May in Motion was a call to encourage individuals to ditch their single occupancy vehicle and ride the bus, walk, bike, or carpool. My personal May in Motion challenge was to carpool and take the bus once a week, when the children were taken to piano by their dad. My success was great for carpooling, but I never quite made it on the bus.
As parents, it is hard to leave the car behind, particularly when you are concerned with potential emergencies and sick kids during the day. Locally, I had the option of signing up for the “Emergency Ride Home Program” from ACHD Commuteride. But I found excuses to get around it and found someone to carpool with me everyday instead.
The challenge came week three when I had several meetings and needed the vehicle at odd times, so carpooling was not an option and I drove alone. Although I did carpool the final week, I found out how easy it is to fall back into the convenience of driving alone.
So if it is this easy to find excuses to drive, how can I save money and lower my carbon footprint? With all the improvements in technology, I figured there must be something out there to help all of us who need to drive but can’t afford to buy a more fuel efficient vehicle. So I did some research and found that Garmin nuvi navigation systems have ecoRoute software that routes the most fuel efficient way to get where you need to go. More importantly, there is a unit called the ecoRoute HD which connects to your vehicles OBD II port and acts as a diagnostic system.
According to the Garmin website, the ecoRoute HD provides customizable gauges to monitor RPM, air/fuel mixture, oil pressure, oil temp, coolant temp, air flow, fuel flow, air pressure, and more; reads Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) allows you to view over 4000 trouble codes, their meaning, and reset the check engine light; and, also accurate fuel consumption data can actually help you improve MPG.
So I purchased the ecoRoute HD for $87 on Amazon.com and to save money, I swapped smart phones with a coworker in order to install the Garmin Mechanic software that works on the Android platform. I tried it this past week but in all honesty, I didn’t understand the readings to well. I actually gave up on trying this with the phone as it didn't connect half the time.
Yesterday I purchased the Garmin nuvi 1490T (a great deal at $139 after a $20 Costco rebate) to test my fuel savings and carbon footprint. Over the next few weeks I will diligently track my ecoRoute results, learn more about what the readings are telling me, and see how my gas mileage or driving improves! In addition, I am committed to carpooling to work and other appointments or meetings when possible.
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of travel. In my '02 A6 Wagon, I quickly realized that my commute was costing me about $60, or a full tank of gas a month. When I thought about all the other little trips I realized why I was fueling my car so frequently. I also used the nuvi in my husband's
Ford F150 and quickly saw how in his vehicle the commute costs me twice as much!! Having the nuvi has made me think twice about unnecessary trips and combining trips. As a result of my several week experiment, I biked nearly 10 miles last week to get to work
and meetings, and rode the bus to work. I saved $8 in two days by using these alternate ways to get around. I realize that my husband was driving my kids around, but it was still one vehicle less on the road, so I also did my part to keep emissions down those
two days. The Garmin software really provides a good way to see your spending and track emissions. It also routes more cost effective ways to get you where you need to go. I typically hopped on the 184 connector or on the interstate to pick up the kids, but
Garmin taught me better, saving me at least $1 each commute. A little here and there adds up, and within a few months my nuvi will be paid for and I'll be underway to continued savings!