How can I personally become less oil dependant?

Question

I want to become less oil dependant and conserve as much fuel as I can. Any ideas on how I can accomplish this? A few things to keep in mind:

-I live in a rural area (far from my school and workplace, so biking or walking is out.)

-We have no public transportation

-I already try to carpool as much as possible and do not run my air conditioner (I let the windows down)

-I can NOT afford a hybrid car (once my little Ford Focus dies I will def. look into it, but as of now, no new car for me!)

Any ideas and/or input greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Pick the shortest routes, ride your bike to the store or to parties etc.,  drive part of the way and ride your bike or walk the rest,  don't go with E85 it is almost 30% less efficient which means it may end up costing more,

Answer 2

You can do a lot of things, ranging from fitting your car to be able to run on biodegradable oils, to walking more, riding a bike, encouraging others to follow your examples.

Answer 3

You can move closer to where you work, etc so as to not require a vehicle - that way

Answer 4

First off, you probably use gasoline, not oil, as fuel. gasoline is refined from crude oil. the main thing would probably be to buy gas with higher ethanol content. Another thing is to drive slower. wind resistance increases with the square of velocity, so a car driving a 70 mph uses a lot more gas than a car at 55 mph. (most of the fuel when traveling at a constant speed is devoted to countering air resistance) Also, more power output takes more fuel: accelerating a little bit slower can save some fuel as well.

Answer 5

Hi,

Do you want to be less oil dependant or just less "gas" dependant?

In order to save gas, here are a few tips:

Keep your car tires properly inflated at all times

Keep your car air intake filter clean (less air = more fuel)

Avoid sudden aceleration or stops

Another that comes to my mind is to buy a GPS, and always try to take the shortest possible route.

his tips will surely help you save on gas, but be cautious that the elctricity that runs stuff in you house may come from a power plant that uses oil or other fossil fuels

Answer 6

walk to work

Answer 7

Move to where you can achieve these ideals easier.

Go back to horses

Answer 8

Use different oils. Like biodegradable corn oil for your car!

Answer 9

stop making brownies. that uses oillll DAWWWWWG.

Answer 10

quit your school and job

Answer 11

Would a motorized scooter work or even a motorcycle? I don't know if you are a student who can dress casually or if you work in an office, but a scooter could save a lot of gas/oil. If you can't do that make sure you car is kept in good shape. Have it tuned up and find a mechanic who can really teach you when  your oil needs to be changed. They use to tell you every 3,000 miles, but now they are saying the oil life is much longer than that. A star to you for asking a "green" question!

Answer 12

Less dependent is probably the best phrase because we can never be totally independent or significantly reduce our use of oil based products.  If you really think about it, most of the products we utilize come from oil.  As you sit and read this, stop and look around where you are and mentally list the products/by-products in your home or office that come from oil. It will blow you away.

Answer 13

Well you can shut off your car at stop lights. And if you are really brave use the coast method downhill or when rolling in to stop somewhere. Drive more freeway miles. I'm sure there is a lot of things. This is a good question.

Answer 14

to be truthfuly honest u really cant because u are constantly using oil but try a bike or a walkk!! lol

Answer 15

natural gas!

better than burning coal and oil =D

Answer 16

Chances are that you aren't just using oil in your car.  Plastic is oil.  Don't use plastic bags!  That will save a ton of oil!  We use 12 million barrels of oil to produce plastic bags each year!  Don't purchase bottled water or other beverages packaged in plastic.  Think about how many plastic items you use in a day.  Then think of that in terms of oil used!

Answer 17

Use a bicycle!