Chosing your Day
If you're like most other people, you will pick as your Let-It-Set-Day the one day you use your car the least. Those errands you usually run on your Let-It-Set-Day will be run either on the previous or the following day.
Don't be discouraged by this. Understand that this is normal. What you are doing is GOOD: and it will result in a gasoline saving. How, you may ask, when all the same errands get run? In the beginning, the savings will come only from the saved distance from your house to the first errand and back to your house from the last errand, but as you get more involved in the strategies below, particularly using lists, you will be surprised at how efficient your use of the car will become.
The more routine your life is, the more likely you will be to have a particular day of the week be your Let-It-Set-Day. It will be easy for you to decide.
Those who live life more by the seat of the pants will need a little self-discipline to slow down make a plan.
All of us will need self-discipline to not just jump in the car and run to the store on our Let-It-Set-Day. It is so convenient and sooo tempting. Just say no to the urge!
Strategizing Your Gas Use
An unexpected and arguably the best way to save gas is to write lists. Make a list of stops you need to make each time you take the car, then plan the shortest route to accomplish the list.
As you become a list writer, you will notice errands that could be run later in the day or later in the week, when you're in that particular area, or maybe you can skip the errand entirely.
As your list writing skills grow and you become more aware of how we take the car for granted, you will find yourself walking and biking more, carpooling, and urging the kids to do the same.
Here are a few gas-saving strategies. There are lots more to be found on the internet:
- Shop the Gas Stations: The prices are displayed out front. Save a few cents every gallon. It adds up. If possible, get a Gas Rebate Card at the station that routinely has the lowest gas prices.
- Use the Correct Grade of Gasoline: Use the lowest grade recommended by the manufacturer of your car, usually 89 octane. If regular causes a spark knock, raise the octane. Premium is not better for your car; will not get you better mileage.
- Don't Top Off: You will waste gas to evaporation or maybe spillage. Environmentally, this is nono.
- Get a tune-up: A car running at its peak gets the best mileage.
- Do not warm up your car. Once the car has started, it is ready to get moving.
- Change your air filter: You can do this yourself.
- Pay attention: Keep track of your mileage. This will also help make you conscious of your driving habits.
- Avoid Sudden Stop and Go: If you drive agressively, you're costing yourself mileage, tires, and brake linings, not to mention unnecessary wear and tear on your car.
- Check Your Tire Pressure: Driving on tires that are not fully inflated can cost you 10% or more in lost gas, not to mention premature death of a tire. Check your pressure once a month. The recommended pressure is written right on the tire. Yes, you'll have to buy a tire gauge. And while we're on the subject of tires, when you check the air pressure, give a quick look at the inside and outside of your front tires, looking for unusual wear. (You'll know it when you see it.) Bad alignment or worn tie-rod end(s) will chew up your tires while robbing you of gas mileage.
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How to Involve the KidsOne day a week not being chauffered could be seen as a hardship, and you could encounter strong resistance if you don't plan your approach. The best plan is to enlist the kids' help first. Explain that gas prices are astoundingly high, and that you want to think of ways to save gas. There is a lot of talk of the environment at school, so show them that saving gas will help reduce emissions. Tell them how much you spend each week on gas. See what kind of ideas they come up with. Tell them about Let-It-Set-Day-USA. Explain how, if we can save a few gallons a week, and we get other people to save a few gallons a week, see how this can grow so that when lots and lots of people Let-It-Set, that'll be thousands of gallons of gas that doesn't get burned and how will that benefit the environment?
Now kids are idealistic, but they're not stupid. In order for this program to work, week after week, it's going to take more than idealism. Have the kids keep track of the weekly gas mileage, gallons bought, and cost. Show them how to make a graph. This will involve everybody and give you all a visual reward as the program starts to work.
Most importantly, tell them that 1/2 the money you save will go into an account for a special treat, a night at the movies, at a special restaurant, or even a day at Disney. Make a big deal out of letting them open a special account at the bank, and each deposit. Be sure to have a special graph for the kids' Fun Day Fund. You'll be surprised how eager kids are to support you when they're involved and it's fun...annnnnd there's a reward involved.
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"I Can't Let-It-Set!"
So, it's "just plain impossible" for you to Let-It Set? You're not alone, that's how it is for a lot of families. But you can still participate in our Let-It-Set-Day USA program. Be sure to read "Strategizing your Gas Use, above. The list is a powerful weapon, and you can use it, along with the kids' help and graphing, to take a big chunk out of your gas use.
We'll be happy to see you cut your daily car use from 5 trips to 3, for example. And, once you've been involved for a while, and see the benefits for you and the good we're doing nationally and for the environment, maybe you'll find a way to Let-It-Set. It could happen.
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Ways to Cheat When is Letting-It-Set not Letting-It-Set? when you're cheating, that's when.
Let's say that it's Let-It-Set-Day, and you order a pizza. Innocent, right? If he's going to burn his gas to deliver your pizza, how is that different than you going after it? Right, it's cheating! Don't do it!
Other cheats involve taking a taxi or having a friend run you somewhere. It's not cheating to carpool or ride public transportation, however. Let your conscience be your guide.
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Hybrid Cars
There's a lot of talk these days about the new hybrid cars. We think they're a little gimmicky now, but will improve as the technology does. Case in point: one engineer has modified his Prius to get 250MPG. Now that gets our attention!
In the meantime, we are pleased to recommend the ubiquitous bicycle as our recommended Let-It-Set-Day-USA form of travel.
We think this era of expensive gas will usher in a resurgence Mo-ped/motor scooter, and we're all for it, just wear a helmet. Yes, you. We mean you. YOU!!
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Hydrogen Fuel CellNot to be confused with the direct-to-electricity fuel cell, there is a so-simple-you-CAN-do-it-yourself cell that extracts hydrogen from water (remember high-school chemistry?) and feeds it into your air breather for big mileage increases.
In our opinion, this is the easiest, safest, and certainly cheapest way to cut fuel costs.
Not a tinkerer? You can buy one for $197 here.
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The Great Ethanol DebateThere is no debate about this: Ethanol is coming in a big way. Your gummint thinks it's important, and, even tho they don't act like it, Big Oil is in it up to its nose. In our opinion, ethanol is an empty promise that will make a few farmers happy, keep gasoline in the picture as the fuel of choice, and make the gas companies big profits (because they are invested in the ethanol and bio-ethanol factories), but it won't result in any savings to you, nor will it result in any great emissions reduction. See what you decide: here are 3 pro-ethanol articles and 3 anti-ethanol articles. Let us know in Sound Off.
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Make your own ethanol for about a buck a gallon.
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BiodieselRunning your diesel car on McDonalds french fry fat might not sound like a great idea, but 67 cents a gallon is. Here's how.
Is humble algae the key to cheap fuel? In our opinion, Absolutely! The Future of Biodiesel
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Electric Cars
If you are just zipping around in a small town, an electric vehicle may be a great alternative. In some golf communities, the motorized golf cart is in style, but the big news is that it is not at all expensive to transform your old gas burner to an electric car. A mechanically inclined tinkerer might accomplish this for less than $5,000. Here's a good EV site.
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Why We Created Let-It-Set
For about 5 years now, our e-mail has been flooded with schemes, plans, boycotts, all intended to "get the attention" of the oil barons and "show them" that we won't stand for high gas prices.
We think that by now, the oil barons know we don't want high gas prices. (Duh!)
We think the oil barons could care less, as evidenced by the current explosion in gas prices.
What has puzzled us is the apparent apathy about the runup. Evidently, the US consumer is buying the various media stories that the Arabs are cutting production, or that there is a manufacturing capacity bottleneck, or that the hurricane caused it.
Looks like nobody's noticed that gas is twice the price it was a year ago. Runups like that don't happen unless governments allow it. As proof of that, we offer the old oil baron argument that gas prices are much higher in most other countries, and we should be grateful, blah, blah... In fact, gas is higher in most other countries - but because of government taxation.
Regardless of the real cause of high prices, each one of us individually is not going to be able to do anything to make them go lower. But as a group, as an alliance, we can, and help ourselves into the bargain. Thus this website.
After 5 years of watching the frustrated public rail and bitch and try numerous ineffective schemes, we decided to put the creative power of our company to use to help. We sat down, and in just a few hours, fleshed out this idea. Whether or not the idea works is up to all of us.
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Our Vision
Imagine this: you tell 10 people and each of them tells 10 people, that's 111 people. Each of them tells 10, that's 1111, people. Each of them tells 10 people, that's over 10,000 people, just because you told 10, and asked each of them to do the same as you. (A principle of multi-level marketing) And that can happen in a day, thanks to the internet.
According to the
US Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/usa.html, US consumption of gasoline in the first 10 months of 2004 was 9 million barrels, almost 500 million gallons, a day! That is a staggering amount, and we won't even try to comprehend it. But if you really want to get riled, today, the fat cats are collecting $750million a day MORE than they were a year ago!! And prices then were "high".
The program we have outlined here is like a snowball rolling down a hill, picking up more snow and getting larger and rolling faster every second. In the beginning a few will notice our idea, and try it. These few will find they save some money, and will feel good about their new efficiency, their contribution to the environment and to the vision, so they will mention it to a couple friends, or will spread the word by e-mail, or by getting a tee shirt or bumper sticker. Eventually hundreds, eventually thousands, and eventually enough of us will be Letting-It-Set that we will knock just one percent off that consumption figure, that's about 5 million gallons a day!! A savings, at $3/gal, of over $15 million to our members*!
And that, my compatriots, is just the beginning.
*How do you become a member? Repeat after me, "I am Letting-It-Set!". Congratulations, you're in! No dues, no fees, no meetings, just Let-It-Set.
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Advanced Strategies
Yes, we already have strategies for black belt Let-It-Setters, but these will be revealed in the days and months to come.
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Who is Creative Solutions?
We are a small thinktank in South Florida. Here. Our clients consist of small- and micro-cap companies with widely varying specialties.
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We Know It's Bad English
A special note to those who take exception to our use of "set, instead of the grammatically correct "sit": please go and bother the Toys-"R"-Us people. They're used to it. In our case, we liked the double rhyme in Let-It-Set-Day-USA. So there.
We also chose to use "Wanna..." instead of the longer and certainly proper "Would you like to...". We did this for the conciseness and to attract attention.
Do we think that generations of children will be ruined by our blatant misuse of the language? Nah.
Any other typos are probably real, as in unintentional, and, if you really have nothing better to do with your life, we'd be pleased to have you call our attention to them.
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