You are driving from one point to another in our capital city, New Delhi and the small distance is taking you hours to reach your destination and the heat and the pollution is making your body cry in frustration. You reach home and all you want to do is freshen up your face with some nice face wash. Cosmetic companies seem to be cashing in on the threat of pollution which is hitting us day by day. Even if you are secure behind the curtains of your air-conditioned car or office, wipe off your face with your cotton swab and it will be black. If that just got off your face, imagine what's stuck onto your lungs?
We all are choking to death; blame it on pollution emitted by factories, or even automobiles. Auto manufacturers are now planning fresher looking, green cars also known as environment friendly cars. Unfortunately, technology even the most sophisticated won't help us if our fuel quality and two stroke engines like bikes, scooters and auto rickshaws continue to plague our lives.
If you own a car, here is how you can make sure your car is more environment friendly. It doesn’t mean switching to a gas cylinder or chugging along on vegetable fuel.
CATALYTIC CONVERTER
If you live in a metro and bought your car after 1995, chances are that your car is safe. Read through your car manual. If your car doesn't have a catalytic converter then invests in one. This will help reduce the levels of emission and the lead content into the air. They don't come all that cheap but are easy to fix on. Once you have one, you have; to drive on unleaded fuel only. Stay on a high and you'll see the difference. Each time to get to the open end of the street, shift through the gears and but don't strain your engine by low gearing or high gearing. A higher gear decreases the strain on your engine and reduces emission levels. If you're approaching a traffic signal, dive into neutral and glide to the red spot but be warned, this is not considered a safe practice.
REGULAR TUNING
Get the mechanic under your boot and give the engine a thorough wash-down regularly. You'd be surprised what filth you'll find in the jets, the carburetors, the spark plugs, the filters almost everywhere. Avoid filling fuel from an unknown pump. Unleaded fuel is the best but the most frustrating bit is that there is yet no way to verify fuel contamination levels from any pump, so reputation is all you can rely on them.
PUC
Get your car PUC approved every six months. You will feel the difference after these regular checkups.
Make the effort and think. If you can walk, why drive? Choose the shortest, decongested route, travel in a group and use public transport as far as possible. This is the least we could do for making this a cleaner world.