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My first mission: a face-off with the biggest eco-offender in my life—my car.

Monday Jan 15, 2007.     By Julia Steinberger

Lifestyle Feed

Greetings from Week Two of the Slate Green Challenge! I'm ringing in the new year with a two-month quest to cut my carbon emissions by 20 percent. My first mission: a face-off with the biggest eco-offender in my life—my car.

I acquired the Taurus almost two years ago. It's a near necessity for getting to my suburban job, but I let it became a near addiction once I started using it. Slate challenged me to cut 25 miles per week from my driving habit (with these tips) The easiest way was to chop one round-trip to work out of the equation by taking the train-to-bus route. I made a deal with my carpool-mate that on days above 40 degrees, the bus was a good option. Bad-weather days proved too miserable; after all, if I had one reason to have a car, these days would be it. For now it's a good solution, but I'm determined to make being car-commute-free a crucial factor of my long-term career plan.

Major enlightenment struck when I saw how many unnecessary trips I was taking. Just because I could, I'd make a several-mile trip to, say, Target, to pick up one thing I needed right then. These past two weeks, I planned ahead and made zero trips to Target, to the fabric store, to close-by friends' houses, etc. It may sound restricting, but it felt great and kept me out of my errand-rut. Big decision number two: I'll leave myself time to walk to places when I can and plan shopping trips that allow me to get what I'll need for at least a month. I'll save cash, time and fossil fuel.

Finally, Slate suggests that all drivers purchase Green Tags to offset our harmful emissions by boosting research and development of green energy. After plugging in basic info, I was told that $50 would offset my car use. Fifty bucks for all the fumes my car dumps? Says who? It felt a lot like buying a clean conscience. After some thought I decided it was a good plan. It's not like people are going to stop driving, but giving money to the good fight in an amount proportional to the amount you contribute to the problem does make a lot of sense. So I gave up the cash, and it felt pretty good.

The second week of the challenge targets home energy use. Slate's energy tips are mostly homeowner-specific, like installing storm windows or adding insulation. What a renter can do is turn down the heat, but I couldn't match the suggested two-degree drop during the day: I already leave my apartment at 55 degrees, the minimum temperature enforced by my landlord to keep the pipes in our old building from freezing, when I leave for work.

At night, Slate says, we can cut eight degrees. Augh! Snuggly-warm sleeping is one of the prime pleasures of winter, but in the spirit of things I cranked the thermostat down for a trial. It got COLD. For a couple of hours I wore a wool hat and gloves around my apartment and was none too happy about it, but I figured out a good compromise when it came time for bed: Since I only need one warm room for sleeping, I plugged in my space heater and snuggled in, totally comfortable.

My solution in the end is to leave the house at a temperature I can stand until I'm ready to go to sleep, and then turn the heat way down and use the more-efficient small electric heater for seven earth-friendlier hours. Heck, maybe I can even reserve the money saved on my gas bill for green tags to support the energy I do use.

Want more tips? Give it a shot … it's easier than you think.

Check the air in your tires every month: It takes about two minutes when you're already stopped for gas, but keeping your tires properly inflated saves about 250 lbs of CO2 in a year.

Replace your car's air filter every six months: You can pick one up at an auto-supply store for around $10 and do it yourself, saving the minimum $30 a body shop will charge.

Get your junk out of the trunk: Using your trunk as a purse/backpack/garbage can/locker room weighs it down, decreasing your MPG and costing you money.

Forget the need for speed: Most cars run most efficiently between 40 and 60 mph. Once you pass 65, you're burning fuel at hyperspeed, and that rarely needs to happen.

Don't idle: Don't leave your engine on when you're sitting and waiting! Cars need no more than 30 seconds to "warm up" before you get going, and the myth that re-starting the car will drain your engine holds no water for cars built after 1970.

After four greener-than-average college years as a co-op dweller-turned-aspiring-permaculturist, Julia Steinberger finds it hard not to feel guilty about her one-bedroom apartment, daily commute and indulgence in the occasional dollar burger. She'd like to dream that she could live in a tent/treehouse/rabbit hole, but the truth is, she'd rather stay in the city while doing her best to leave a lighter footprint on the earth. You can contact her here.