We all know that climate change scientists would recommend buying an electric car to reduce car emissions. But this choice may not be possible for many of us yet. How is it possible to reduce car use when we use it for work and leisure? Here are some solutions you can adopt to substitute some of your trips away from using a car:

Car-pooling/ share a journey

Sharing a journey with someone who is going to the same destination takes one car off the road. If more people did this regularly, this would save so many car journeys across the country and reduce traffic, carbon emissions and improve air quality.

Rent a car

Choosing to be car-free and renting a car when you need it will save you a huge amount of money and will have a big impact on your carbon footprint. Not having a car reduces your carbon footprint by 2.4 tons whilst having an electric car reduces your carbon footprint by 0.8 tons.

Use public transport

If you are lucky enough to live in a place that has great transport links, make the most of it.

Walking and cycling

Walking and cycling are good for your health, your budget and the environment. Being more selective in your car use and using it only when necessary is a win-win situation all round.

Drive carefully on the road

Reducing your speed, being heavy on the pedals and not accelerating then stopping at speed bumps lowers the amount of fuel you are using. It is safer and keeps the air cleaner.

Use online shopping delivery

Surprisingly, research shows that delivering shopping to your door produces less carbon emissions than going shopping yourself. This is because a shopping delivery van (even if it is diesel) prevents lots of individual shopping trips by car. The two exceptions to this are if you live very far from shops which would mean the shopping delivery van would have to do much longer journeys or if you go to and from the shops by public transport.