• Park in the shade in summer to keep your car cool and minimize evaporation of fuel.
• If you have a garage, use it as much as possible to keep your car warm in winter and cool in summer.
• If you have to park outdoors, windshield shades can cut down on summer heat and help keep the frost off in the winter.

• Use regular gasoline unless your owner’s manual says otherwise. Unless your car requires premium, high-octane fuels improve neither fuel economy nor performance and will just waste your money.
• Don’t overfill the tank or try to top it off beyond where the automatic nozzle clicks off. Spilled gas evaporates to aggravate smog formation and can leak into groundwater.

Here are some tips we've come across. Feel free to add your own:

• Keep your tires properly inflated. Tires should be inflated to the pressure recommended for your vehicle; usually you can find this number inside the door frame or in your owner’s manual. For every three pounds below recommended pressure, fuel economy goes down by about 1 percent. Tires can lose a pound of pressure a month, so check pressure regularly, and especially before going on a long trip or carrying heavy loads. Also: Don’t buy “aggressive” tread tires if you don’t need them.

For those times when you've just gotta drive your own car, here are some tips to help keep you fuel-efficient.
From the website greenercars.org:
• Avoid “jack rabbit” starts and aggressive driving. Flooring the gas pedal wastes gas and creates more pollution. According to the site, one second of high-powered driving can produce nearly the same volume of carbon monoxide emissions as a half-hour of normal driving.

If you live or work in Concord, take advantage of PATH. The Program for Alternative Transportation and Health is a service offered by the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission. The goal: to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicle trips in and around the Concord area by promoting alternatives to driving alone.

We all need to get around, and in much of New Hampshire, there aren’t as many public transportation options as you’d find in a big city.
But there are lots of ways to reduce your impact on the environment, however you get around.

It’s really easy to beat yourself up when you’re trying to do the right thing. Instead of feeling good about yourself for helping in small ways, you look around you and feel overwhelmed with how much there is to do – or not do. And panic.

Don’t go down that road: Nothing good comes of it, and you might even end up giving up, which would be way too bad.

The state Department of Environmental Services offers an Aspiring Leaders Program: Don’t you think your employer should be a part of it?

According to the guide Greening Your Office, by John Clift and Amanda Cuthbert, using an air conditioning unit adds an average of 50 percent to your annual electricity bill.
Here are some ways to reduce your need for air conditioning:
• Reduce internal heat sources. If you change your light bulbs to compact fluorescents, you’ll reduce the amount of heat they emit, which will help lower the temperature in your office.

Consider buying your work clothes from a resale shop, says treehugger.com. Just think: You'll probably find some great deals, and then you'll have extra money to treat yourself to something nice.
Or: Invite a bunch of friends over and have a clothing swap. It'll give you an excuse to socialize, and you'll all walk away with a new wardrobe.
And if you buy new, look for opportunities to buy clothes made from organic or recycled fibers. The best way to deal with dry cleaning is to avoid it, and buy clothes that don’t require it. If you can’t avoid it, look for a “green” dry cleaner.

• Recycle office paper, newspapers, beverage containers, electronic equipment, batteries and used printer cartridges.
• Collect paper that’s been used on one side and use for taking notes. Use a clipboard to hold it in place.
• Try to see to it that everyone has a small recycling bin, to make recycling easier.
• Try to use biodegradable soaps and recycled paper or cloth towels in the bathroom and kitchen.
• Ask your employer to consider donating used equipment to schools or other organizations instead of throwing it away.

• Ask your employer to buy office supplies made with recycled content. Recycled printer cartridges are often cheaper than new ones.
• When buying paper and envelopes, look for a high percentage of post-consumer content and the minimum of chlorine bleaching. Producing recycled paper uses 55 percent less water than producing virgin paper. It also takes up to 70 percent less energy.
• Your office supply purchaser should also know to be on the lookout for pens and pencils made of recycled materials and refillable pens and markers.