Are you on the road to green?

You can’t turn on the TV or read the newspaper and not hear about the effects of global warming. You’ve likely already taken the first steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle, such as recycling and cutting down on your energy consumption. But there are still many things you can do without spending a lot of money.

Your vehicle is a significant part of your day. To save the environment and money, there are many steps you can take with your existing vehicle.

* Stay in tune. A thorough checkup by an automotive technician is a good idea. This is particularly important for long trips. However, it should be done frequently if the driver is often in stop-and go traffic. These tuneups can help reduce vehicle emissions.

* Conduct a clean sweep. Extra cargo can make your car work harder and reduce your fuel efficiency. To improve fuel economy, empty your trunk of junk.

* Don’t let pressure get you down. Tires that lose their air pressure can cause drivers to lose mileage per gallon and unnecessarily eat fuel. A drop in pressure of 8 pounds per sq inch (psi), could result in fuel-economy losses of approximately 2 mpg, 18% less vehicle load-carrying ability and 25 percent decreases in tire treadwear. You should check your tire pressure at least once per month. However, you must not over-inflate tires as this can lead to premature tire wear. For an accurate reading of the pressure, your vehicle must not have been driven more than one mile or be idle for at least three hours.

* Stay in motion. You don’t need to idle your car today. Limiting idle time is a good idea as it produces excess emissions and can damage the catalytic convertor. Idling for longer than 30 seconds will cause more fuel consumption than turning off the engine and then restarting it.

* Slow things down. A speed of 75 mph rather than 65 mph can reduce your fuel efficiency by around 10 percent. It will also dramatically increase tailpipe pollution. You can make your highway speed 10 mph lower for a greener ride.

For more information, please visit www.carcare.org.

Trisha Hessinger, a former racecar driver, is an automotive education specialist nationally for Firestone Complete Auto Care.