4.What Can You Do?

The best way to minimize the effect washing
your car has on the environment is to use a
commercial car wash. Most locations reuse
wash water several times before sending it to
a treatment plant.

However, if you choose to wash your car
at home or on the street, these are some
things that you can do to minimize the water
quality impact:

• Use biodegradable, phosphate-free, waterbased
  cleaners only.
  
• Minimize water usage. Use a spray gun with
  flow restriction to minimize water volume
  and runoff.
  
• Wash on an area that absorbs water, such
  as gravel, or grass. This can filter water
  before it enters groundwater, storm drains,
  or creeks. Avoid washing cars on concrete
  or asphalt pavement unless it drains into a
  vegetated area.
  
• Only let wash water soak into the ground as
  long as you are using biodegradable, phosphate-
  free cleaners.
  
• When planning a car wash fundraiser, try
  developing a partnership with a commercial
  car wash facility, or use a safe location.
  
• Always empty wash buckets into sinks
  or toilets.

3.What’s the Problem?

Washing your car is only a problem if you
don’t know where or how to do it correctly.
The average homeowner uses 116 gallons of
water to wash a car! Most commercial car
washes use 60 percent less water for the entire
process than a homeowner uses just to rinse
the car.
Among the many impacts of motor
vehicles on our environment, car
washing has been noted by water
quality experts as a serious contributor
to water pollution.
Water that runs off a car when it is washed
in a driveway, street, or parking lot can contain
substances that pollute the environment. Dirty
water containing soap, detergents, residue from
exhaust fumes, gasoline, heavy metals from
rust, and motor oils can wash off cars and flow
directly to storm drains and into the nearest
creek or stream where it can harm water quality
and wildlife.
The phosphates from soap can cause excess
algae to grow. Excessive algae smell bad, look
bad, and harm water quality. As algae decay,
the process uses up oxygen in the water that
fish need.
Car wash fundraisers can be a significant source
of this kind of pollution. These events are usually
held in heavily paved areas where there is
little runoff control or grass to filter out harmful
substances before they reach our waterways.

2.The Facts About Car Washing

For many, car washing is a springtime ritual.
Often, citizens don’t know that by washing
all that winter grime off their vehicles they
might actually be causing harm to our local
waterways.
Water entering storm drains, unlike water
that enters sanitary sewers, does not undergo
treatment before it is discharged into our
waterways. When cars are washed on streets
and driveways, that dirty water eventually
winds up in rivers, streams, creeks, and lakes.
Washing one car may not seem to be a problem,
but collectively car washing activity
adds up to big problems for our local lakes,
creeks and streams. Pollution associated with
car washing degrades water quality while
also finding its way into sediments, impacting
aquatic habitats.

1.What is a Watershed?

A watershed is an area of land that drains to
a common point, such as a nearby creek, stream,
river or lake. Every small watershed drains to
a larger watershed that eventually flows to
the ocean.
Watersheds support a wide variety of plants and
wildlife and provide many outdoor recreation opportunities.
By protecting the health of our watersheds
we can preserve and enhance the quality of
life for Kansas City area residents.
What is Stormwater Runoff?
Stormwater is water from rain or melting snow.
It flows from rooftops, over paved streets,
sidewalks and parking lots, across bare soil, and
through lawns and storm drains. As it flows,
runoff collects and transports soil, pet waste, salt,
pesticides, fertilizer, oil and grease, litter and other
pollutants. This water drains directly into nearby
creeks, streams and rivers, without receiving
treatment at sewage plants.
Polluted stormwater contaminates streams, rivers
and lakes. It can kill or damage plants, fish and
wildlife, while degrading the quality of our water.

Wash your car the right way

The car is clean but what about the water?

1.What is a Watershed?
2.The Facts About Car Washing
3.What’s the Problem?
4.What Can You Do?

Your Car and Clean Air: What YOU Can Do to Reduce Pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has prepared this fact sheet to answer
some of the most common questions about reducing emissions from private
vehicles. This is an important concern, as cars are a major source of air pollution
in the United States. Vehicle emissions contribute to health and environmental
problems such as urban smog, air toxics, and global warming. Yet individual
driving habits make a big difference in the amount of pollution a car produces.
Three easy things you can do to help keep emissions as low as possible are:

• Avoid unnecessary driving
• Maintain your car properly
• Drive your car wisely

By combining these strategies, you can very effectively reduce the amount your
car pollutes. And there are additional benefits — your car will last longer and
you will save money.

Avoid Unnecessary Driving
The most effective way to reduce emissions from your vehicle is to use it less.
Vehicle travel in this country is doubling every 20 years. Traffic trends that see
more and more cars driving more and more miles will soon begin to outpace
technological progress in vehicle emission control.

Several options are available to help you reduce the amount you drive. These
include consolidating trips, telecommuting, carpooling, using public transit, and
choosing clean transportation alternatives such as biking or walking.

By planning errands, you will get the most out of time you do spend behind the
wheel. For example, call ahead to confirm that the product you need is in stock
before you drive to the store. Plan to do several tasks when you go somewhere.
Drive to a central location and park. Then walk between nearby destinations.

Ridesharing can be an ideal way to reduce your personal contribution to pollution.
Every time you share a ride and eliminate a trip, you help the environment.
Try pairing up for trips to work or to social events — even an occasional
carpool or ride on public transportation will make a difference.

Biking or walking to your destination creates no pollution at all. And you’ll
increase your fitness level at the same time.

Maintain Your Car Properly
You will reduce your car’s emissions and enhance its performance if you follow
the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance guidelines. By taking proper
care of your car, you will also extend its life, increase its resale value, and optimize its “gas mileage” or fuel economy.

The owner’s manual that comes with your car contains a wealth of information.
It outlines recommended maintenance intervals, product specifications, and
operating procedures. The manual also explains the manufacturer’s warranty of
the emission control system. Contact the manufacturer or a nearby dealer to
obtain a copy of the owner’s manual if you do not have one.

Every car has some items that need to be checked on a regular basis and others
that need to be replaced periodically. These include the air filter, vacuum and
coolant hoses, oil, oil filter, fluids, belts, and so on. It’s also important to keep the tires inflated to the recommended pressure. This will minimize tire wear and
help your car get the best possible fuel economy.

Be sure to have your car serviced by a skilled technician who understands modern
emission control systems. If a modern car has high emissions, it is usually
due to a defined malfunction that needs to be fixed. The type of simple adjustments
that once occurred during tune-ups will no longer correct the problem.

Finally, be aware that pollution will increase dramatically if you tamper with
your car’s emission control system or use leaded gasoline in a vehicle designed
for unleaded gasoline. These activities are illegal — for individual vehicle owners
as well as for fleet operators and auto technicians. Today’s vehicles are
designed with emission controls as integral components of the powertrain. Any
tampering with this system will not only drastically increase emissions but is
likely to have a negative effect on vehicle performance and durability.

Use of leaded gasoline in a vehicle designed for unleaded gasoline can irrevocably
damage the emission control system. Fortunately, such fuel-switching practices
are becoming increasingly rare as leaded gasoline becomes harder to find.

It is now illegal to manufacture or sell new vehicles requiring leaded gasoline.

Sale of motor vehicle gasoline containing lead or lead additives will be prohibited
in the United States beginning January 1, 1996.

Many drivers ask about use of “premium” or “super” grade gasolines. These fuels
contain additives to increase octane. Octane is a measure of how much a fuel
can be compressed in an engine before it spontaneously combusts. It is not a measure of fuel power or quality. Only a small percentage of vehicles require
high-octane gasoline for optimum performance (these are generally turbocharged
or high-performance vehicles). Check your owner’s manual to see what
type of fuel is recommended for your car. Unless your car needs high-octane
gasoline, use of “premium” will not improve performance or emissions — it will
just cost you more.

Drive Wisely: Helpful Habits to Reduce Pollution
Even a perfectly maintained car will pollute more than necessary if it is driven carelessly.
Your car’s emissions will be lower if you apply common sense to your driving
and follow basic rules of the road. Driving situations likely to increase pollution include:
IDLING: You will save gas by turning the engine off and restarting it again if you
expect to idle for more than 30 seconds. You will also prevent pollution by avoiding
long idles. Try parking your car and going into restaurants, banks, and the like instead
of idling in drive-up lanes.
STOP-and-GO DRIVING: Driving in traffic is not always avoidable. But whenever
possible, plan trips outside rush hour and peak traffic periods. Try to “smooth” your
driving by accelerating and decelerating gradually, anticipating stops and starts for
traffic lights, changing traffic speeds, and so on.
AIR CONDITIONING: Use of a vehicle air conditioner increases load on the engine.
This can increase emissions and decrease fuel economy. Try opening the window or
the fresh air vent to cool the inside of your vehicle. Also, park in the shade if you can
to prevent the car from heating up in the sun. Besides keeping the interior temperature
of your car more comfortable, you will lessen the pollution and waste that occurs
when gasoline evaporates from the engine and gas tank.
HIGH ENGINE LOADS: Your car burns more gas and emits more pollution when the
engine is operating under high load; that is, when it is working especially hard. Extra
load is created by running the air conditioner, quick accelerations, high-speed driving,
climbing grades, revving the engine, and carrying extra weight.
COLD TEMPERATURES: Emission control systems take longer to warm up and
become fully operational in cold weather. However, idling will not help. Modern
vehicles need little warmup; they’re most efficient when being driven. Idling for long
periods in cold weather can actually cause excessive engine wear.
REFUELING: Spilled gasoline pollutes the air when it evaporates. Watch what you
do at the gas station to prevent spills and overfills. It’s best to avoid “topping off,”
especially in hot weather. Apply the same precautions against sloppy handling when
refueling outdoor power equipment such as lawnmowers and outboard motors.

For More Information:
The Office of Mobile Sources is the national center for research and policy on air
pollution from highway and off-highway motor vehicles and equipment. You
can write to us at the EPA National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory,
2565 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105. Our phone number is (313) 668-4333.

Five Ways to Avoid Sticker Shock

By ERIC PETERS


New cars are nice -- new car payments, not so nice. But while often you can't have one without the other, you can keep those payments reasonable.

Here's how:

1. Buy what you need, not what they're selling
Dealers will sometimes try to hard sell you into buying off the lot rather than ordering a car with just the equipment you want -- and nothing more. For the dealer, it's a double tap. He moves inventory off the lot -- and he "up-sells" you into a more expensive model/trim line. Don't fall for that. If the exact car you want is not available among the cars the dealer has in stock, ask that it be ordered for you -- with just the equipment you want. If the dealer makes a fuss, leave. Or you can turn things around on him -- by announcing you'll buy the car off the lot, provided it's got the same price tag as the one you wanted to order. Sometimes, you can haggle your way into a more highly optioned car this way. Use the dealer's urge to make a sale "today" to your advantage -- because it's the biggest advantage you've got.

2. Examine your options
Some features, for example air conditioning, are "must-have" options most of us would be hard-pressed to live without. But some -- for example, automatic climate control air conditioning -- aren't. Both will keep the car cool and comfortable -- but one will cost you more. Sometimes, a lot more (climate control AC, for example, is often "packaged" with other cost-padding options -- or part of a higher trim line with a fatter MSRP). The big difference? Instead of manually turning a knob (or pushing a button) to adjust temperature and fan speed, etc. the climate control unit can be set for a specific interior temperature and will do the adjustment for you. Maybe that's worth the extra coin to you. But if it's not, you can definitely get by without it. Ditto premium audio systems, power seats, and extra-cost wheel/tire packages. They're all nice to have, sure -- but far from essential.

3. How many cylinders?
Here's an area where you can save a lot of dough -- up front and down the road. The average new car four-cylinder engine produces as much power (around 120-150-hp, on average) as the typical V-6 did 10 or so years ago. And today's V-6 engines offer 200-plus horsepower -- output levels you used to have to buy a V-8 to enjoy. In other words, it's no longer necessary, in most cases, to step up to the larger, optional engine just to get adequate power/performance -- as it used to be in the past, when four (and even six-cylinder) engines were often under-powered and any car so equipped borderline dangerous because of its inability to pull into traffic safely. Before you get sold on a bigger engine you may not need, test drive the model equipped with the standard engine. It may be more than enough. And remember, smaller engines use less fuel, too. A 3-5 mpg difference can amount to hundreds, even thousands of dollars, in fuel savings over the life of the car.

4. Buy ugly. Or more accurately, buy unpopular
You'll pay top dollar for any vehicle that's trendy -- but when the model's a slow seller, you're holding all the cards. Right now, for example, full-size SUVs and pick-ups are languishing on dealership lots because of sky-high gas prices. But you can turn that to your advantage. After all, even at 15 mpg, a $40,000 SUV you nabbed for $7,000 under sticker is still a deal. Work the numbers and you'll see that it might even be cheaper, on the whole, than paying full sticker for a more fuel-efficient alternative. Whether you're spending money up front (on the higher priced "efficient" car) or weekly at the pump, its still bills out of your pocket. Ultimately, the only thing that matters is the net cost -- not where those bills end up going.

5. Let the weather help you out
There's nothing like a little hail damage to put a "discount" sticker on the windshield. In some western/southern states, hail damage is common -- and the bane of new car dealers. Yet what are a few dimples/dings as far as the functionality of the car is concerned? Or especially, a truck? It's going to get some of those anyhow -- so why should it matter if there are some minor imperfections there to start with? Unlike, say, flood damage, hail damage doesn't affect the operation (or warranty coverage) of the vehicle. It will run and drive and should last just as long as any other new car of its type. And often, the dings are tiny -- noticeably only to the perfectionist. But new car buyers (rightly) demand perfect sheet metal -- and so dealers are compelled to offer even very lightly hail-damaged new vehicles at discount prices.

Watch those classifieds -- and be first in line when you see an ad for hail-damaged vehicles on sale.