It is no secret that America loves cars!
I love my car too, but for the first time in my life, I find myself guilty of having car envy. No, not the BMW's or Mercedes that are a dime a dozen on the LA freeways. Not even the fabulous Ferrari or Lotus that you see here as well.
I have car envy for vehicles that are changing the future of cars as we speak. You are seeing them more frequently across in California and across America too.
I'm talking about the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and the car I absolutely drool over, the Tesla S.
The least expensive is the Nissan Leaf so let's start there. The Leaf is great for the budget minded eco geek, and don't we all have a little geek in us?
While its range is just 75 miles, Nissan states that the average American drives just 29 miles/day. Sounds like it could work for a lot of us, most of the time, but we may still want to have another car in the family for any longer trips.
The Leaf has some great features too. You have to check out the birdseye camera that let's you see all of your immediate surroundings to help with parking. Parking is like playing a video game. You can actually see how close you are to objects on all sides of the car. Very cool and very functional.
The remote start allows you to start your vehicle from anywhere. Think about it, you are having that big production meeting in the restaurant, it's 100° outside and your car is charging in the parking lot. You start it up while you are having dessert, turn on the AC and cool that baby off before you even leave the restaurant. If you are fully charged, you won't even lose any range either.
While it's range is a bit limited, the Leaf does have some really great features.
The Nissan Leaf starts at $21,300 or lease for as little as $199/mo.
When I first heard about the Chevy Volt, I didn't like the concept. An electric engine that gets you about 35 miles, then a combustion engine takes over, not only propelling the car, but recharging the electric engine as well.
At the moment electric cars are limited, due in part because it takes so long to charge, and the mileage is limited. That's why the Volt is a terrific segway vehicle for Chevy to get into the Electric Car market.
It's a practical solution for those of us with range anxiety. Let's face it, you might not get 35 miles of actual range in LA traffic, heat and hills. So what do you do when you get low on charge? Just let the combustion engine take over. It will recharge the electric motor and still get 37 MPG. In fact you can drive from LA to NY and still get great mileage while having no range anxiety.
It's stylish inside and a fun car to drive too. I'm loving this car.
The ChevyVolt starts at $34,185 (minus your $7500 tax credit), making it $26,685 or lease for as little as $299/mo.
The Tesla S is the car I just drool over. Every time I see one on the road, I go into this crazy trance. They aren't cheap, for good reason. Not only is it a beautiful vehicle, it has amazing performance and according to independent testing, it is incredibly safe too.
I find the lines of the Tesla S to be absolutely amazing. They flow from one end to the other, reminding me of the beauty of ocean waves. Then you crawl inside this luxurious beauty and see the gigantic 17" touchscreen display that shows you everything about the car you need ever want to know and even let's you surf the web (but not while you are driving please). It's a beautiful vehicle inside and out.
The Tesla S gets up to 265 miles on a single charge, so you don't have any range anxiety there. Presently you can find charging stations that allow you to charge your Tesla S up to 50% in just 30 min. The real excitement here though is Tesla's plan for battery swapping stations. They are working on battery changing stations that would allow you to change your battery out, faster than you can get gas. That will be something to see.
Let's face it none of us want to get hurt out there on the road and the Tesla S has a 5 star safety rating. The battery pack is located directly underneath the car, giving it a low center of gravity, making it difficult to rollover. Even if it did, the roof can apparently hold 4 G's, the equivalent of stacking 4 Tesla S's on roof, without the roof collapsing. To date they have not seen a battery catch fire in testing or in any on street crashes. It doesn't mean it won't happen, but they seem to be doing something right.
Tesla S starts at $69,900. Use that $7500 tax credit and it makes it $62,400 effectively.
I do like my Honda Insight. At 42 mpg (my actual mileage) it works out very well in the stop and go LA traffic, that's the freeways I'm talking about. When it is time to get a new car, you know where I'll be looking for my car of the future.
Remember, the grass can always be greener. When it's your time for you to trade in and trade up, you now know where to start looking for that new eco car! Cleaner cars are better for America, as all of these reduce emissions and save money on fuel. These 3 cars and their successors will have a great impact on cleaning up our environment, and are pretty cool cars in their own right too.
America love's cars, why not get one that will love America back?
Monday, August 26, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
Why Be Green? Chemicals
Today it would be almost impossible to find a human being on earth (including newborn babies) who have not been exposed to toxic chemicals. In fact, way back in 1963 Rachel Carson wrote in her book Silent Spring, “A Who's Who of pesticides is therefore of concern to us all. If we are going to live so intimately with these chemicals eating and drinking them, taking them into the very marrow of our bones - we had better know something about their nature and their power.”
While we have known for at least the last 50 years that there can be terrible side effects to our chemical usage, we continue to use them for pesticides, insecticides, cleaners and more, without knowing (or not caring about) their effects on our bodies and the environment.
Does it really make sense to spray our foods with things that we know can cause cancer and other illnesses? Should we be using toxic chemicals as cleaners? If you think about it, there really is no sense to this. How can we spray our foods with poison so that they are safe to eat and "clean" with toxic chemicals?
Many schools continue to spray Roundup and other chemicals around the schools like they are inert chemicals, exposing thousands of children to these toxic chemicals. Is it really worth the risk to our kids?
What are your thoughts?
While we have known for at least the last 50 years that there can be terrible side effects to our chemical usage, we continue to use them for pesticides, insecticides, cleaners and more, without knowing (or not caring about) their effects on our bodies and the environment.
Does it really make sense to spray our foods with things that we know can cause cancer and other illnesses? Should we be using toxic chemicals as cleaners? If you think about it, there really is no sense to this. How can we spray our foods with poison so that they are safe to eat and "clean" with toxic chemicals?
Many schools continue to spray Roundup and other chemicals around the schools like they are inert chemicals, exposing thousands of children to these toxic chemicals. Is it really worth the risk to our kids?
What are your thoughts?
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Why Be Green? For Your Children!
There is nothing more important than our children and that is my biggest motivation for being green. Our children look to us for security and safety.
"The world gone and gotten itself in a big damn hurry," OK, I took that from Shawshank Redemption, but it is quite insightful if you think about it. We are constantly chasing the almighty dollar. Perhaps we should slow down a little and be a bit more concerned about our future and the future generations who will inhabit (hopefully) this earth.
Chemicals
First, we are constantly being bombarded by toxic chemicals. They are in our shampoo, body care products, food, water, clothing, cars, fuels, schools, offices, yards, parks, playgrounds, just about anywhere we turn. Many of these chemicals have been linked to cancer, allergies, obesity, autism, endometriosis and other diseases. The worst thing is that more the most part, we have accepted them.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are not just filled with toxic chemicals, they are what our society is based on. Everything requires energy and we are using it at an incredible pace. Unfortunately we will run out of oil at some point. It is inevitable. By most accounts we have used 1/2 of all oil on earth in a little more than 150 years, and we are using more and more of it every year. Think about life when we have run out of oil. Future generations, maybe even your children, will look back at us wondering what the hell we were thinking.
Water
We have many more people to support on the planet than any other time in history. Unfortunately we have the same amount of water and water is needed to sustain life. We aren't creating anymore that I know of, but we sure are creating a lot more people. Water is life and if we don't have enough water to go around, how are we going to support a growing population?
Food
Our food supply is in danger. These days you are lucky to know what you are eating.
So many foods today contain genetically modified ingredients. According to the Huffington Post 88% of corn and 93% of corn used in food is genetically modified. The jury is still out on the safety of these gmo's, yet we have allowed them to saturate the market before we know how they might affect us. How much are you willing to roll the dice on your children?
"Facts" on the percentage of people who eat meat seem to vary, but it's safe to say around 90%, or more, Americans eat meat. According to ChartsBin, the average American eats over 200 pounds of meat every year. That is approximately 50% more meat than America was eating in 1950. This has lead to environmental pollution from the farms as well as a host of medical problems, from heart disease to cancer as well as many other health issues.
While I could continue to spew facts, I think you get the idea.
Act Now
If we don't start looking out for the planet, we will be jeopardizing our future and the future of our children. It is staring us right in the face, but so many of us want to pretend that we can continue on the way we have for the last hundred plus years.
We can not expect mother earth to keep giving back if we continue to destroy her.
Join me on the green journey. If not for yourself, then for your children.
Why be green? Because your children deserve it!
"The world gone and gotten itself in a big damn hurry," OK, I took that from Shawshank Redemption, but it is quite insightful if you think about it. We are constantly chasing the almighty dollar. Perhaps we should slow down a little and be a bit more concerned about our future and the future generations who will inhabit (hopefully) this earth.
Chemicals
First, we are constantly being bombarded by toxic chemicals. They are in our shampoo, body care products, food, water, clothing, cars, fuels, schools, offices, yards, parks, playgrounds, just about anywhere we turn. Many of these chemicals have been linked to cancer, allergies, obesity, autism, endometriosis and other diseases. The worst thing is that more the most part, we have accepted them.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are not just filled with toxic chemicals, they are what our society is based on. Everything requires energy and we are using it at an incredible pace. Unfortunately we will run out of oil at some point. It is inevitable. By most accounts we have used 1/2 of all oil on earth in a little more than 150 years, and we are using more and more of it every year. Think about life when we have run out of oil. Future generations, maybe even your children, will look back at us wondering what the hell we were thinking.
Water
We have many more people to support on the planet than any other time in history. Unfortunately we have the same amount of water and water is needed to sustain life. We aren't creating anymore that I know of, but we sure are creating a lot more people. Water is life and if we don't have enough water to go around, how are we going to support a growing population?
Food
Our food supply is in danger. These days you are lucky to know what you are eating.
So many foods today contain genetically modified ingredients. According to the Huffington Post 88% of corn and 93% of corn used in food is genetically modified. The jury is still out on the safety of these gmo's, yet we have allowed them to saturate the market before we know how they might affect us. How much are you willing to roll the dice on your children?
"Facts" on the percentage of people who eat meat seem to vary, but it's safe to say around 90%, or more, Americans eat meat. According to ChartsBin, the average American eats over 200 pounds of meat every year. That is approximately 50% more meat than America was eating in 1950. This has lead to environmental pollution from the farms as well as a host of medical problems, from heart disease to cancer as well as many other health issues.
While I could continue to spew facts, I think you get the idea.
Act Now
If we don't start looking out for the planet, we will be jeopardizing our future and the future of our children. It is staring us right in the face, but so many of us want to pretend that we can continue on the way we have for the last hundred plus years.
We can not expect mother earth to keep giving back if we continue to destroy her.
Join me on the green journey. If not for yourself, then for your children.
Why be green? Because your children deserve it!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Why Be Green? Oil Supplies
Welcome to Why Be Green. I hope to shed some light on the importance of being green, also known as being eco friendly.
Let's start with oil.
Since discovering oil, the world has gone into a frenzy. We currently use approx 93.25 million barrels of oil each and everyday (that is approx 4 Billion US Gallons). That is 1.5 Trillion gallons/year. You could fill up approx 15,000,000 US homes (1500 sq. ft.) with the amount of oil we are pulling out of the ground each year. Can you imagine 15 million homes filled with oil? That's a lot of oil.
So let's face it, oil is finite. It takes millions of years to create the oil-at least the natural way, yet we are consuming it at an incredible rate and nobody in the know is willing to tell us just how much is left. In fact some countries may be hiding the true numbers of reserves. Time magazine (Feb. 2011) reported that Saudi Arabia may have overstated by 40% how much oil they actually have left in the ground.
Why do you think we are now producing oil from the tar sands in Canada and building the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to Texas through the Ogallala Water Aquifer (largest aquifer in the US)? Because it is easy? Guess again. It is some of the most difficult and expensive oil to produce, yet we are doing it anyway. Perhaps it is because it is all that's left out there to quench our incredible thirst.
We have created a society based on oil. Whether it is watching TV, going to the movies, buying food, clothing, shelter etc. Everything is based on oil, yet we will run out of oil at some point in time. It is inevitable. What then?
It's a scary thought that nobody wants to address, but we need to and we need to address it now.
Please join me in my journey to educate society on not just Why Be Green, but also how to be green.
Let's start with oil.
Since discovering oil, the world has gone into a frenzy. We currently use approx 93.25 million barrels of oil each and everyday (that is approx 4 Billion US Gallons). That is 1.5 Trillion gallons/year. You could fill up approx 15,000,000 US homes (1500 sq. ft.) with the amount of oil we are pulling out of the ground each year. Can you imagine 15 million homes filled with oil? That's a lot of oil.
So let's face it, oil is finite. It takes millions of years to create the oil-at least the natural way, yet we are consuming it at an incredible rate and nobody in the know is willing to tell us just how much is left. In fact some countries may be hiding the true numbers of reserves. Time magazine (Feb. 2011) reported that Saudi Arabia may have overstated by 40% how much oil they actually have left in the ground.
Why do you think we are now producing oil from the tar sands in Canada and building the Keystone XL Pipeline from Canada to Texas through the Ogallala Water Aquifer (largest aquifer in the US)? Because it is easy? Guess again. It is some of the most difficult and expensive oil to produce, yet we are doing it anyway. Perhaps it is because it is all that's left out there to quench our incredible thirst.
We have created a society based on oil. Whether it is watching TV, going to the movies, buying food, clothing, shelter etc. Everything is based on oil, yet we will run out of oil at some point in time. It is inevitable. What then?
It's a scary thought that nobody wants to address, but we need to and we need to address it now.
Please join me in my journey to educate society on not just Why Be Green, but also how to be green.
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