My car and my conscience

This post was recently published on AskPatty.com! I am now a Contributing Editor at this neat website on automotive advice for women.

Cars -- one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gas emission and hence global warming. I am rather unhappy that a car is indispensable to life in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is unbelievable how many cars are constantly on the road, and how much land needs to be devoted to parking. Prior to SF, I lived for many years in Manhattan, where almost everything is within walking distance from a subway stop. Didn't have a car for 6 years -- because I didn't need it. However, like most of America, SF suburbs are typical of urban sprawl, making cars indispensable to an efficient daily life. Although I have come to like my car very much, today's automobiles simply exert too high a cost to the environment -- not to mention, an increasing burden on our wallets. So I started thinking about my driving patterns and where I can reduce my carbon footprint.

Breaking it down, here's my weekly driving needs:

• Commute to work (40 miles/week)
• Get lunch and coffee (20 miles/week)
• Necessary appointments (40 miles/week)
• Driving to friends' place (20 miles/week)
• Other roamings (100 miles/week)

Total per week = 220 miles
Total per year = 11,400 miles (average American drives 12K miles per year)
Gasoline Per Week = 7.85 gallon (2006 Honda Civic which averages 28mpg average city)
Gasoline Cost Per Year = $1127/year ($3/gallon)

CO2 Emission = 6710 lbs per year! [Calculator]

I want to reduce my car usage... as difficult as it is in the Bay Area. So I bought a bike recently. I started cycling to work, to the farmers' market, and the library. Soon I hope to ride the train+cycle to school. My fitness has increased when I converted some of the commuting to pedal power... although there are days (60%) where my schedule and logistics simply necessitate car use (a necessary evil). On those days, my personal obsession is to use today's car technology more efficiently.

• Buy the most gas efficient car I can afford. My 2006 Honda Civic averages 25-29 mpg across town. Wish I'd spent the extra $5K to get a hybrid, with gasoline prices now skyrocketing. It would have made me feel better about using this car too, by reducing my personal "cognitive dissonance" between what I think is right, versus what I actually do. My next car would definitely be at least a hybrid...
• Turn off the A/C. Use the vent or open windows for outside air. Works well 80% of the time since the weather here is usually cool. Bad idea when it is 80+F or the vehicle in front emits smelly fumes. However, the resistance created by wind may negate fuel savings, thus this definitely won't work on the highway. Yep, it also means that my passengers sometimes get a little uncomfortable temperature-wise... not the greatest solution.
• Increase gas mileage [great tips here]
• Live closer to work: within biking / walking distance... I moved closer, though my company may relocate further away soon...
  
• Car-pool to work: I used to car pool about 3x/week when I lived further away. Co-ordinating schedule requires a commitment, and some sacrifice to mobility when one doesn't have a car at the office. But the benefits are worth it -- driving time = bonding time, HOV lane, and better conscience. Plus, within your carpool group, try to use the more gas-efficient car more frequently to compound the effects of savings. This may be unfair to those with a hybrid or high-mileage car... so discuss it first.
  
• Being in a small startup, there's no cafeteria. Nearest food place takes 25 minutes to walk to... So, I pack a lunch and make coffee in the office. It saves time and is healthier too!
  

I am well-aware that at some point, one starts being penny-wise, pound foolish. What is your thought on this? Your personal experience with such a journey? I'd like to hear! Meanwhile, happy traveling!

-Marn Yee

Puzzlement about recycling

I wonder how far recycling technology has come in the last few years. There are things I've seen in the past year that puzzle me -- leading me to wonder about how effective recycling is in our communities

• Are more types of plastics recyclable? I've heard that some plastic bags are recyclable - should they be in the recycling bins, or do they just decompose?
• Some communities require recycling but not trash separation. For example, Mill Valley in Marin County (SF Bay Area). How do they automatically separate paper from aluminium from steel cans?
• How environmentally cost-effective is paper (bag/cup) compared to plastic/styrofoam? Has anyone crunched the number to compare the total cost ($ and eco-wise)?
• How does one know that corporate janitors are actually separating the trash that we have separated into different containers? E.g. at Goldman Sachs NY where I used to work, we used to put the paper into separate bins but the janitors simply dumped them into the regular trash bins, because the company does not pay for the cleaning service to recycle. In my current job, the janitor takes the cans home and get cash credit for it (applaud) -- and that's probably because the building management again does not pay for recycling...
• Can glossy paper be recycled?

What other questions do you have about recycling?

PS: I wrote this post for Typepad a while ago, and have since found more answers. Stay tuned for some answers.

-Marn Yee

Measuring one's personal impact - Eco Footprint

The eco footprint concept is an interesting one. It is an index that measures how much an entity (e.g. country, city, person) consumes, and then assumes that if everyone in the world consumes at the same rate, N-number of planets would be needed to support life on earth. Obviously... we only have one planet... so the implication is pretty clear!

Personal Footprint Quiz -- I scored 22* (typical American: 24) -- this level requires 5 planets.
* 22 acre (hectare) of biologically productive space with world-average productivity [FAQ]
It brought me to a "Take Action" page that breaks down what actions can be taken and re-calculates my footprint. E.g. if I...

• Shorten my shower by 10 minutes, reduce my clothes dryer load by 30%, convert 25 CFL lightbulbs, reduce my thermostat by 4 F (I ilke it extra warm at 72F), use central heating 5 instead of 6 months per year (ok, I like it REALLY warm... I came from the tropics), my score goes down by 1 (acre).
• Reducing my driving by 20 miles/week saves 0.3 (acre)

That's not bad... these are the habits I can change fairly easily, within the next 2 months. I picked only lowest hanging fruits from all the items in the list. We can all do that... pick the easiest change that makes a difference.

Hybrid cars - a collection of notes

I neither care too much nor know much about car engineering, but I do care about the financial and environmental costs of using gas and producing emission. Hybrid cars are becoming so popular nowadays that I feel left out not having one! My Honda Civic is too new so it doesn't make sense financially for me to trade it in yet, but I'm kinda obsessed with learning about the eventuality of upgrading... Some of these will not apply by the time I upgrade (say in 2-3 years), but then, perhaps the economics of owning a hybrid will still make sense in other ways.

Today, hybrid owners get to...

1. Use of HOV lane (e.g. the California DMV used to issue special HOV stickers for SULEV, ILEV and hybrid vehicles. The 85K permits set by a regulation have run out so no such luck for new cars). These stickers, being the precious commodity they are, have become the target of enterprising thieves
2. Claim tax credits to make up for the higher prices of hybrids. These get phased out a year after a manufacturer sells >60K qualified hybrid cars.
3. Save on gas - hybrids can get 40-60+ mpg. Check out this cool mileage calculator. Upgrading a Honda Civic (with ULEV II ratings) to a Honda Civic Hybrid (with PZEV ratings) results in the following improvements:

• 16 mpg increase (that's $344/year savings at $3/gallon for 12K miles per year)
• 2174 lbs CO2 less emitted (greenhouse gas)
• 53 lbs CO less emitted (poisonous gas)
• 2 lbs NO less emitted (lung irritant and smog)
• It doesn't reduce soot, and increases hydrocarbons production slightly (2lbs) - not sure why...

Apparently there are even ways to fine-tune your hybrid gas mileage - here are some tips for Honda Civic hybrids.

* Some regulatory-based incentives (2,3 above) are starting to run out, having achieved their goals of promoting adoption of a new technology.

I am really curious to find out what out incentive programs are out there, and what the situation is like outside the U.S.

-Marn Yee

Interesting NPR Show on Mileage

I recently listened to an interesting interview on NPR Talk of the Nation (URL below), that discusses ways to save mileage. One of its premises is that, many tips have been repeated so many times over decades even though car technology has changed significantly. The guy from Edmunds.com and the lady from AskPatty.com (an automative website for women) gave some interesting tips that (in)validate some of what I've know so far.

Here's the link...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10382519

And here's the summary...
a) Know your car mileage, both in the city and highway
b) Avoid aggresive driving, i.e. slamming on brakes frequently and the re-accelearating, since this uses more fuel and wears out the brake pads -- $$$
c) On the highway, using cruise control saves gas. Someone did an experiment by driving on I-95 for couple thousand miles on a cruise control and managed to increase her mileage by about 15 mpg.
d) On the highway, there is NO difference in mileage whether one uses the air-conditioning (A/C) or not -- if it is a modern car you're driving. Modern cars are much more aerodynamic.
e) Since modern A/C is much more efficient, they don't consume that much more gas, although it is still noticeable
f) Since combustion requires both air and fuel, make sure you get high-quality air. Hence, check your air filter regularly. Someone mentioned K&N lifetime air filter that does not need replacement (perhaps this is the link)

Here's another cool article from MSN Money... with specific mileage tips... from my friend Yury. We are having a competition to see who gets more mileage from our (non-hybrid) Honda Civic.

At its fueleconomy.gov Web site, the U.S. Department of Energy says that by following the speed limit and swearing off aggressive driving (rapid acceleration and deceleration), drivers can improve mpg by anywhere from 12% to 55%. An additional 19% improvement can be achieved, it is claimed, merely by keeping a car properly maintained.

Editors at Edmunds.com achieved similar results when they put to the test some widely accepted driving tips. On average, fuel efficiency improved 12% when speed limits were followed, 31% when aggressive driving tactics were avoided and an additional 7% when cruise control was used. Limiting the time spent idling also led to improvements of up to 19%.

-Marn Yee