Give Car Clutter The Boot!

Clearing out carboot clutter can save drivers money and CO²

6th November 2008

People are using their cars as mobile wardrobes, with men (20%) almost as likely as women (25%) to permanently keep shoes or clothes in their carboot. According to new research¹ from the Department for Transport, one in ten of us can't even remember the last time we emptied it.

Reasons given for this hoarding behaviour ranged from not having enough storage room in the house to wanting to hide new purchases from partners.

Women are more motivated to clear out non-essential items from their carboot for the psychological benefits of a clean car or a spring clean effect (60%), whereas men are motivated by saving money or reducing fuel (52%).

Three quarters (73%) of those surveyed said that they were more likely to keep their car free of non-essential items after finding out that it could reduce their carbon footprint as well as save them money.

Tim Anderson, Smarter Driving expert at the Energy Saving Trust, explains, "We can all lighten our load to avoid emitting unnecessary carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A quick spring clean of your carboot will make your car lighter, meaning you need less fuel, saving you money and CO2 emissions. We urge drivers to familiarise themselves with our Smarter Driving tips, such as making sure tyres are pumped up, not over revving the engine, switching it off when the car is idle for more than three minutes."

Andrew Adonis, Minister of State for Transport added, "Passenger cars alone make up over half of the UK's carbon emissions from transport. As part of the ACT ON CO2 campaign, we are encouraging drivers to clear out their boot as the first step to Smarter Driving. If all motorists adopted Smarter Driving techniques it would save around 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 every year - collectively, that's a fuel cost saving of over £2bn a year for the motorist. This shows that small actions made by all of us can add up to big savings.

"If drivers follow the smarter driving tips CO2 emissions from driving could be reduced by up to 8% (equivalent to saving an individual up to one month's fuel in a year).

For more advice search online for ACT ON CO2.

[1] Tick Box researched a random sample of 1,125 English adults online between 21st and 27th October 2008.

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