Use Less Oil, Reduce Weekly Costs & Be Eco-Friendly

Pretty much the whole world is currently experiencing some increase in the cost of living. It’s been referred to as a cost of living crisis and even a cost of living catastrophe. In the UK we seem to be particularly affected, firstly due to Brexit increasing the cost of imports and exports, the pandemic meaning many people are or have been off work, and then due to the war in Ukraine. Increasing oil costs affects everything we buy as well as day to day expenses for petrol and heating. By reducing your reliance on oil you’ll be able to reduce your weekly outgoings, be kinder to the environment and also help the people of Ukraine – albeit in a small and indirect way.

The Many Ways We Use Oil

It’s easy to forget just how many of the things we buy contain oil in some form. There are the more obvious things – things like petrol and diesel both come from crude oil – but oil is also used to make plastic (read more about the link between oil and plastic) and many of our clothes contain fibres made from plastic, not to mention plastic packaging. Probably one of the biggest increases in the cost of living we’ll see, and is hard to avoid, is due to the increase in food costs because transporting the food is now more expensive.

Because everything is getting more expensive and, for the majority of us, our incomes are not increasing enough to cover the extra expenses, we all need to find ways to spend less money. There are many ways that being eco-friendly can save you money (even though a lot of people will tell you it’s more expensive to be eco-friendly), but in this article I’ll focus mainly on the ways we can use less oil in our day to day lives.

How To Use Less Oil

With petrol and diesel costs reaching record levels, reducing how much we spend on filling the car is one way to reduce your weekly outgoings. There are numerous ways to use less fuel in our cars, from the really obvious to some less obvious ways.

Work from home

If it’s possible for you to work from home this is such an easy way to reduce how much you spend on petrol, especially if you have a long car commute. Not all bosses are receptive to their staff working from home, but it’s always worth asking. The pandemic definitely proved that many of us can work from home and are just as, if not more, productive.

Car Share

If you can’t work from home, then try and find a neighbour that heads in the same direction as you. Sharing the car is so much better for the environment and you can share the petrol costs.

Use Public Transport

If you’re able to use public transport, it’s likely to be cheaper than driving and paying for parking. If your work doesn’t have a free to use car park. Not everyone has this option – I certainly don’t in the village I live in.

Reduce Number of Journeys

It can be tempting to drive short distances sometimes, especially when the weather is awful. But if you can walk or cycle instead do that.

Plan your Car Journeys

If you have several shops or places to visit, plan your journey to reduce your mileage. It’s worth checking google maps or the Waze app to check for any traffic hotspots or diversions that might be in place in case you have to rethink your planned route.

Have Groceries Delivered

If you tend to do one big shop a week at the supermarket it’s worth looking into having your shopping delivered. You do have to pay for delivery but the day and time you choose can affect the delivery cost. There’s another advantage to getting your weekly shop delivered in that you won’t be tempted to buy things that weren’t on your original shopping list. I’m a nightmare for buying twice as much as I’d planned when I see things on special offer or new items I’ve never seen before!

Drive More Sensibly

If you drive more sensibly you could reduce your fuel bill by 25%.

1. Drive slower and anticipate (don’t approach junctions at speed and then brake)
2. Drive in a higher gear when you can
3. Use your gears properly rather than accelerating and braking all the time
4. Check your tire pressure every fortnight because “under-inflated tyres can incur an eight per cent rise in fuel costs and over-inflation can reduce tyre durability.”
5. Turn off heating or air-con when it’s not necessary
6. Service your car – regular services can help you to save money in the long term
7. Shop around for fuel – I don’t mean driving around to look for the cheapest petrol station, there are often petrol stations that are regularly cheaper than others but you can also use the Waze app to find out the prices at petrol stations near to you.
8. Email the government and ask them to reduce the tax on fuel – even if this is just temporary it would help everyone out.*

“Efficient driving is a driving style that reduces fuel bills, cuts carbon emissions and lowers accident rates. It is about becoming a better driver, rather than sacrificing the performance or enjoyment of driving. Save on fuel, reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality by following our driving tips…” – Energy Saving Trust

* Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is under a lot of pressure to cut fuel duty and even though today, 23rd March 2022, he has cut fuel duty by 5p a litre, that’s really not going to make a huge amount of difference. Prices at the pump are still shockingly high compared to a month ago.

Other Ways To Use Less Oil and Reduce Costs

Turn the Thermostat Down

I have oil heating at my rented home. Paying to keep my home warm is now very expensive, like it is for everyone else no matter what form of heating you currently have. Turning the thermostat down by 1 or 2 degrees will be cheaper for you.

Have the Heating on Less

As well as reducing the temperature you should reduce the number of hours you have the heating switched on. If you normally have the heating going all day then consider using a timer. There’s no need to have the heating on all night, set the timer to warm the house before you go to bed and for an hour before you get up. There is also less need to have the heating on during the day, especially if you’re in and out of the house all day. Get yourself some warm socks and slippers and wrap up warm in a cosy sweater so you’re less reliant on central heating.

Only Buy What You Need

This goes for everything – buying less is so much better for the environment and your pocket. Everything is far more expensive these days because transportation costs have skyrocketed. Plan your weekly meals so you have less food waste, and if you can, buy quality clothes made of natural fibres.

Buy Quality Items

Quality clothing items, that are often more expensive it has to be said, tend to last longer meaning you spend less in the long run. This particularly goes for shoes. You might have heard of the boots theory from one of Terry Pratchetts books…

“The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.”

Buying less, buying things made of natural materials, reducing the number of car journeys you take, driving more sensibly… all of these things will not only help the planet by using less oil but will save you money as well. But how does it help the people of Ukraine?

Use Less Oil and Help Ukraine?

How does using less oil help Ukraine?

“In Britain, about 4% of gas and 8% of oil comes from Russia, far lower than its European neighbours. But turmoil in the energy markets has sent gas and petrol prices soaring, exacerbating the cost of living crisis. Weaning ourselves off Russian resources – by sourcing supplies elsewhere or pursuing the increased use of renewables and nuclear – will cost money and take time.

One obvious solution is to use less gas and oil in the meantime via a nationwide effort that, while redolent of the sacrifices made in previous global conflicts, need not be nearly as painful and could have long-term benefits.

Ways to do it range from turning down the thermostat and driving slower on the motorway to accelerating the shift towards technology such as heat pumps.”

– read more from The Guardian

By buying oil and gas from Russia we’re just giving them more money to fund their military operations. Their financial resources need to be cut off as much as possible.

The ever increasing cost of living means that although making the changes above to use less oil will certainly help, you’ll probably still have less disposable income than previously. But every little change will help your money go further and it all helps us to be far more eco-friendly. And if at the same time we’re helping Ukraine, even in a small way, then these relatively simple changes are worth it.

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