Three More Ways to Save Money on Gas

khallgeisler — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Anyone with an Internet connection, a newspaper subscription, or an addiction to cable news knows the basics of gas saving by now: drive the speed limit, check your tires, no jackrabbit starts. Here are three more advanced tips to get the most out of that pricey gallon of gas.

Keep the engine warm. A recent Smart Money article pointed out that cars use more gas to start up when the engine is cold, like if it's been sitting for two hours or more. Try trip-chaining, where you run all your errands at once and don't leave the car off for more than a few minutes. The Smart Money people say you could save over $100 this summer by using this tip alone.

Drive right, the UPS way. UPS drivers have long planned routes that require more right turns than left turns. This makes sense to anyone sitting in a left-hand turn lane, idling, waiting for that @(#$ light to change ... come on ... come on ... while right-turning cars stream by your passenger window.

Make sure your next set of tires is fuel-effiecient. The greenest option is always to work with what you've got until it needs to be replaced, but if you're in the market for new tires, make sure they're going to up your mpg, not drop it. Those big, styley, low-profile tires can sap as much as 10% of your fuel efficiency. Shop around, ask questions, and find tires that have low rolling resistance for the best mileage.

The Five Biggest Green Wedding Cliches: Stop Saying That!

ckane — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0400

Speaking as someone who reads a lot about green weddings, I'd say we are beyond the saturation point of green websites, articles, issues, news reports, and TV shows. As Duran Duran might say in their comeback single, it's too much information. And after referring in a recent post to overused phrases in coverage of sustainable weddings, I decided to do a little research. By Googling the first five green wedding cliches that came to my mind, I present you with my very scientific list of the most overused phrases in eco-wedding coverage, from least to most.

1. My big fat green wedding.This phrase was my biggest disappointment a few months back--I thought I coined, it but did a quick search to make sure. Unfortunately, Google says about 129 writers thought the same thing.

2. It's a nice day for a green wedding. This Billy Idol reference hath wrought 583 results.

3. The bride wore green. Something like 970 articles use this phrase.

4. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something green. Maybe you're the editor of Supermarket Lady Magazine, you're planning your green issue, and you want to use this clever title for your wedding article. If you don't mind that somewhere in the neighborhood of 1330 other articles have used it already, go right ahead.

5. Green is the new white. Searching this term on Google gets you about 4,260 results! And backing up what I said above about general green information overload, when you just search "Green is the new" it yields around 297,000 results.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is a great trend. I'll be interested to see how the current rage of green weddings plays out over time; what sticks, what changes get incorporated even into mainstream weddings and event planning.

Can anyone suggest cliches I missed?

google

Three More Ways to Save Money on Gas

The Five Biggest Green Wedding Cliches: Stop Saying That!