Save Gas and the Environment by Not Idling

Many people don't realize how much gas they spend idling. Idling your car wastes gas and pours pollutants into the environment. Stopping Idling Is very easy and it will help protect our environment and it will put some money back in your wallet.

This is my first instructable and as you can see above I entered it into the united states of efficiency contest. Please vote for me.

Step 1: Know When to Turn Off Your Car

Many people think that stopping and starting your car uses more gas than Idling. This is completely FALSE In fact If you Idle for more than 10 seconds you are wasting gas. Also It puts unnecessary where and tear on the engine. So when should you turn your car off? There are tons of places that you wouldn't think of. Places like a drive up ATM, picking up someone or any other time you are waiting for more then ten seconds. Just turn off your car.

Step 2: What to Do When You Can't Turn Off Your Car.

There are a few places and times when it doesn't make sense to turn you car off. A for exampled a red light. Yes its possible that you may be sitting at a red light for more then ten seconds but because at least 5% of cars have trouble starting and one stalled car can start a huge traffic jam. Another place where you are stopped for uncertain amounts of time is a drive through. You don't know when you will start moving again so turning off your car isn't really a good choice. What can you do to save gas without turning off your engine? Put your car in neutral this not only uses less gas then traditional idling but it also puts less stress on your engine.

Step 3: What to Do in Extreme Weather Conditions.

When it is very cold many cars need ti warm up before they can drive perfectly but the best way to do this is by driving the car. Idling a car isn't a good way to warm up the engine because cars don't idle at as high a temperate as they drive at. In some extreme conditions it may be necessary to warm up a car by before driving but block warmers are a good substitute for idling. If you do need to warm up your car by idling it shouldn't take more than 5-10 minuets. If it is too cold or hot outside to sit in a car without heat or air conditioning and you are doing something like waiting for someone rather then idling so you can use you heat of air conditioning if you can go into a heated or air conditioned building. If that's not possible than you should try to use the cars heat of a/c for five say five minuets then stop for ten then turn it back on.

Step 4: Other Idling Facts

1 If you are idling you are getting ZERO miles per gallon.
2 Idling for one minuet can produce more pollutants than driving for one minuet.
3 Idling for TEN minuets uses the same amount of fuel as driving for FIVE miles.
4 Idling causes all kinds of heath problems from inhaling fumes form the car.
5 Idling also causes unnecessary noise pollution.

So just just turn off your car.