The Toyota Prius - A Car to Save the World

The Prius is confirmed to be one of the most well-known hybrids in the US and it's is primarily due to the reputation of Toyota itself. Add to that sensible design and a practical, city-sized ride and you have a car everyone can feel much better about buying and looking good while doing so.

The Prius was launched as a lightweight automobile globally in 2000 although launch of the Prii started in Asia beginning in 1997. The first gen Prius in the US was a great success due to its mixture of contemporary features and design along with its ranking as an Ultra-Low Exhaust Automobile which offered customers the opportunity to get a $2000 tax credit for their purchase.

In 2004 the Prius was remodeled as a mid-size liftback designed to fill the gap between the Camry and the Corolla. Besides all of the other upgrades it is now categorized as a SULEV (Super Extremely Low Pollutants Vehicle) and is certified by Florida Air Sources Panel as an “Advanced Technological innovation Partially Zero Exhaust Vehicle” (AT-PZEV).

So, what do all of the elegant shortened forms really mean? Well, according to the EPA, this year's Prius gets an impressive 48 mpg in the town and 45 mpg on the road. But, asides from the considerable benefits Prius owners enjoy due to its great fuel-economy, the Prius also tells the world that you're environmentally conscious and responsible. The beauty of the car though is that it looks like what you anticipate to see in a hybrid: its got innovative styling cues, flared and expanded headlamps and a liftback that makes your vehicle look like a space probe you would expect to see in intergalactic space.

41 Innovative Environmental Projects Win Over $1 Million In Funding From Audubon And Toyota

Toyota and the National Audubon Society today awarded over $1 million inTogetherGreen Innovation Grants funding to 41 innovative environmental projects nationwide. This year’s winning projects involve more than 150 conservation, environmental justice and community organizations working collaboratively on habitat, water and energy conservation. Many of the projects focus on engaging audiences that have traditionally been underrepresented in the conservation movement, from landowners to religious communities to inner-city students.

“Groups that won Innovation Grants this year have ingenuity and creativity on full display. And that’s what it takes to tackle the environmental challenges we face today,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold. “I’m proud to partner with these innovators in creative approaches to achieve healthier communities and big conservation results.”

Sample projects that will receive 2012 funding include:

• Habitat: In Connecticut, Audubon Connecticut and the Connecticut Student Conservation Association will create Audubon WildLife Guards, a Coastal Stewardship and Youth Conservation Training Program inBridgeport, Conn. The program will provide green job training, mentoring and employment opportunities for high school students who will work to protect threatened beach nesting birds on Pleasure Beach, the largest intact barrier beach in the state.
• Water: In Kansas, Friends of the Kaw, Inc., along with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Topeka Audubon Society and Jayhawk Audubon Society will launch the “Save Soldier Creek” campaign to minimize stormwater runoff  in the rural Soldier Creek watershed – reducing pollution and improving water quality and bird habitat).
• Energy: In Arizona, Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center and Arizona Interfaith Power & Light will broaden its Footprints of Faith campaign to African American and Latino churches in Phoenix and Tucsonpromoting steps congregations can take to reduce their carbon footprints.
• Engaging diverse audiences in conservation: In North Carolina, Wild South and its partners North Carolina Audubon Society, High Country Audubon Society, National Forests of NC and the Western North Carolina Alliance will reach out to military servicemen and women and nearby Asheville residents to involve them in controlling non-native invasive plants, monitoring bird populations, and educating the public on environmental issues. The goal of the project is to preserve the wilderness character and rare species habitat of the Linville Gorge Wilderness, one of the most rugged and scenic areas in the East.

“Toyota and Audubon really share in the belief that environmental change starts at the grassroots level,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of national philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation. “We’re so proud to support this year’s Innovation Grants, which embody TogetherGreen’s commitment to conservation, innovation and diversity.”

Courtesy of US Politics Today

The Top 5 Electric Cars on the Market

With all of the dire predictions about the environment more and the high cost of gas, more and more people are expressing interest in purchasing completely electric cars. In the following breif post we will take a moment to list the most popular, gas-free vehicles on the market.

1. Nissan is the first automaker to produce an all electric volume in any real volume and, as we have already showcased in a previous post, this vehicle is the Leaf. Nissan Leaf The 2012 Leaf includes DC Fast Charge and backup camera and has a price tag of under $40K. The great thing about the Leaf is that it is battery-electric with a 100-mile range per charge.
   
2. GM currently offers the plug-in hybrid Volt but its first completely gasless vehicle will be the Chevy Spark. According to GM the Spark is the quintessential city-car destined to compete for parking spaces with Smart cars and Mini's from Manhattan to LA. Check out this interesting little blurb from the product page:
   

   Spark be nimble, Spark be quick

   Spark is compact, so we worked a little harder to pack in
   all the attitude we could. What is attitude? It’s five doors’ and
   four seats’ worth of “bring your friends along.” It’s parking
   where most fear to parallel. So the next time someone says
   it’s impossible to keep a car in the city, you can turn to them,
   smile and tell them why they’re wrong.

3. The Ford Focus Electric is available now and is meant to compete directly with the Leaf fro non-gas supremacy. The Focus Electric is, however, a little pricier than the $35K Leaf coming in at around $40K before taxes and title. An interesting side note us that, beginning in 2013, hybrids will also have electric motors and lithium batteries as Ford invests heavily in an electric future. 
   
4. The Mitsubishi i (poor name to be sure but maybe they're trying to capitalize on Apple's success with the vowel) can be reserved for a cool $30K which makes it a steal in comparison to the competition. Closely related but slightly larger than its Japanese cousin, the more powerful U.S. version of the iMiEV has an electric range of 62 miles (EPA adjusted) with a 16kWh lithium battery.
   
5. Our last entry for today is the 2013 Fit EV and will be priced at $36,625. The new EV will use Blue Energy lithium-ion batteries.
   
   Anyone who is interested in a more complete break-down of both the hybrid and completely electric vehicles beig offered in 2012 and 2013 should definitely check out the following link: http://www.cleanfleetreport.com/top-electric-cars-2010/
   
   Thanks for reading and look forward to our next post where we will look into the enviromental impact of all-electric as copared to gas only vehicles. Be well!

Your Car's Carbon Footprint and the Zero Fuel Alternatives

We hate to be Debbie Downers at the GAB but with carbon in the atmosphere reaching historic quantities we can't really afford not to draw attention to the facts. Take a look a some of the figures published by  HybridCars.com:

A gallon of gasoline weighs just over 6 pounds. When burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen from the air to produce nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2). By switching from a gas guzzler to a hybrid, you can literally save the earth a couple of tons of greenhouse gases.

• U.S. cars and light trucks together consume 8.2 million barrels of oil each day. This translates to more than 300 million metric tons of carbon that comes from our cars and trucks every year.
• Our transportation CO2 emissions are the largest source (about one-third) of our CO2 emissions, more than factories, homes, and all other sources.
• According to Environmental Defense, over the past decade and a half, all auto companies have increased their carbon burden by some degree or another. GM is the biggest global warmer, but Prius-producing Toyota has increased its output at an even higher rate.

 Warmer temperatures could spell disaster for any number of reasons ranging from increased range of disease carrying insects to flooding to famine. So, let's all ty to do our part by switching to hybrid or zero-fuel cars like the Nissan Leaf  http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index.

Once you've got your hybrid or no-fuel car consider adding energy saving window tint from an environmentally responsible company such as eWindowTint.com who manufacture on a small scale and take advantage of per-exisiting urban infrastructure in NYC.

Going Green in Your Car

Currently the environmental situation of our planet looks pretty dire and automobiles and their assorted aftermarket parts and accessories certainly seem to be a great contributor to the damage being done. Although this blog was originally intended to focus on tints and cheap car modifications exclusively we felt that we just couldn't make that our exclusive focus because to do so would be environmentally irresponsible. Besides, there are plenty of other blogs out there concerned solely with products and that have no concern for environmental ethics or the future of humanity on our planet.

Despite the fact that the focus of the blog has changed somewhat we will still be discussing car accessories and new automotive technologies that help to create a more sustainable society. I hope to post frequently throughout the coming months and that our efforts will be appreciated. Take care!

Related Links:
Hot, Flat, and Crowded - Environmental
Eco-Products Compostable Dinner Plate - 9" - 500 ct. - Plates