Just when you thought gas prices wouldn’t go any higher, they have. I filled up our 1987 Volvo wagon yesterday for the first time in weeks, and the gas was $3.84 a gallon. Ouch.
As a city dweller, I’m fortunate to have access to great bus service, and use it every day for my commute. But I do love to travel around the Northwest, and I can’t take a bus to a trailhead (not many, anyway), bike to the Methow Valley, or take a train to the John Day Fossil Beds. Also, as much as I’d adore a shiny new Prius (light blue, please), I can’t afford a new, more fuel-efficient car (my Volvo gets only 25 miles to the gallon, highway driving, but it cost me only $1200!) My husband and I already decided to cut down on our air travel to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. With gas at nearly $4 a gallon, are we to quit traveling locally, too?
There is no doubt that Americans need to seriously curb our consumption of oil (We consume about 20.6 million barrels of oil per day, about 25% of worldwide demand. That’s more than double the consumption of China, the world’s second biggest consumer.) With skyrocketing gas prices, we now have another, more immediate incentive.
I hope you’ll be enjoying some Northwest travel this summer, despite the gas prices. Here are some tips for using less gas in your Northwest journeys. They’ll help you pump a little less carbon into the atmosphere, and a little more cash in your pockets:
- Tend to your tires. We’ve all heard this one before, but evidently very few of us have actually done it. Keep your tires properly inflated and improve your mileage by 3 percent, for a savings of 20 gallons of gas a year ($80 at current prices).
- Don’t put the pedal to the metal. The faster you accelerate, the more gas you use. Cut out the fast starts and rapid braking at highway speeds, and save as much as 80 gallons a year.
- Yeah, you can drive 55. Actually, 55 miles per hour is the optimum speed for most cars when it comes to getting the best gas mileage, so slow down.
- Carpool. Yes, on your vacation. If you’re taking a weekend getaway, ask some friends or another couple to come along. Not only will you save on gas money (when you split it, of course) you could save on lodging, too. (Get a cabin or suite that sleeps more people.)
- Travel light. You’ll get better mileage if you carry less weight, so clean out your trunk of stuff you don’t need to take with you.
- Try the train this summer. Although we wish there were far more options for traveling by train in the Northwest, there are a few. For example, from Seattle on Amtrak you can get to Portland, Hood River, Eugene, Spokane, Wenatchee, Bellingham, and Vancouver BC.
