In order to help save the environment, many people have turned to hybrid cars in order to cut down on the amount of gas they need and decrease their Co2 emissions.

Hybrid cars are a fantastic way to get more from your gas. But the cost of purchasing a hybrid car in order to have a less negative impact on the environment is sometimes too great for the average individual to afford. So instead of purchasing a new car, consider these four environmentally friendly ways to increase fuel economy using the car you already have.

Keep Your Gas Cap Tight

While it seems like an unimportant issue, ensuring that your gas cap is tightly snapped into place can prevent a great deal of gas from evaporating. It is estimated that 147 gallons or more are wasted each year from loose gas caps, where air hits the gasoline and encourages its evaporation. Keeping this gasoline prevents fill-ups, and it will also keep your costs down over time.

Check Your Tires

It is vitally important to check your tires and make sure that all of them are filled correctly. Deflated tires  are the number one cause of a poor fuel economy, causing decreases in fuel usage by up to 25% or more. That means that a quarter of your gas is being burned because your engine is strained by the excess poor balance between your tires and the extra friction caused by the flat rubber. In order to increase fuel economy, it is very important that your tires have been examined and are inflated properly.

Remove Any Extra Weight from your Car

If you are carrying any extra weight in your car, take it out. Gas burns faster if your car’s engine is struggling to come up with the energy it needs to pull the extra weight. Your car is not a storage shed, so anything that does not need to be in your car (for example, if you keep trash in your trunk with the hopes you remember to bring it to the dump some day) it needs to be removed. Doing so can increase fuel economy as much as 10%.

Check Your Filters, Spark Plugs and Fuel Injectors

All parts of your engine are vital to keeping it in top shape, but the filters, spark plugs and fuel injectors are the most important (and easiest to replace) pieces of your engine that are important to fuel economy. A spark plug can cost just a few dollars to replace, but the amount of gas you lose from an old or faulty spark plug can cost you hundreds of dollars over the course of the year.

By checking your car’s parts, removing extra weight from your car, checking your tires and tightening your gas cap, you should be able to increase fuel economy negatively harming the environment until the day that hybrid cars become more affordable for the everyday driver.