25 Easy Ways to Help Save the Planet

On the Road

Carry a water bottle with you. Buy a reusable bottle that fits your lifestyle (and your purse) and skip buying a new one at every lunchtime stop. Need a reason? Americans use 3.3 million plastic bottles every hour but recycle only one in five.
 
Don’t idle. Pausing somewhere? Shut down your engine: Idling for any length of time burns more gas than it takes to restart the car.
 
Give your car―and driving habits―a tune-up. Speeding, fast accelerations, and hard braking waste gas. Maintaining your car saves it. Tune up your car according to your owner’s-manual schedule (usually every 30,000 miles) and raise your car’s fuel efficiency anywhere from 4 to 40 percent. Bonus: You’ll increase your fuel efficiency and save on gas. Go to greendrivingusa.com for an estimate of how much.