Combine two errands into one trip
Why this can help
Joining compatible errands can shorten the distance driven. For a combustion-engine car it can also reduce cold starts, but the distance calculation below does not assume a cold-start saving.
One possible next step
List the next few necessary errands and compare one combined route with separate return trips, including any detours.
What changes the outcome
Count the route you would actually have driven, including detours and any extra journeys. Opening hours, accessibility and food storage may make separate trips necessary.
Your illustrative scenario
Over one year · with the assumptions below
You
240 kilometres travelled by vehicles less
You + 10 friends
2,640 kilometres travelled by vehicles less
1,000 participants
240,000 kilometres travelled by vehicles less
These are scenarios, not measured personal or collective savings. One separate vehicle per participant. A shared car is counted once.
Your inputs
- All separate routes, including returns
- 14 km
- Combined route, including detours
- 9 km
- Sets of errands combined per week
- 1
- Weeks per year
- 48
Calculation of the difference: (14 − 9) km × 1 × 48 = 240 kilometres travelled by vehicles
Calculation boundaries
Vehicle distance for the same completed errands and existing vehicle, including all returns and detours. Count independently replaced itineraries, not passengers. Fuel, cold starts, greenhouse gases and vehicle production are excluded.
Example routes: 6 km and 8 km for two separate return trips, versus one 9 km circuit, once weekly for 48 weeks. Distances and repetition are assumptions, not population averages. Replace them with the routes you would actually take.
Sources and calculation references
- Planning and Combining TripsU.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; website administered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- Fuel efficient driving tipsUK Vehicle Certification Agency · 2025
Read the method: universalizable.com/en/method/ · One sheet · print double-sided, long-edge binding