We all love to travel to broaden our horizons, our experiences and our cultural boundaries, but planes consume fuel, generate carbon emissions and pollute the planet. In fact, air travel is the fastest growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. If you dream of heading off to a far flung and exotic part of the world but you’re worried about the damage you’re doing to our planet, you should think about carbon offsetting your flight.
What is carbon offsetting?
Carbon offsetting scheme providers, such as Carbon Footprint, Carbon Neutral Company and Climate Care agree that while everyone inadvertently produces carbon dioxide emissions (some more than others of course!), there are ways that you can help to reduce the earth's total emissions to balance it out. By making a small contribution to one of these offsetting scheme providers, you can render the carbon emissions produced by your flight neutral. This is usually a tiny percentage of the cost of your flight and can be simply done online after making your purchase.... read more
I'm sure you've seen both sides of the coin by now with hybrid vehicles. One side's championing and the other's lambasting on many points of interest. Heck, there's probably even a small sector of people debating the debate on hybrids vs. conventional vehicles.
To which I say, whatever's clever. At some point, all the facts and figures and testimonials won't change everyone's mind sooner rather than later. Whether that's because of myths or not, I figured it's high time to list the best hybrid myths out there. And at the end, if you want to pick your favorite from the bunch or add to the list, you're more than welcome.
Now on to the list!
Myth #1: Hybrids Are Still A Relative Unkown
While they may be intentionally unkown to some, hybrids are far from being a new property. The "hybrid" car was orignially conceived way back in the late 17th century by Ferdinand Verbiest, who drew up plans to create a 4-wheel steam car for the Chinese Emperor, Khang Hsi. And as for the first functioning hybrid, you only have to go nearly 100 years later to 1769, where Frenchman Nicholas Cugnot completed a steam-powered carriage that moved at a brisk 6 miles per hour. Granted, it wasn't fast, but from a technical sense of the word, it's still a hybrid through and through.
Myth #2: Hybrid Tech Is Merely A Trend
Technology is always evolving into something much more with every passing year. Whether it's smartphones becoming smarter, home siding becoming more energy efficient or in the case of hybrid engines, becoming more advanced between all-electric reliance or efficient gas-electric motors, hybrid cars are evolving with every new model year. Trends are reserved for disco.
Myth #3: Hybrids Only Appeal To Conservationists
This one's pretty easy to dissect. Grouping a hybrid with a percentage of people who may be more eco-friendly than another is on the same level as saying the only people who buy a Porsche or Corvette are people approaching a mid-life crisis.The reality is a hybrid appeals to every driver the same way a truck or sports car should appeal to every driver. ... read more
Travelling abroad can be and in fact most often is, one of the most exciting and potentially inspiring things that any person could choose to do with their time. The intense mix of culture shock and in turn the feeling of being removed from your own comfort zone often than not leads to a very strange feeling of bliss and openness. For most of us going abroad is a break from work, home and normality, at a small price. But that price needn’t be forced onto the natural world as well, and it quite often is. For those of us who, whilst at home regularly use “mod cons”, heading away for a trip abroad can be a great excuse to cut back on expensive and environmentally damaging technology. By utilising your new found freedom to its full potential it can be incredibly easy to leave behind all the items and home comforts which make our lives easy and routine and in turn often damage the environment.... read more
Trying to be more green with how we drive has a number of benefits that stretch beyond dollars and cents. As consumers out there try to come to terms with the Hybrid movement or get a feel for all-electric models like the Nissan Leaf or need further information regarding gas-electric combination vehicles like the Chevy Volt, saving trips to the pump isn’t necessarily tied down to fuel efficient cars as much as it applies to how we drive and what steps we take to make sure our car’s overall performance is up to par.
Granted, there’s a significant advantage for having a hybrid vehicle that gets on average around 40+ miles per gallon, but drivers with older model cars can still contribute to being green and reduce the amount of emissions into the atmosphere from simple car care tips.
Here are a few easy steps or reminders to do just that.
Hell&LulaIndie/electro band Hell&Lula not only makes awesomely danceable music; they care deeply about the environment, too. They are currently running a PledgeMusic campaign to help their Cool Bus, a converted school bus, run on waste vegetable oil (WVO) from restaurants. Check out their PledgeMusic page to donate some money and get cool stuff while you're at it! ... read more
Plug-in electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, available, and popular. Leading “green” city, San Francisco, passed legislation to help increase the convenience of electric vehicles in hopes of enticing residents to purchase the green cars. The city is challenged with the task of installing 80 public charging stations at 20 locations by 2012.
The city has been working for roughly two and a half years to implement the charging station policy and necessary infrastructure. ... read more
A comprehensive study released on July 18, 2011 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) outlines guidelines to help you, the consumer, make wiser food choices. We have long known that certain foods create an abundance of CO2 emissions. What this study adds is understanding the roll of the entire life cycle of various foods, whereas previous research mostly focuses on food production. The EWG research tracks food production, processing, consumption and waste disposal to teach us how to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and pollutions that result from our dietary habits.
“By eating and wasting less meat, consumers can help limit the environmental damage caused by the huge amounts of fertilizer, fuel, water, and pesticides, not to mention the toxic manure and wastewater, that goes along with producing meat,” said Kari Hamerschlag, EWG senior analyst and author of the report. “Choosing healthier, pasture-raised meats can also help improve people’s health and reduce the environmental damage associated with meat consumption.”
Five Worst Foods For the Environment:
1. Lamb, especially loin
2. Beef – choose grass-fed and lean meats to reduce your impact on the environment
3. Cheese (this one shocked me! Total bummer!) - Less dense cheese (such as cottage) results in fewer greenhouse gases since it takes less milk to produce it... read more
An independent study conducted in June found San Francisco to be the “greenest” city in the United States and Canada. This doesn't come as much of a surprise – the city has made headlines for leading the way with policies such as mandatory composting and a grocery store plastic bag ban.... read more
Last week the Obama administration released information about the proposal for increased auto emission standards. The proposal includes a 56.2 mpg minimum for all new cars by 2025. American car manufacturers would have to meet this number as a company-wide average. With the demand for electric cars already on the rise, this move would give electric vehicles the boost needed to become more mainstream.... read more
Many small businesses and large companies alike are turning to “virtual offices” and professional business centers in order to meet ever changing demands. A virtual office, such as those offered by Cloud Virtual Offices, is “a combination of off-site live communication and address services that allow users to reduce traditional office costs while maintaining business professionalism." A professional business center often provides business space and services on as as-needed basis.... read more
We all love to travel to broaden our horizons, our experiences and our cultural boundaries, but planes consume fuel, generate carbon emissions and pollute the planet. In fact, air travel is the fastest growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. If you dream of heading off to a far flung and exotic part of the world but you’re worried about the damage you’re doing to our planet, you should think about carbon offsetting your flight.
I'm sure you've seen both sides of the coin by now with hybrid vehicles. One side's championing and the other's lambasting on many points of interest. Heck, there's probably even a small sector of people debating the debate on hybrids vs. conventional vehicles.
Travelling abroad can be and in fact most often is, one of the most exciting and potentially inspiring things that any person could choose to do with their time. The intense mix of culture shock and in turn the feeling of being removed from your own comfort zone often than not leads to a very strange feeling of bliss and openness. For most of us going abroad is a break from work, home and normality, at a small price. But that price needn’t be forced onto the natural world as well, and it quite often is. For those of us who, whilst at home regularly use “mod cons”, heading away for a trip abroad can be a great excuse to cut back on expensive and environmentally damaging technology. By utilising your new found freedom to its full potential it can be incredibly easy to leave behind all the items and home comforts which make our lives easy and routine and in turn often damage the environment..JPG "Hell&Lula")
