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With gas prices inching closer and closer to the $4/gallon range, many in the US believe that we will hit $5/gallon sooner rather than later. How does one cope with these new realities?

The long term solution is to change your lifestyle! Do less driving.

1. Choose a home within walking or biking distance of work and stores whenever possible.
Take the 2 Mile Challenge! In general, ride your bicycle or walk to stores and/or work whenever possible. Build these activities into your exercise routine.

2. Take public transportation whenever possible. If you don’t have a current public transit schedule for your area, call and get one today so that you are more likely to use it in the future. Let your transit service know if you would like them to add new routes.

3. Join a car pool. If your company doesn’t coordinate car pooling, ask them to consider it or coordinate it yourself. If possible, coordinate car pooling with nearby businesses.

As you work towards making these more permanent changes down the road, the easiest short term solution is to drive as fuel efficiently as possible. This, in general, means keeping your car properly maintained and not driving aggressively. Here is a list of short term solutions to increase your driving fuel efficiency:

1. Combine errands and plan out the shortest route possible. The heaviest car emissions occur during the first two miles that a car is driven (while the engine is still cold). Whenever possible, walk or ride your bike.

2. Keep your tires inflated at the maximum recommended pressure(check once a month) and properly aligned (get your alignment checked every 5,000 miles).

3. Purchase long-lasting, fuel-efficient Radial tires (vs. Bias or Belted tires)

4. Keep up on your car maintenance, especially ignition timing, spark plugs and wiring, and idle speed setting (a poorly tuned car can loose up to 20% fuel efficiency)

5. Watch your gas mileage for problems. Compare gas mileage for different brands of gasoline - some may give you better mileage.

6. Drive the speed limit - you can save 15-20% by driving 65 instead of 75. Optimum MPG are found at 35-45 MPH.

7. Don’t buy a higher octane gasoline than your engine needs (producing higher-octane fuels uses more crude oil than the lower octane gasolines, and may often involve use of toxic substances, which means the environment suffers). Consult your owner’s manual for the right grade to use.

8. Avoid quick starts and stops. In general, drive as smoothly as possible.

9. Keep windows shut at high speeds.

10. Don’t start your car until you are ready to drive off.

11. If you drive a car with a manual transmission, upshift at the lowest speed possible to reduce fuel consumption.

12. Have your air conditioner serviced by a trained mechanic with access to a “vampire” machine, which recycles freon. These machines drain the coolant, purify it, and reinject it into the air conditioner. Fix leaks.

13. Keep the air and fuel filters clean.

Change your life. Change the world. Zigo.