500 Miles & 200 Gallons of Gasoline Later...

So, I've made a move. It's been a rough one and rougher still with my conscience eating at me about using a 24 foot U-Haul that guzzled gas like it was going out of style. Wait, it is going out of style, in fact it's already gone like the parachute pants of the MC Hammer days. I didn't take the time to research what other alternative options I had and if I had I would have found GREAT resources on moving green, from cardboard-less packing boxes (visit http://www.earthfriendlymoving.com/) to a biodiesel truck (visit http://www.gogreenmoving.com/). But now that I'm in this situation, what do I do with the 20 used only once boxes and the 200 gallons of gas on my conscience? Well, I will be praying that some unfortunate fellow who also needs to move will use the boxes. I've listed them on http://www.freecycle.org/, a non-profit 'give-away' site put together to keep stuff out of landfills. As for the 200 gallons of gas...I will be riding my bike for an awfully long time.

A Few Yards and a Touchdown Pass in the Right Direction

When given his choice of Cadillac’s, NFL’s MVP Eli Manning chose the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, saying, “I know it comes out in the summer. I want the first one.” Manning and his Caddy will be driving to the tune of 330 gallons LESS of gasoline per year.(Go to: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11/09/la-2007-preview-cadillac-escalade-hybrid-all-the-details/ for more details) If one barrel contains 42 gallons of crude oil, then approximately 7.86 barrels of oil will be saved per year by the Escalade. Yes, I would like to see more saved per year, but the very realistic, possibly pessimistic, part of me knows that the human desire for them is oh so real. So at this moment, with the Escalade being the SUV to the stars and anyone looking to blingify their driveway, I’m thankful for the measly 7.86 barrels of crude oil that we don’t have to use.

Confessions of a Prius Owner

I have a terrible confession to make…my best friend has a Chevy Yukon and while I was visiting her I drove it. Yes I drove it and worse yet, I enjoyed it. It had awesome pick up, great turning radius and best of all I was above the traffic. I was looking down instead of looking up. I felt big and bad and I liked it. Does this make me a traitor to my loving Prius? Does this eradicate the need for this blog? Am I a hypocrite? My answer to these questions and please, feel free to disagree with me, is NO. My Prius is still an energy saving beast of a 4-cylinder, my blog is still geared toward the unnecessary, and I am not a hypocrite because Chevy has been proud to announce the Chevy Tahoe & Yukon Hybrid!! The experts are saying that the fuel economy of these hybrid versions is 25 percent better than their conventional equivalent. (go to http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=120687 for the full story) Since it’s such a large vehicle and we know that physics tells us it will never get the same gas mileage my Prius gets; do we still feel enviro-friendly satisfaction from owning a Chevy Tahoe or Yukon Hybrid? Will 25% better fuel economy 100% satisfy hybrid loving people like me?

New Hummer Helps Commercial

So, if I’m drowning in a flood of waters caused by a hurricane, I should hope my neighbor or someone I know has a Hummer, because if they do they can rescue me? This new commercial for Hummer is as irrelevant as it is ridiculous. The only thing Hummer helps is the pace in which the Arctic ice caps are melting, and that unlike this commercial, is FACT. This Hummer ploy that courses through the air waves and into our sub-conscience (or so they hope) is that if I, regular civilian Joe Schmoe drive one, I will be elevated to superhero status when natural disaster strikes. Like I said, ridiculous. This commercial should not only upset anti-Hummer activists, but also the wayward consumers that currently own them. If there is a Hummer consumer reading this, please tell me, are you ready to throw me a tow line from your massive beast of an SUV should I be found drowning in your nearest water channel after a storm? Because, after this commercial…I will expect this of you.