

⇒Turn off your car when you’re waiting for a pick-up if it’s going to take longer than 10 seconds to get your goods.

⇒Never idle at a school, especially when you’re waiting to pick up little kids. You’ll just be filling the air with toxic fumes they shouldn’t have to breathe.

Don’t Miss: Ways to Save $20 – $50 Every Month on Gasoline

2-Drive at a constant speed.

The more you accelerate quickly and brake suddenly, the more fuel you use.

How should you start and stop?

⇒Don’t be a “jack rabbit.” Ease up to a stop sign or stop light then ease away at a moderate speed.

3-Drive the speed limit.

Obviously, you want to drive the speed limit to avoid getting a ticket.

Driving the speed limit will keep you alive, too, since speeding leads to so many accidents.

But driving faster than 65mph gobbles up gas, too. In fact, driving at a speed of 85 mph uses 40% more fuel than if you drove at 70 mph.

How fast should you drive?

⇒Stick to the posted speed limit.

⇒Drive 65 on the highway to use a lot less fuel.

4-Keep your car tires properly pumped up.

Not having enough air in your car tires can reduce the number of miles you get per gallon of gasoline by 3%. That may not sound like a lot, but it could amount to as much oil as is in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Instead of destroy that wilderness, we can all simply keep our tires pumped up to the proper psi, or pounds per square inch.

When should you pump up your tires?

⇒ A good rule of thumb is to check the tire pressure every time the seasons change, so maybe four times a year. If you don’t know the psi, it’s easily found on a little sticker right inside the door jamb of the front driver’s-side door.

Keep a tire pressure gauge in the glove compartment of the car so it’s easy to check the tire pressure.

5-Change the oil regularly and get an annual tune up.

Maintaining your vehicle is important for lots of reasons. Cars tend to have a longer life if they are well maintained. They also run more efficiently, which means you do not have to buy as much fuel.

How often should you get an oil change?

⇒Read your vehicle manual, but most manufacturers recommend an oil change every 3,000 – 5,000 miles. You can find lots of coupons online for discounts that will bring oil change costs down to only around $20 bucks a pop.

⇒Tune ups are recommended annually.

6-Use air conditioning instead of opening windows.

You may think that opening the windows in your car, instead of using air conditioning, is a good idea. But it turns out that the opposite is true. Open windows increase the amount of drag, which means that open windows in a fast-moving car actually slow the car down, so you end up using more gas than you would if the air conditioning was switched on.

When to use AC?

⇒Use the AC when you’re traveling at speeds above 40 mph on the highway. You can use the lowest fan setting and keep cool air circulating to make it comfortable.

⇒Roll the windows down when you’re just driving around town at lower speeds.

⇒Use a windshield shade to reflect sunlight away from your car and keep internal temperatures cooler.

7-Carpool and share the gas – and the cost.

Carpools are a great idea. Not only do you save on the cost of gas, because you use your vehicle less frequently; you also get to chat with a group of friends during the journey.

8-Combine trips and use apps to shorten distances traveled.

If you do not plan your week effectively, you can end up driving a greater distance than required. If you need to go to the doctor and the mall, and they are both in the same direction, go to both on the same journey where possible. As a result, you drive a shorter distance and you save on the cost of extra fuel.

What apps are the best for creating gas-saving travel routs?

⇒Waze is popular, but Google Maps is great, too!

9-Park where you are

How many times have you driven around for a while, looking for a parking space that is closer to your destination? If you are able, it’s a much better idea to park in the first spot you can, and simply walk a little further. You end up saving money and time.

What apps make parking quick and easy?

Parking Panda

Park Whiz

Best Parking

10-Put your car on a diet.

Many people keep too much stuff in their car. Extra weight makes the vehicle heavier, increasing fuel consumption.

⇒De-clutter your vehicle and save money on gas. If you’re not going to use it, don’t keep it in the trunk or on the roof rack.

NOTE: Sponsors and partnerships like these allow us to bring you expert content at no cost to you. All editorial opinions expressed are our own. Thanks!

The post New Driver? The 10 Ways to Save Gas This Summer You Need to Know appeared first on Big Green Purse.

We often focus on poor air quality when kids are home in the summer and smog seems particularly intense. But even in September and early October, your community may experience Code Yellow and Code Orange days, both of which could make our kids sick. In this guest post from Clean Air Partners, based in Baltimore, MD, acting director Jen Desimone explains why we need to be on the lookout and what we can do to protect kids from air pollution.

It’s a bit of an irony, isn’t it? On the one hand, we want kids to get away from their computers and electronics and play outside. On the other hand, we don’t want them breathing unhealthy air. Created by the reaction of sunlight and emissions from cars and other sources, ozone pollution can damage lung tissue.

* Kids who already have asthma are particularly at risk when they play outside in polluted air. And while we all react to smog, children are among the groups most sensitive to poor air quality, as their respiratory systems are developing and they breathe in more air pollution per pound of body weight than adults.

* There are an estimated 7.1 million asthma sufferers under the age of 18. Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15.

* In the greater metropolitan Washington region alone, there are more than 18,000 children with asthma. Air pollution can make asthma symptoms worse and trigger attacks.

What can you do to protect kids from air pollution at school?

Monitor air quality. As a parent, you’re already probably on the alert. Clean Air Partners offers free, daily AirAlerts to residents across the greater metro Washington-Baltimore region. AirAlerts also provide a daily and three-day air quality forecast. When  an unhealthy air quality level is reached (in real-time) all subscribers are notified. Users can have AirAlerts sent directly to their email and can also use the Clean Air Partners Air Quality App for on-the-go information that can help keep students safe.

Talk to your kids’ coaches and day care providers, who may also be responsible for children during primetime hours. If your kids have a peanut allergy, or are highly allergic to bee stings, you let school officials and day care operators know. It’s the same with asthma and air quality.

When the Air Quality Index (AQI) reports unhealthy levels:

1) Timing is Everything: Limit kids’ outdoor physical exertion. Be aware that ozone often peaks in mid-afternoon and early evening. Adjust strenuous outdoor activity during off hours and/or reduce the intensity of the activity.

2) Pay Attention: Know how to recognize symptoms of respiratory discomfort, such as coughing, wheezing, breathing difficulty, and chest tightness – and reduce exposure if these occur. Asthmatic children are not the only ones at risk– all children are susceptible to these symptoms.

3) Rotate and Rest: Rotate players during physically exerting games and rest players to reduce exertion.

4) Have Options: Provide alternative activities that allow kids that have asthma or other respiratory problems to participate in activities that are less physical when pollution levels are high.

5) Play Indoors: If pollution levels are particularly high, move physical activities indoors where the air is filtered by an air conditioning system.

6) Plan Ahead: Asthma management is important and children with asthma should have adequate medication on hand and follow their asthma management plans.

Air Quality Guide to Keep Kids Safe

CODE GREEN: Great day to be active outside!

CODE YELLOW: Air quality is acceptable but this could cause health concerns for sensitive groups (such as athletes and those who spend a lot of time outside). Students who are unusually sensitive to air pollution could have symptoms.

CODE ORANGE: Limit outdoor activities. For longer activities such as PE or band practice, take more breaks and do less intense activities.

CODE RED: Everyone is sensitive to this level of poor air quality and should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion. Consider moving longer or more intense activities indoors or rescheduling them to another day or time.

CODE PURPLE: Everyone, especially children, should avoid any physical outdoor activities as pollution levels are very unhealthy. Move all activities indoors or reschedule them to another day.

Clean Air Partners would like to thank teachers and coaches in the community for contributing to an overall improvement in our community’s air quality and environment and keeping children safe. Have fun and make sure you check out cleanairpartners.net to sign-up for AirAlerts.

If you don’t live in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, check in with your county to find a similar organization or agency that monitors air quality and will send you alerts to help protect your kids.

The post 6 Ways to Protect Kids from Air Pollution, Even When They’re Back to School appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I’ve just returned from a seven-day trip to Beijing, China’s capital, and Xi’an, the country’s cultural heart and soul and home to its famous terra cotta soldiers. In that entire time, I never saw the sun or sky. Nor was I able to drink the water that came out of any tap.

Why? The sky was cloaked in grey smog so thick it obscured the tops of buildings, not to mention the heavens above. The air, while not exactly putrid, smelled dank and dangerous — a result of massive numbers of polluting cars on the road and regional industrial plants that spew contaminants into the air.

I could have worn a surgical mask like many of the city’s permanent residents. Instead, I opted to be a “guinea pig” and see how much the smog would affect me as I went back and forth to various business meetings and tourist destinations.

After just three days in Beijing, I developed a sore throat and itchy eyes, and lost any desire to explore the city’s beautiful parks. I could have easily walked distances of a mile or two. Instead, I took the subway to avoid breathing the outdoor air unnecessarily. Back at my hotel, I kept the windows closed, choosing a stuffy room over a polluted one.

The water coming out of my faucet looked cleaner than the air — but I would have been a fool to drink it. Water treatment anywhere in China is thoroughly inadequate. The country’s drinking water is tainted not just by household waste but from relentless industrial run-off.

Some government figures estimate that over 70 percent of the nation’s rivers have been contaminated by the discharge of heavy metals and other toxins directly into streams and tributaries that feed into China’s waterways. Water treatment facilities remove a smattering of contaminants but never clean up the water to the point where it is drinkable. And this creates another problem.

Independent companies are privatizing the water, purifying and bottling it, and selling it to the public by the tons. What happens to all the empty plastic water bottles? They end up back in the rivers and streams when they’re trashed.

Why is China so polluted?

In short, because it has neither a power federal environmental protection agency nor adequate laws for such an agency to enforce. Yes, the government gives lip service to reducing pollution and protecting public health. But local activists in Beijing told me that given the physical size of the country, a population of more than 1 billion people, and tens of thousands of “renegade” manufacturing facilities, neither air nor water quality will improve significantly until the government makes a real commitment to strengthen and enforce its environmental laws.

This is not to say that air and water in the U.S. are perfect, or even good enough. A recent study by Environment America, using data provided by the American Lung Association, reported that nearly half of all Americans — 48 percent — live in areas plagued by unhealthy smog pollution. A water quality analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that 22 million Americans may be drinking water that contains excessive levels of poisonous arsenic, among other chemicals.

Still, the same Environment America study notes that “air quality has improved significantly in the last decade as a result of policies at the state and federal level.” Likewise, the non-profit Environmental Working Group found over 90 percent compliance by water utilities in applying and enforcing standards that exist. Their recommendation: that EPA set even more effective standards so water quality will continue to improve.

We can continue cleaning up our air or water. Or, we can abolish the EPA and look a lot more like China. I suggest Michele Bachmann go to China before she decides.

Follow me on twitter @dianemaceachern.

(NOTE: This article originally appeared at Huffington Post.)

The post Michele Bachmann Wants to Crush EPA. First, She Should Go to China. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Whether for indoors or out, your best bet is to buy low- or no-VOC paint. You’ll find it offered by more than a dozen companies in thousands of colors and in standard eggshell, glossy, and semigloss finishes. You can also select no-VOC water-based stains, finishes, and paint stripper.

For specific recommendations, check out the brands that have been independently certified for health and sustainabilityby Green Seal or EcoLogo.

To get the most out of the paint you use:

Buy only what you need. Measure carefully. It’s better to go back for more than to be stuck with too much leftover paint you can’t use.

Prevent paint from drying out. Cover the paint can with plastic wrap, hammer the lid securely back into place, and store the paint upside down.

Use up stored paint. Apply it for touch-up jobs or smaller projects. Blend similar colors for larger jobs; use as a primer.

Donate leftover paint. Schools, churches, community groups, and kids’ clubs may be looking for a free way to give their buildings a face-lift, and you can take a tax deduction when you make the gift.

Don’t pour paint down the drain. You can rinse latex paint off brushes, but otherwise leave leftover paint you can’t use in open cans in a protected outdoor shed. When the paint air-dries, you can throw it away.

Circulate air. Keep windows open and fans blowing to move air- and paint fumes- out of the house. Avoid as much indoor air pollution as possible.

Lead alert: If your home was painted prior to 1978, the paint probably contains lead. Lead dust is extremely toxic, especially to children and pets. Before you paint, take the precautions recommended on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web page “Lead in Paint, Dust in Soil.” In short, never sand lead paint. Call on a professional certified in lead-paint abatement, whether the paint is indoors or outside where pets and wildlife can be exposed.

The post Eco-Friendly Paint Keeps You & the Planet Healthy appeared first on Big Green Purse.

According to the New York Times, 345 counties currently violate the new standards EPA has set to reduce smog and clean up the air. Bringing those counties into compliance would prevent 900 to 1,100 premature deaths a year and result in 5,600 fewer hospital or emergency room visits. Even with these benefits, groups like the Association of Clean Air Agencies worry that the standards are still too low.

The timetable for meeting the smog standards could be decades, reports the Times, depending on the severity of the problem in each city. Industries like the electric utility industry are expected to resist  reducing the pollution from power plants to meet EPA’s clean air directives. In tones that harken back to the debate around global warming, the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade association, is challenging the scientifically-accepted cause-and-effect relationship between smog and human health — even though millions of people already suffer increased asthma, heart attacks, and other ailments from polluted air.

While consumers should contact their member of Congress to support stricter standards, they shouldn’t wait for more government action to take steps to protect their air. Smog results directly from burning fossil fuels. Consumers can help improve the air in their cities and towns by reducing the amount of energy they use. If every household installed just one compact fluorescent light bulb, for example, it would have the equivalent benefit of taking 800,000 cars off the road.

Consumers can also use programmable thermostatsand energy efficient appliances, take mass transit or carpool, and buy electricity generated by windpower or biomass.

The post New EPA Clean Air Standards Show Why Consumer Action is so Critical appeared first on Big Green Purse.