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.

Building a Better Minivan - The Hybrid Affair

Okay, minivan fans. Diane at Big Green Purse has posted a nice summary about Toyota's attempt to build the perfect hybrid minivan, and she notes, there is a petition to be signed...by May 28th! So if you would like Toyota to bring the minivan to the United States instead of sending it to the big test drive in the sky, let know, by signing The Union of Concerned Scientists petition at their Hybrid Center website.

People...People Who Need People

If I counted up all the trees that People Magazine uses to produce a single issue of its glossy gift of gab, I'd probably never be able to look another forest in the face. But flipping through the May 7, 2007 issue, I found an interesting article titled "Meet the Greens: How One California Family Decided to Take on Global Warming - One Lightbulb and Paper Towel at a Time" written by Ellen Shapiro. I don't want to take steal all the joy of you reading it on the supermarket checkout line, so here are a just a few highlights:

They use solar panels that provide enough energy for their needs and enough to send back to the power grid (did you know solar panels need to be dusted?).

They make their own fuel for their two vehicles from old vegetable oil (apparatus is in their garage and it appears one of their cars is a Mercedes) for les than $1 a gallon.

They grow pesticide-free produce in their garden.

Their meals are meat-free and most of their vegetables, fruit, cheese, and tofu are organic.

The compost all their table scraps.

Their lawn (meaning grass) is very small and is mowed with a hand mower.

They use native, drought-tolerant plants for their landscaping.

Only cloth diapers get hot water; the rest gets cold in their front loader washing machine (Maya draws the line at the clothes line; her husband wants to ditch the dryer).

And another thumbs-up for sheets made from bamboo fibers!

And you know what the best part is? Maya, 30, a stay-at-home mom used to be a lights on all over the house usin' paper plates for every meal kinda gal. There's hope for me!

Next up for the Sharps, they are taking rainwater from their roof to irrigate their vegetable patch. Wait a second! My husband already does that! Yahoo!

The article also recommends National Geographic's TheGreenGuide.com; the EPA's EnergyStar.gov; and ClimateCrisis.net and provides some amazing energy statistics.

Now what exactly is People printed on?