When it comes to your automobile, you have lots of nice green options currently available, and I don’t mean you have to invest in a hybrid or corn oil run car either.

Try these tips to green your ride:

Ditch the car: Of course, ditching your car is the greenest way to go. Not all the time, but at least some of the time try the following - walking (huh - you remember walking right?), biking, car pooling, public transportation, or roller skates. I know, skates, not so realistic, but the other options are good to go and greener than your car. If you’re really advantageous, try car sharing. Bold and green!

Buy a smaller more gas efficient car: Just because there’s no hybrid sticker slapped on that sucker, doesn’t mean your car can’t be greener than the next guy’s ride. Opt out of monster gas eaters and choose a gas efficient ride to conserve resources and lower your footprint. Need ideas - read Greener Cars.

Use eco-friendly car cleaners: You don’t even need to waste water with some of the newer car cleaners. Consider…

• Eco-Touch - watch for a review soon (I’m just waiting on some warmer weather).
• DIY eco-friendly car washing
• DIY eco-friendly car air freshener
• Look in your local yellow pages to find an eco-friendly car wash near you - these place recycle their water and use non-toxic cleaners.

Purchase eco-friendly car gear. Such as…

• Recycled Floor Mats - Rectangular Waterhog Eco Mats
• Organic infant seat covers
• Organic Quilted Car Seat Cover
• Organic wool car seat cover
• Eco-friendly car wax
• DIY fuzzy car steering wheel cover - (use organic materials)
• Show people what you think with cool green bumper stickers.

Got any other ideas about how to green your ride?

[image via stock.exchng]

Today we’re looking at car-pools. So far we’ve covered how to start organizing a car-pool and rules to follow.

There are alternatives to the tradional car-pool that you may want to consider as well. Not everything has to be about driving. You might consider a…

Walking-pool - where parents set days to walk a group of kids to and from school or other activities.

Bike-pool - same as walking, but of course on bikes (or scooters).

Long-term pools - a long term pool might be that one or two parents handle transport for a week at a stretch. Then new parents take over the following week. If you have a large group of parents this can work well, because everyone gets weeks at a time off from all transport duties.

What other pooling ideas do you have? 

In the previous post we looked at how to start organizing a car-pool. In this post we’ll continue with this; looking at rules and information you’ll need to discuss at your car-pool parent meeting.

Information to discuss: All parents need to know the following about the other parents; someone should keep notes and then make up a chart for the other parents.

• Full name of parent driving
• Home, work, & cell number
• Address - home and work
• Available days and times to car-pool
• Number of kids in family who will be included in the car-pool.
• Size of car - i.e how many kids will safely fit in their car.

This info above should be made into a list of sorts that each parent can carry with them. If there’s a crash, contact info for kids parents should be easy to locate - think glove box or purse.

Safety rules: Parents need to create a list of basic safety rules - so that all parents feel confident about their children being with other drivers. You can make up any rules you like, but here are some ideas…

• All cars must be insured.
• First aid kits in all cars.
• No talking on cell while driving.
• Make sure each parent knows about any health concerns of all kids participating.
• Car seats - if kids are young.
• Age of kids allowed in the front - no one under 12 is the general rule.
• Everyone must be buckled up
• Kids are not allowed to eat while in the car - this is negotiable. In a car-pool situation, eating might mean too many distractions, or it could keep kids busy, you’ll have to decide.

You get the gist - make rules that work for your specific car-pool group, but be sure to cover basics safety as well.
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Now that the school year is here, many parents will join up with a car-pool, or create a new group. Today we’ll be looking at car-pool basics, rules, and alternatives to the traditional car-pool.

If you’re considering organizing a car-pool, here are some tips:

Plan for diligent or casual: A diligent car-pool means parents pick up or drop off kids no matter what; even if their own kids are sick. Usually someone in this car-pool group has an official list created with dates and times. A casual car-pool is, well, casual. In casual car-pool groups I’ve seen, parents sometimes put planning off until the last minute.

You need to choose which car-pool group you’d like to organize, because folks interested in a casual car-pool don’t tend to mingle well with the diligent folks; people will only get frustrated.

Find other parents: You can gather a group of parents you already know, or hang a flyer up at your child’s school. If you hang a flyer, make sure you put location info on it. People need to know the areas they’ll be expected to drive in. If you’re feeling lazy about organizing, you can always look for an existing car-pool group and ask to join.

Make rules: Every car-pool group needs rules, even the casual groups. Hold a meeting one evening and have all parents attend. You’ll need to discuss sick days, safety rules, rules surrounding kid behavior while with another parent, and consequences for being late or absent. If you don’t make rules right off the bat, you’ll need to make them up as you go - which is a much harder task.

Next up; we’ll look at some rules your car-pool group might want to implement.

[image via stock.xchng]