Drive green

It’s Earth Day today, so why not do your bit to keep the planet clean and green while you are on the go? HT City shows you how.

Believe us, it doesn’t take much on our part to help the planet be a better place to live in, even while we sit inside one of the prime factors for global warming and pollution — our cars. Here’s how we can drive green.

HT Image

Go slow
This is one thing Delhiites are deprived of in their genes. But if you want to go green, then go slow. Don’t accelerate too much in the first few minutes as the engine takes time to warm up. You’ll also save fuel by doing this. Even while you are driving, maintaining a decent speed between 40 to 60 km/hour gives you the best mileage.

Soothing
You may not have given a thought to this, but the colour of your car influences global warming. Darker shades such as black, maroon and metallic colours emit more heat than white, green and other lighter shades. Thinking “what my car can alone do” is the biggest mistake one can make.

Sit up
Even a simple thing like sitting correctly allows your legs to be balanced properly so that you don’t end up accelerating heavily.

Coast along
Go slow so that you don’t have to stop too often. Shutting down your engine at signals is a good habit, but doing it too often hampers the mileage.

Switch it off
Never start your car with the air conditioner on. Same goes with the lights. Also, try and switch off the AC at intervals while you are driving — it saves a lot of fuel.