A neighbor called me out for idling my truck and I changed my whole routine

I used to let my F-150 run for 10 minutes every morning to warm up, especially in the winter. Then my neighbor Sarah pointed out that I was burning about a gallon of gas a week just sitting there, which is like 20 pounds of CO2 for nothing. Now I bundle up and drive off after 30 seconds, and I actually save like $15 a month on gas. Has anyone else had a small change like this that made a big difference in their carbon footprint?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucasjackson25d agoTop Commenter

@terryk10 hit it, but what about the wear on your starter from shutting it off every time?

emmawood25d ago

Right, because burning a gallon of gas just to sit there feels like setting a twenty dollar bill on fire every month. I bet Sarah was onto something though - that's about 400 pounds of CO2 a year for zero miles. Makes you wonder why we ever thought a hot cab was worth that.

terryk1025d ago

'Tbh' I think the 400 pounds of CO2 a year is actually a bit low for idling that much. A gallon of gas burns about 20 pounds of CO2, but that's just the carbon in the fuel itself. When you factor in the whole combustion process, it's more like 10 to 12 pounds of CO2 per gallon. So if you're burning a gallon a month just sitting there, that's about 120 to 144 pounds a year, not 400. Still a waste of money and emissions, just not quite that high. Sarah's math might have been off on the climate impact, but the point about burning fuel for nothing still stands.