Sunday, September 9, 2007

Get Hip to Hybrids

I am seriously behind. I promised Miss Kitty, whoever you are my dear, that I would post a freezer paper tutorial this weekend and it looks like that is just not going to happen as it is now Redskins season. Do I need to elaborate? Hopefully tomorrow, Miss Kitty, as I am eager to do another image, this time for Sprout.

Another reason I am postponing my freezer paper tutorial is that many moons ago I promised Because I'm Me... a post focusing on resources related to hybrid vehicles. I am interested in this topic myself as I am seeing more and more on the road. So here we go.

Hybrids: Hip or Hype? Discuss.

One of the first places I would start for a general overview on greening your car, is Treehugger.com. Their How to Green Your Car page does not focus solely on hybrids, but does include a lot of useful information and links to additional websites.

Greenercars.org has a rather dense fact sheet on hybrid-electric cars which may contain some information of use to you...if you can wade your way through it. Guess I'm just of the Sesame Street generation. They also have a matrix (what happened to the word "chart"? what exactly is a matrix? why does everyone use the word matrix? am I the only one who hears that word and thinks "Keanu Reeves"? but I digress) highlighting the greenest of the green for 2007, with the Toyota Prius topping the list with a whopping 60 MPG city driving.

And then, well I'll be darned, did you know that Consumer Reports now has a Greener Choices: Products for a Better Planet website? Among the dozens of fascinating topics covered, green cars (Did you know that Norway does not allow type of "green" designation applied to cars - their philosophy, no matter how fuel-efficient, there's nothing green about a car. Period.) Once again, the Prius tops their list of picks.

Then Mom Go Green (the first blogger to ever link back to my site. sniff, sniff) posted a while back on the status of green minivans. Maybe she'll give us an update in a future post. No pressure, MGG.

Finally, there is The Hybrid Center, brought to you by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Check out their Comparison Chart (notice they do not call it a Comparison Matrix. Interesting) where you can "Compare the stats and features of selected hybrids with other hybrids and non-hybrid references."

I suppose the first car I would test drive is the Ford Escape (although as a mom that name makes me laugh. Kidding. Not. Kidding.), because I am tired of having to bungie cord a relative to the roof of my four-seater every time I pick them up at the airport with the two kids in tow. On the other hand, I think I'll just drive my current 1995 non-hybrid into the ground. Nothing says "I'm stickin' it to the man" like no car payments.

3 comments:

Jody Sanders said...

THanks for the info and links! We're still on the fence about the whole thing ... not about getting a hybrid but about what to get. Like I told you, the Highlander is the only one that will seat all of us but I don't want an SUV AT ALL. Hopefully our older car will hold on long enough for the market to change (and I can totally relate to having it paid for ... some days that's the cars best feature).

Mary Beth said...

My minivan is a non-green addiction. With 5 kids it's a necessity, so I'm not apologetic. When the older children grow up and go away, I'm very open to a hybrid.

Hey, thanks for including me in your links list! You're so sweet.

Anonymous said...

you have to love the Norway logic! I seriously don't know what our family will get for a next vehicle. My husband wants a "cool" car and I want a "cheap" car! Hopefully we can agree on a "cool", "cheap" green car when the time comes. Thanks for the info!