With gas prices dominating the headlines and our monthly credit card bills, we’ve spent a lot of time, and even some blog posts, considering meaningful ways for all of us to conserve this finite resource, breathe cleaner air, reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and save a few bucks. Turns out, it might be easier than you think.

How to save gasoline

As of 2005, there were just over 200 million licensed drivers in the United States. If each one of them saved just one gallon of gasoline every week, the net result would be a savings of almost 10.5 billion gallons of gas every year. If that sounds like it might be hard to do, think about how much fuel you could save simply by slowing down. In Consumer Reports testing, fuel mileage in a relatively economical four-cylinder Toyota Camry improved by 10 mpg simply by slowing from 75 to 55. Using that example, a Camry driver could save a gallon of gas in just 30 miles of highway driving. If that’s too slow for you, just slowing to 65 improved the mileage in the same car by five mpg. And around town, reducing hard acceleration and braking saved 2-3 mpg.

There are other ways to save, like combining trips when running errands, and keeping your tires properly inflated. Under-inflated tires could cost you another one mpg, or 20 miles per tankful if you have a 20-gallon tank. Simply carpooling one day a month could easily save more than your gallon a week share, depending on your commute.

The next post in this two-part series will look at the U.S. demand for oil, and the difference each motorist can make.

--Jim Travers