Perhaps you’ve noticed that gasoline prices are getting sky high these days. I know that where I live the buses are getting more crowded, I see more and more bikes on the road, and personally I’ve been trying really hard to combine three or four errands into a single trip.
I realized today that the saying, “kill two birds with one stone” is really apt in the case of not moving firewood across long distances. Wood is not light stuff- anyone that has ever bought a lot of it knows that a single cord can weigh a few thousand pounds. So when you drive around with a few bundles of wood in the back of your vehicle you are actually doing two things that potentially harm the environment. The first is that you are using up a whole lot of gasoline, and the second is that you could unwittingly move forest pests.
According to the crazy guys from Car Talk, “…each 100 pounds in the trunk will reduce your fuel economy by 1 to 2 percent.” That adds up over time to some serious cash at the pump! All the more reason to buy firewood as close to your home or campsite as possible- the shorter the distance that you move the firewood, the more money you have left for marshmallows and hot dogs.
For other tips on how to save money and use less gasoline, you can check out this great list from Cartalk.com:
http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fueleconomy
