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Can't Afford a Hybrid?: Reduce Your Carbon Emissions with these Cheaper, Better Investments

Save money, reduce carbon emissions, skip buying a new car.

In amongst the ongoing news about the US auto industry meltdown you may have heard about some of the proposed fuel economy improvement plans by GM and Ford. While buying a car with great fuel efficiency is a good thing, and even if you personally aren't in the same kind of financial distress as the Big Three, these days you're probably looking to pinch pennies.

So here are four things you can do which cost a heck of a lot less than buying the most fuel efficient car out there right now, the Toyota Prius:

The Methodology
In coming up with this list I made some pretty broad generalizations: The average fuel economy of the Prius is about 46 mpg (even though everyone I know who has one gets better than that...); the average fuel economy of the US passenger car fleet (old and news cars) in 2006 was a bit over 22 mpg. The average US driver travels 12,000 miles per year (again, I know a lot of people who do more than that...but you've got to draw the line somewhere).

More Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Emissions:

Calculate Carbon Emissions Using Localized Data

6 Ways to Offset Your Web Surfing Emissions

Save Money, Reduce Carbon Emissions: The Energy Detective is on the Case

Switch to a Prius = Save 5,000 Pounds CO2

With these assumptions, that means that by switching from an 'average' US passenger car to a Prius you're avoiding emitting a bit more than 5,000 pounds of CO2 every year. A good figure and if you've got the money, by all means go for it, but by spending much less than the cost of that new car you can do better.

Switch To Green Power = Save 14,000 Pounds CO2

By far the single greatest thing you can do to reduce your carbon emissions is enroll in a green power program. In general it takes only a few minutes to enroll and costs a few cents more per kilowatt hour. Based on average US statistics for household electric usage (which admittedly vary widely throughout the country), by switching to green power you could more than double the savings of switching to a hybrid vehicle, and it costs a mere $200 per year to do so.

Eat More Local Food = Save 8,000 Pounds CO2

If you haven't heard, the ingredients in the average US meal travel about 1,200 miles from where they were grown to get to your plate. That's a lot of carbon emissions. By committing to eating three meals per month using only local ingredients you can save more than 1.5 times the emission savings of buying a hybrid car. As far as costs go, some local food products may cost more than imported ones while others may be less expensive. With this small a change in spending patterns, the effect on you budget will be minimal.

Simple Steps Do Add Up = Save 5,350 Pounds CO2

The mainstream green movement these days is all about the simple step, the painless lifestyle modification. While I'm of the opinion that these steps really are just preparation for greater green awareness, they do add up in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

If you do the following things you can save about the same amount as buying the most fuel efficient car in the US, and at a cost of under $300 for the year:

• Keep the tires on your car properly inflated.
• Take public transit or carpool to work three days a week.
• Install 10 compact fluorescent lightbulbs to replace incandescent bulbs.
• Wash your clothes in cold water and then air dry all of them, all the time.
• Turn down your water heater to 120 degrees.
• Properly insulate your water heater.

Adopt a Vegetarian Diet = Save 5,040 Pounds CO2

Apart from the ethical aspects of not supporting the inhumane and environmental destructive practice of factory farming, switching to a vegetarian diet has great benefits in terms of reducing your carbon emissions. By not eating meat you can avoid the emissions of a bit more than 5,000 pounds of carbon emissions per year. What's more, on average you can save about 20% on your food costs as well.

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