Entries From 'Environmental'

No Impact Man

Last year, a friend of mine told me about something she had heard on NPR about a guy living in New York City with a “no impact for a year” goal. He planned on living for a year with no carbon impact. This meant no transport of any kind other than feet or bike, no electricity, no plastic container, cups, wrappers etc and eating only locally produced food.

Intrigued, I hunted around and found his website No Impact Man

I found his one year story fascinating and thought provoking. For awhile I had his blog listed in my “Blogs I’m Reading” list, but since his one year experiment is over and he has (as he planned all along) decided what changes he could live with and which ones he couldn’t, his blog is less interesting to me. It tends to be too political for my taste.

However his original story is so fun to read. He is a good writer and it is interesting to see how he and his family (wife, young daughter and a dog) managed without all the things we think we “need” to survive.

To read his one year story this is the best blog entry to start on (in my opinion) - then just read your way through the year.

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The Green and The Ugly

A friend of mine recently bragged of having a Bentley and I accused him of having one of the top meanest cars to the environmental (not to mention the crazy pretentious opulence and unnecessary consumerism it represents - but that’s a different issue).

I was pretty sure I saw it on a list a few months back along with the H2 and Touareg, but I decided I better check my facts. I was also curious where my spiffy new hybrid rated.

Unfortunately my car didn’t make the overall “Greenest Vehicles” list…but it did make the best in its class of Compact SUV - #1 :)

note: the Green Score is not simply based on the MPG but also on the emission standard of the model.

Greenest Vehicles of 2008

Make and Model Specifications a MPG: City MPG: Hwy Green Score
HONDA CIVIC GX 1.8L 4, auto [CNG] c 24 36 57
TOYOTA PRIUS 1.5L 4, auto CVT 48 45 53
HONDA CIVIC HYBRID 1.3L 4, auto CVT 40 45 51
SMART FORTWO CONVERTIBLE / COUPE 1.0L 3, auto stk [P] 33 41 49
TOYOTA YARIS 1.5L 4, manual 29 36 46
NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID 2.5L 4, auto CVT 35 33 46
TOYOTA COROLLA 1.8L 4, manual 28 37 45
MINI COOPER / CLUBMAN 1.6L 4, manual [P] 28 37 44
FORD FOCUS 2.0L 4, manual 24 35 44
TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID 2.4L 4, auto CVT 33 34 44
HONDA CIVIC 1.8L 4, manual 26 34 44
HONDA FIT 1.5L 4, manual 28 34 44

[CNG] denotes compressed natural
gas fuel.
[P] denotes premium gasoline
"auto stk" denotes manually adjustable automatic transmission

"auto CVT" denotes continuously variable automatic
transmission.
a
Certain other configurations of these models (with
different transmissions or meeting different emission standards)
score nearly as well.
c Compressed natural
gas (CNG) vehicle fuel economy given in gasoline-equivalent
miles per gallon.

Meanest Vehicles for the Environment in 2008

Make and Model Specifications MPG:
City
MPG:
Hwy
Green
Score
VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG 5.0L 10, auto stk 4wd [D] 15 20 14
BUGATTI VEYRON 8.0L 16, auto stk 4wd [P] 8 13 17
MERCEDES-BENZ GL320 CDI 3.0L 6, auto 4wd [D] 18 24 17
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE 3.0L 6, auto 4wd [D] b 17 22 17
MERCEDES-BENZ R320 CDI 3.0L 6, auto 4wd [D] 18 24 17
LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO /
MURCIELAGO ROADSTER
6.5L 12, manual 4wd [P] 8 13 18
MERCEDES-BENZ ML320 CDI 3.0L 6, auto 4wd [D] 18 24 18
MERCEDES-BENZ G55 AMG 5.4L 8, auto 4wd [P] 11 13 18
HUMMER H2 c 6.0L 8, auto 4wd 12 16 18
GMC YUKON 2500 c 6.0L 8, auto 4wd 12 16 18
BENTLEY AZURE 6.7L 8, auto stk [P] 9 15 18
BENTLEY ARNAGE d 6.7L 8, auto stk [P] 9 15 18
[D] denotes diesel fuel.

[P] denotes premium gasoline.
"auto stk" denotes manually adjustable
automatic transmission.

b
The 2wd configuration of this model receives
a Green Score of 18.

c These vehicles, classified as heavy duty
trucks, are exempt from fuel economy regulations.
d
The Bentley Arnage (non-RL) also receives
a Green Score of 18.

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