Big Green Purse

Is the Chevy Volt Good for the Environment?

  General Motors has started manufacturing an electric vehicle called the Chevy Volt. It claims the car will drive up to 40 miles on its lithium-ion battery, which can be recharged at home or work using a regular electrical outlet. According to GM, more than 75 percent of Americans live within 20 miles of where they work. If that sounds like your commute, you could drive the Volt to your job and back on 100% electricity without generating any of the emissions that cause air pollution or climate change, at a cost of about 80 cents in electricity a day.

If the battery does run down, the 1.0-liter, three-cylinder gas engine acts as a generator to charge the battery and provides enough power for up to an additional 600 miles. Says Chevy, the Volt will get 50 mpg with the generator running in what’s called "extended range" mode. If you drive 60 miles, with the last 20 miles in this mode, you'll enjoy a 150 mpg equivalent for the trip.

Does the car's high fuel efficiency rating mean it's "good" for the environment? That begs the question, is ANY car good for the environment?

After all, manufacturing a car is still a polluting, resource-intensive process. Fom an environmental perspective, driving a car is still inferior to using mass transit, biking, walking, and telecommuting,  Americans need better transportation options, not necessarily better cars.

However, I think it's fair to say that the Volt is "better" for the environment, in several ways:

It shows that any company - even one like General Motors, maker of one of the world's most polluting, least efficient vehicles, the Hummer - can make great strides in creating new products to protect the planet and human health.

It demonstrates to consumers that their demands for more environmentally-responsible products create a powerful incentive to businesses to clean up their act.

It fuels competition. General Motors may be the first to market with its electric car, but it won't be the last. It has set a standard other manufacturers will now be in a race to emulate.  Remember the history of hybrids in the U.S.? In 1998, there were virtually no hybrids being sold. In 1999 Honda introduced its first hybrid model, followed by the Tyotoa Prius hybrid in 2000. The wild popularity of these cars, especially the Prius, inspired a frenzy of re-design among all car companies. These days, every automobile manufacturer has at least one hybrid in its showroom - and over a million hybrids are being sold every year.

Should we all get out of our cars more?

Environmentally Friendly Car Wash - Not in Your Driveway!

Are you one of those people who think you'll save energy and water if you wash your car at home? 

Sorry. Just the opposite is true.  When you wash your car in your driveway or on the street, the wash and rinse water – loaded with dirt, exhaust fumes, oil and detergent – runs off down the storm drain and eventually into rivers, lakes and streams.  All that dirt can contaminate the water and threaten the fish, birds and other wildlife that live there. Plus, washing a car at home usually uses far more water than at a car wash, since so many people just leave the hose running while they wash the car.

The alternative?

A commercial car wash.

* By law (in both the U.S. and Canada), commercial car washes must drain their wastewater into sewer systems so it can be treated before being discharged back into waterways.

* An added advantage? Commercial car washes use computer-controlled systems and high-pressure nozzles and pumps to minimize water use.

* Many facilities also recycle and re-use the rinse water. As a result, automatic car washes may use 50% less water than someone who washes her car at home: 45 gallons per car at the car wash compared to between 80 and 140 gallons at home.

If you must wash your car at home:

* Do so on lawn or gravel to minimize run-off into the street.

* Use a biodegradable liquid soap that contains no phosphates or synthetic fragrances. like Dr. Bronner’s , or brands like Greenworks or Bright Green that are easily available in most grocery and big box stores. 

* Turn off the hose while you’re soaping the car up; rinse quickly.

* Skip throwaway paper towels in favor of sponges to scrub and cotton towels, used t-shirts or microfibers towels to dry.

My little trick: I often wipe down my car when it’s raining. The rain loosens the dirt and grime; I wipe off the vehicle with towels  I can launder. When the rain stops, the car is clean. It didn’t cost me anything, and it didn’t pollute, either.

Waterless Car Care? Yup. Try Eco Touch and
Freedom Waterless Car Wash, both of which are phosphate-free and biodegradable.

Want to green clean the inside of your car? Here's how.

Want more green living tips? Get your own copy of Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World.

Healthy Green Car Care - Top Ten "Insider" Tips

When it comes to buying a “green” car, most consumers focus on fuel efficiency. The more miles per gallon, the more eco-friendly the car.

But what about keeping the car clean?

From washing off the grime that accumulates outside to cleaning up the dashboard inside, how you maintain your vehicle matters to both you and the environment. Why not choose the greenest options? In most cases, they’ll save you money, too.

Here’s how:

1) Window Cleaner: There’s enough road rage to go around these days. Don’t make matters worse by using commercial cleaning products whose chemicals leave you cranky or give you a headache. Keep things  cheap, simple and safe. Make your own window wash.

Recipe:

Mix 1/2 cup white vinegar with two cups water in a spray bottle.

 Add a few drops of pulp-free lemon juice for fragrance. 

Apply directly on a lint-free cotton cloth so the cleaner doesn’t spray all over the car.

Once you wipe the windows clean, buff them with a micro-fiber cloth for extra shine. 

 
Air Freshener: My personal car pet peeve is those creepy little fragrance bobbles that hang from rear view mirrors and completely stink up the car with some sickeningly sweet odor. They give me an immediate headache that lasts long after the car ride is over. And no wonder: most commercial fragrances contain toxic chemicals like benzene and diethyl phthalate that can become particularly insidious if you’re inhaling them in a space as small and closed as a car interior. 

The alternative? If your car stinks, find out why. Usually, it's from something like food scraps (from fast food or snacks) that have started to rot under the car seat or in the grooves of a floor mats.Solution?  

2) Take trash with you. Whenever you leave the car, take a quick look to ferret out the smelly stuff.

3) Open the windows for a few minutes while you’re driving to let fresh air circulate through the car.

4) Use hot soapy water to wipe down interior doors, handles and vinyl seats.

5) Rinse off floor mats (which will force you to lift them up and out of the car, possibly discovering more stink bombs you’ll need to toss).

6) At a car wash, don't let them spray the interior with air freshener when they finish vacuuming. If they’ve done their job properly, the car should smell just fine without it.

Seats and cushions: Keeping a car clean shouldn’t require the use of industrial strength chemicals.

7) Use a whisk broom or hand-held vacuum to remove dirt and dust from floor mats and seat cushions.

8) Keep a cloth napkin within reach so you can wipe up spills when they occur.

9) Dust surfaces with a damp cloth once a week to keep grime from building up.

10) For spots on the steering wheel or console, sprinkle a little baking soda on a wet towel and gently rub. Wipe with a clean damp cloth.

NEXT:  Getting a Green Car Wash

Excerpted from Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World

Want more Green Living Top Ten Tips? Check these out.

Ford Fusion Hybrid: Good Choice for Family Looking for High MPG

Ford's 2010 Fusion Hybrid delivers the goods:

* It meets my minimum standard for high fuel efficiency for a family car by getting 37 mpg on the highway, 41 in the city, and 39 mpg overall, goals achieved thanks to the car's gasoline engine boosted by an electric battery.

* It's roomy enough to seat three adults comfortably in the back, for total seating capacity of 5 overall.

* The in-car GPS system can direct you to the nearest, cheapest gas station or the most direct route, saving you money on gas and reducing the amount of gas you use.

What's the downside - apart from driving a fossil-fuel burning car at all? It's expensive, around $28,000 base price and as much as $32,000 for a "fully loaded" car that includes skylights, leather seats, a Sirius radio system, and GPS.

I test drove the vehicle for three days, morning, noon and night, and in the rain. Here's what I had to say:

Intrigued? Here's a good explanation of how the Fusion Hybrid technology works.

USA Today compares the Ford Fusion hybrid to its Camry and Nissan Altima counterparts here.

For a cheaper hybrid option, you might want to compare the Fusion to the new Prius and the Honda Civic hybrids.

Want a hybrid minivan? Sign this petition urging Toyota to bring its Sienna hybrid minivan to the U.S.

Don't forget to check fuel efficiency ratings for all vehicles at fuelefficiency.gov.

These eco-friendly suggestions will help you save money using less gas driving the vehicle you currently have.

Comparing Hybrid Cars, the Honda Civic Came Out on Top for My Dad

Buying a car any time is a big financial outlay. In this era of penny pinching and fuel scarcity, it's particularly important to consider not just a functional car but one that gets great gas mileage. What choices do you have that won’t break the bank? Big Green Purse intern Rachel Haas filed this report:

"What's the most fuel-efficient car I can buy to meet my commuting needs?" That’s the question my father asked recently after he passed his used car on to me and began looking for a small or mid-sized vehicle for himself. We decided to go on the hunt together, with our primary criteria being that the vehicle should be affordable, a hybrid if possible, and highly fuel efficient—achieving an average of at least 40 miles per gallon.  

Only three vehicles fit the bill:

HONDA

  Insight:
o MPG: Estimated mileage of 40/43 city/highway, average of 42 mpg
o FUEL ECONOMY: With gas prices around $2.60, the annual fuel cost amounts to around $929. You can make calculations for your own region by finding local fuel prices at GasBuddy.com and using the chart at fueleconomy.gov.
o COST: The Insight EX with navigation (a GPS system) has a ticket price of $23,100. NOTE: Because it’s a brand-new model, dealerships are less willing to negotiate on price.
o SPACE:  Overall smaller interior space than the Civic Hybrid, but as a hatchback, the Insight can fit almost three times as much cargo with the seats folded down, 31.5 cubic feet.

Civic Hybrid:
o MPG: estimated mileage of 40/45 city/highway, estimated average of 42 mpg
o FUEL ECONOMY:  same annual fuel cost as the Insight
o COST: The Civic Hybrid with navigation has a ticket price of $25,650, plus the option of leather seats (unlike the Insight) for an additional $1,200.  We were able to negotiate the price of the Civic Hybrid with navigation and leather to about $22,700. 
o SPACE: The interior space is slightly larger than the Insight, but the cargo space is significantly smaller, only 10.4 cubic feet. 

TOYOTA

3rd Generation Prius:
o MPG: Delivers the best mileage and power of any hybrid on the road today with an estimated mileage of 51/48 city/highway, estimated average of 50 mpg
o FUEL ECONOMY:  The annual fuel cost is about $780
o COST:  The 2010 Prius with leather and navigation has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of  $28,350. Like with the Honda Insight,  dealerships are less willing to significantly lower the price of this brand-new model.
o SPACE:  The Prius has more interior space than the Civic Hybrid, especially in the backseat, with an inch and half more leg room.  The Prius also beats the Civic Hybrid in cargo space, with 21.6 cubic feet.
o ADDED BONUS:  You can buy the 3rd generation Prius with a solar roof.  Why is that so cool?  The solar roof literally cools the car by using the sun’s energy to power an air circulation fan, eliminating the need for owners to blast their air conditioning in the hot summers.  Unfortunately, the solar roof adds about $1,800 to the ticket price. 

After test driving all three vehicles and comparing both fuel efficiency and price, my dad happily settled on the Honda Civic Hybrid (left). He opted for a slightly roomier interior over more cargo space, since he doesn't need to transport much in his car. Both price and mpg met his critera. Plus, he likes the way it drives. "This car has a lot of pep!" he says.

NOTE: You don’t have to be in the market for a new car to improve fuel efficiency when you drive. Getting a tune up on the vehicle you currently drive will improve fuel efficiency by 4%. Pumping up your tires to the proper PSI (pounds per square inch) will get you another 3.3% improvement in your MPG. Or skip owning a car altogether for “wheels when you want them” via ZipCar. Here are more ways to beat the high price of gas.

Looking for a different car? Check fuel efficiency ratings for all vehicles at fueleconomy.gov.

Interested in a mid-size, highly fuel-efficient family car? Stay tuned for our review of the Ford Fusion Hybrid.

ZipCar Comes to the Rescue (and Saves Me a Lot of Money)!

My 2002 Prius can't be beat for everyday driving. I regularly get 40-45 mpg, saving me hundreds of dollars every year on gas. It's got a lot of pep, so highway driving is a snap. And its terrific turning radius and compact size make it a dream to park, whether at the mall or on a city street.

But given its compact size (it seats four comfortably, five only if the person in the middle back seat has short legs), it's not the vehicle you'd willingly use to pick up your daughter -- and all her stuff -- from college, the challenge I faced recently.

Fortunately, I'm a member of ZipCar, the car company that lets you rent vehicles by the hour or the day. ZipCar, whose motto is "Wheels When You Want Them," is gaining in popularity because it makes using a car so cheap compared to owning one.  According to the company's calculations, owning a car like a Ford Fusion can cost you almost $800 a month, once you figure in parking, insurance, vehicle registration, gas, maintenance, new tires, and other related expenses. Even if you drive a lot (though not every single day), you could be paying as little as $322 a month using a Zip Car. You can join for $50 a year

Using my zippy membership, I was able to rent a Honda Element for the 7 hours I needed to retrieve my daughter from school.  I simply reserved my car a day in advance, walked two blocks in my neighborhood, and found the car clean and ready to go. I swiped my membership card over a scanner embedded into the windshield. The car doors unlocked, and I found the key in the ignition. Off I went, easy as pie, for a little more than $11/hr.

I chose the Honda Element over a wide range of other options because it offered the most room for the greatest amount of gas mileage. I drove 242 miles on about a tank of gas, for an average fuel economy of around 22 mpg - not quite as good as the Ford Escape Hybrid SUV (which wasn't an option, either at ZipCar or at any of the conventional car rental companies I checked), but better than most conventional SUVs. I filled the gas tank up using the gas card in the glove compartment, so it didn't cost me anything.

Interested? If you live here or go to school here, you can rent a ZipCar. If your city's not on the list, send the company an e-mail and let them know you'd like to Zip. They're opening new locations all the time - maybe you can get them to consider your neighborhood. You can also search "car share" on the Internet to see similar options other companies may be offering in your community.

Thumbs up, ZipCar!

By the way, don't miss these Big Green Purse tips on saving gas and choosing fuel-efficient vehicles.

Most Fuel-Efficient Cars Still the Prius and Honda Civic

Despite all the green cars I saw on display at the North American International Auto Show, I came away convinced that if you want to buy a really eco-friendly vehicle, the highly fuel-efficient Prius and Honda Civic Hybrids are still your best bet.

Here are a few comparisons of gas-saving vehicles in case you're in the market for a car right now. Mileage estimates are taken from the federal www.fueleconomy.gov.

Sedans

• Toyota Prius (left) - 48 mpg city/ 45 mpg hwy (some drivers report getting as much as 56 mpg on the hwy; some drivers report getting as "little" as 35 mpg in the city -- which still outperforms most other models)

• Honda Civic Hybrid (right) - 40 mpg city/ 45 mpg hwy

• Camry Hybrid Sedan 33 mpg city/ 34 mpg hwy (some drivers report getting as much as 42 mpg on the highway
• Toyota Corolla 28 mpg city/ 37 mpg hwy
• Toyota Yaris 29 mpg city/ 36 mpg hwy  (manual transmission)
• Saturn Aura Hybrid Sedan  24 mpg city/ 32 mpg hwy

Mini Vans (still no gas-saving hybrids available; the companies are focusing their fuel-efficiency initiatives on sedans and SUVs)

• Honda Odyssey - 17 mpg city/ 25 mpg hwy

• Dodge Caravan - 17 mpg city/ 24 mpg hwy
• Toyota Sienna - 16 mpg city /21 mpg hwy

SUV Hybrids (from an environmental point of view, there's no point in considering non-hybrid SUVs, all of which get less than 20 mpg, and many of which squeak by with a measley 10-15 mpg)

• Ford Escape Hybrid  29 mpg city/ 29 mpg hwy (right)
• Saturn Vue Hybrid 25 mpg city/ 32 mpg hwy
• Toyota Highlander  27 mpg city / 25 mpg hwy

Compare any of these to the best-selling Ford F-150 FFV 4WD pick-up truck. This gas guzzler gets a paltry 13 mpg in the city and 17 mpg on the hwy. And if you use the E-85 ethanol blend so many of the car makers are talking up, the fuel efficiency of the F-150 drops significantly: to 10 mpg in the city and 12 mpg hwy.

To compare other cars you may be considering, visit www.fueleconomy.gov.

To see the most fuel-efficient vehicles by class, visit http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/class-high.htm.

To take a peek at the new green cars you can consider buying in 2010, read the rundown at EcoGeeks.

Auto Companies Need to Work Together on Battery Technology

Plug-in hybrids - PHEVs - could revolutionize the impact cars have on the environment...if only they had the right battery.

General Motors, Toyota, and other auto manufacturers hope to put their first plug-ins on sales floors by the year 2010 (see Saturn Green Live Vue hybrid, left). When they do, all you'll have to do is plug your vehicle into a regular 120-volt electrical socket, charge the car for several hours overnight, and drive away. You won't need a single drop of gasoline! In fact, because electricity is cheaper than gasoline, the fuel cost is expected to be the equivalent of less than $1/gallon of gas.

Here at the North American Auto Show, car makers are trumpeting their fuel-efficient plug-ins with the same zeal that's being devoted to their gas-guzzling SUVs and luxury vehicles. Why?

Jennifer Moore, Corporate News Manager for Ford Motor Company, says, "Automakers respond to consumer choice. We wanted to do the right thing for the environment, but we also listened to what people said they wanted to buy."  Score one for green consumer demand!

Still, plug-ins are at least two years away from occupying a spot on your driveway. What's holding manufacturers up is their need to perfect the lithium-ion battery they're all using to store the car's electric power. The battery is complicated to engineer, expensive to make, and tricky to integrate with the rest of the car design.

At a press conference earlier today, I asked Tony Clarke, President for General Motors North America, why all the automotive companies couldn't band together to pool research resources and accelerate battery development.

Clarke initially responded with the traditional corporate-think response: "The first company that brings the battery technology to market will have tremendous consumer advantage." In other words, there's a lot of money at stake.

But when pressed, Clarke acknowledged that the sooner all companies have the technology, the faster automakers will be able to profit from what is clearly the next wave in energy-efficient automotive technology.  If other companies collaborate, "we'd love to be a part of that," GM's Clarke said.

Clearly, the sooner that happens, the sooner the environment and public health will benefit as well.

Bring Hybrid Mini-Vans to the U.S.

You know you should save gas when you drive, but you hate to give up your mini-van for a hybrid sedan, even if it is more fuel-efficient. How will you ever transport the kids, their friends, their sports gear, the dog, the groceries, and everything else from home to school to playing field and back again?

In Japan, families have a choice completely unavailable in America—a hybrid minivan with fuel economy on par with a compact car. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) estimates that the Toyota Estima Hybrid could reach around 35 miles per gallon in the United States. "That’s a whopping 50 percent improvement for a minivan," UCS says.

Toyota hopes to sell about 8,400 Estimas in Japan this year. UCS is encouraging Americans to “show Toyota that the demand for more fuel-economy focused hybrids is even stronger in America” by signing a petition it will deliver to Toyota executives on Memorial Day—the unofficial start of the summer driving (and higher gas price) season, and just before the Toyota annual shareholders meeting.

Let Toyota know you'd use your purse to buy an energy-efficient mini-van. You have until May 28 to sign the petition.