In-Drive: Making me see my impact

 

In-Drive: Saving me money

Earlier this week I received my semi-annually statement for my car insurance. Although I was expecting the bill any day my heart sank as soon as I pulled it out of the mailbox. However, this time they were offering me a way to save money of up to 50%! I immediately began doing the research to figure out if this was something I was interested in, although I knew that saving that much money had me hooked.

 

In-drive is a device that is attached into your car and tracks how and where you drive. It then grades your driving (on an A-C scale) and determines your discount accordingly. These grades are based off of five criteria: annual mileage, left turns, right turns, braking, and acceleration.

 

So what's sustainable about that?

What I found interesting about this device was that it was able to help you drive greener with eco-data displays. It is able to tell you the MPG that you were getting on the highway and city, and also a combined measurement of the two. This device is also able to tell you what the carbon footprint is of your car! I think knowing this can make me more aware of the impact that my daily driving has on the environment and can help me to make wiser choices like not driving as often or carpooling more frequently.

 

Source: In-Drive

 

Ecological Footprint Update

Only a couple weeks into my footprint reduction, but I can see that my goals are actually being put into motion!

1. My first goal was to reduce my eating out consumption to only once a week and I can definitely see that I am working my way towards that goal. I can't say that I've only gone down to once a week, but I have definitely cut it down considerably. I am making more meals that will last me more than one day so I don't have to cook as often which has been helping considerably.

2. My second goal was to reduce meat intake to only once a day. I can say that this goal has gone the most positively. I haven't had any troubles cutting out meat for lunch or dinner (depending on the day) and have actually found that I'm eating a larger varieties of foods.

3. My third goal was to reduce my shower times. Although I have yet to put a timer in the bathroom I can ensure that I have cut down my shower times considerably. I try to "get in and get out" rather than stand in the shower like I usually would. I do occasionally still have that extra long shower, especially on cold mornings!