Going Green

1)relatively fuel-efficient vehical (Nissan Sentra)
2)home recycling of recyclable materials
3)introduced and maintainance of recycling program at our office
4)seal windows in the fall to decrease heat-losses
5)delayed purchase of air-conditioning system
6)use a lower-than-average temperature on my thermostat (natural gas) (i.e. low 60’s) and supplement with electric heat in certain rooms - all timed.

1.  Fuel Efficient Vehicles (2 2006 Toyota Matrixes, 2 WD not 4 for even better economy.)
2.  Recycle, but that’s a moot issue since I have too or get hefty fines…so what’s the point in saying I would anyway?
3.  I force my family to watch TV in the dark.  Screw ComEd.
4.  What’s a heater?  If you’re cold, put on a bloody sweater and be happy about it.  Sheesh! 
5.  Air Conditioner?  What’s that do?  I use 250 AC (2 windows down, 50 mph.)  And for the house, a 20" box fan is more then enough to make you feel 15 degrees cooler.  Don’t like it?  Well it’s your house, get naked!
6.  If it’s yellow, let it mellow.  If it’s brown, flush it down!
7.  I don’t kill spiders in my house, I catch them and put them in my flower garden. (it’s a small thing, I admit, but it’s still green!)
8.  I am single handedly loosing the war on ants. (Hey, if I was winning, it wouldn’t be green!)
9.  I plant a tree every year.

There’s slight improvements in the Matrix.

Like my grandmother in law would only buy me a car if it was a toyota. :P

But the Aerio, Vibe, Mazda 3? (might be 5), Aveo, etc are all remakes of the Matrix.  Knock offs.  Even the Charger is.

If you realy wanna be environmentally friendly move to Iceland they are trying to become completely independent from fossil fuels.

Suzuki Aerio            Toyota Matrix

Invoice                            $13,919.00              $14,114.00
Vehicle Class                           Midsize Wagon Midsize Wagon
Engine                                   2.3L 4 Cylinder   1.8L 4 Cylinder
Drive                                     FWD               FWD
Transmission                         5 speed Manual OD  5 speed Manual OD
Fuel Capacity                         13.20 gallons           13.20 gallons
MPG City                           25                       30
MPG Highway                       31                   36

Well, I hope that retains formating…

Basically, while it is correct that the Aerio costs $195 less then the Toyota, what’s the added expense in Gasoline costing you?  The Aerios gets 83% the gas mileage of the Matrix in City driving and 14% the gas mileage on the highway. (Figures from Edmunds, confirmed by Car.com)

Looks like mines the greener vehicle. :P spththt

at some of my apartment buildings i have enrolled in the cities volunteer recycling program. A separate trash service comes and gets a container for plastics,glass,newpaper. I dont personally participate in this, but at least i offer it to tenants who may want to do this.

Prius baby 47.1 mpg currently
Go out of my way to save all animals in my house
Kept the pets I couldn’t find homes for when I see strays
Help the recycling club at my school
Bird Feeders
Try and provide habitat in my backyard
Compost

This is what the Matrix comes with, standard.  There are upgrades available.

Aerodynamic multi-reflector halogen headlamps with Daytime Running Lights (DRL) 
Integrated front fog lamps
Color-keyed door handles, side rocker panels and power outside mirrors
Washer-linked variable intermittent windshield wipers with mist cycle
Intermittent rear window wiper
All-Weather Guard Package
Color-keyed front and rear underbody spoilers
16-in. alloy wheels with P205/55R16 tires
4-way adjustable front seats with fold-flat passenger seat 
Fabric seat and front door trim with integrated armrests and dual front map pockets
Fabric rear door trim
60/40 split fold-down rear bench seat
Driver’s seat vertical height adjuster
Two 12V auxiliary power outlets
115V auxiliary power outlet <===Another feature I love!  Don’t need an adapter for my laptop, just plug it into the dash!!!
Cup holders (two front, two rear)
Cruise control
Power door locks with shift-activated locking feature  <====I love this, all doors unlock when I shift to park, they all lock when I leave park!
Power windows and driver’s auto-down and retained-power features
Heavy-duty rear window defogger
Remote keyless entry system with lock, unlock and hatch-release features
Stepless tilt steering wheel
3-spoke steering wheel
Optitron meters with speedometer, tachometer with LCD odometer, twin tripmeters and outside temperature gauge, coolant temperature and fuel level gauges 
Airbag, seatbelt, low-fuel level, door-ajar, battery, check engine, oil pressure, brake and taillamp bulb failure warning lights, and Direct Tire Pressure Monitor System [6] warning lights (ABS and warning lights on ABS-equipped models)
Oil (or scheduled maintenance) indicator light
Defroster-linked CFC-free air conditioning with air filter
JBL® AM/FM 6-disc in-dash CD changer with seven speakers
Needle-punch carpeting with driver-side footrest
Illuminated entry
Day/night rearview mirror with mounted maplights
Rear cargo track system with eight adjustable tie-down hooks and under-deck storage compartment
Cargo nets (one side, one rear)
Tonneau cover
Driver front airbag and front passenger airbag with Advanced Airbag System
Driver and front passenger front seat-mounted side airbags and front and rear side curtain airbags
Engine immobilizer
Front seatbelt pretensioners with force limiters
3-point rear seatbelts for all positions
Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) with Traction Control (TRAC) and Brake Assist
4-wheel Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Direct Tire Pressure Monitor System
Front and rear energy crumple zones
Driver and front passenger 3-point seatbelts with adjustable shoulder anchors
Automatic/Emergency Locking Retractors (ALR/ELR) for all front and rear passenger seatbelts; Emergency Locking Retractors (ELR) for driver seatbelt
Side-impact door beams
Energy-absorbing steering column
Head-impact protection structure
Child Restraint System (CRS) lower anchors and top tether anchors (LATCH)
Child-protector rear door locks
High-tensile-strength steel body panels

Obviously those arn’t all “features” per se, but Toyota lists them as features anyway.

Well my paid off vehichle gets 28 city but I will get a hybrid when the ole VW gives up the ghost.

I recycle the Aluminum (I’ve cut back my soda to the point I barely use any)
I don’t get a newspaper (read someone else’s.)
Keep the lights off I’m not using.
I homebrew so I re-use my beer bottles as beer bottles.
Use Star San instead of Iodophor.
Don’t take drives for the heck of it. 
Keep the thermostat at take the edge off settings.

Not enough at all really.

A farm is looking pretty good to me these days. Lots of room to get a windmill

http://www.windenergy.com/news/press_skystream_6-27-06.html

grow some things (my own hops for starters.)

-Drive a standard vehicle. 
-Bike/walk a lot (last time I got gas - didn’t even fill up - was late August)
-Recycle
-Use low watt fluorescents
-cloth diapers (seemed unreasonable at first, but it gets simple after a while)

• keep furnace and ac off until i can’t bear it, then turn it as low as possible
• I reuse plastic containers at my grocery, reuse plastic bags/ use canvas bags
  -Covered the windows with plastic (from an old tarp  :wink:) for less heat exchange

@frimmel:

I homebrew so I re-use my beer bottles as beer bottles.

I find Grolsch bottles to be perfect, with their stoppers, even though brown bottles are preferred to green (but the beer isn’t bad, either!)

I go 80 all the time and average in the low 30’s MPG, no real drop from what’s advertised.  (You have to bear in mind the testing is erronious, it’s got design flaws form the 70’s so we’re talking about an 18% difference off the lot from demonstrated and advertised.  You can read about it on Consumer Report’s magazine and online at their webpage, if you wnat to buy a membership.  I’m sure there’s also articles on Google.)

But that power plug is great.  Got me a minifridge and a laptop in the car.

@Jennifer:

But that power plug is great.  Got me a minifridge and a laptop in the car.

LOL @ that with topic in mind…