NEGAUNEE -- Today is the first day of 2008, a day when most of us will be making resolutions.

One thing that is always a good idea is saving green--both the green in your wallet and the green of the Earth. So we're beginning a new feature called Green Tuesdays.  It will feature practical ideas to help the ecology and your bottom line.

We begin with one that's a biggie during the Upper Peninsula winters:  warming your car.

Auto emissions put a lot of things into the air including unburned hydrogen carbon, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, as well as carbon dioxide and water.

The longer it runs, the more goes into the air.  But when the temperatures drop, mechanics say it's a good idea to warm your engine before heading down the road, to help it run more efficiently.

Just how long to let it run is where the question comes in.

We asked Doug Young from Fox Motors in Negaunee to fill us in on just how long is long enough to warm up your engine.

Doug replied, "Just the time it takes to get the windows and get the interior defogged.  So as soon as you can see clearly, that's all the car needs. Usually like two or three minutes is sufficient. The vehicle itself needs very little time to warm up. It does better just driving it."

That's not exactly what most of us wanted to hear, but to save on your gas budget and help the Earth, it's better to bundle up a bit more and let your car idle a little before you take off.