Making sustainable travel choices not only saves you money, is a healthier option but also helps the environment by reducing  congestion and pollution that impacts on local air quality and global warming.

If more people choose sustainable ways to get around, even just by choosing not to travel by car one or two days a week (or at all) – as a community we can help tackle climate change, save time and money and improve our health.

When it comes to reducing the environmental and climate change impact of how we travel, there's a simple league of what's best.

In top place comes avoiding unnecessary travel, followed by walking, then cycling, then public transport.

Sometimes there's nothing else for it but to hop in the car but we can encourage efficient car use,  including, car sharing, car clubs, electric vehicles and eco-driving.

Fuel for thought

If there is no other option but to own a car it’s worth being eco savvy before purchasing your next car.

Though smaller engine sizes usually burn less fuel per mile than larger ones, check what fuel consumption you should be getting when looking at a new car. The more fuel efficient a car is, the more money you will save on fuel bills and road tax.

Other ways to ease pressure on the environment and get more miles for your money is by adopting good practices like driving at a sensible speed, not accelerating or braking sharply and by making sure your car is regularly serviced.

Keeping your tyres pumped up to the right pressure and clearing unnecessary junk out of your car will also help to save fuel.

With modern engines, there's no need to 'warm up' the engine before setting off (it only wastes fuel).