ACEEE Names the Thirteen Greenest Vehicles for 2011

Before I get too far, I wanted to thank the new readers who volunteered to help with this project.  It is greatly appreciated.

Today’s post deals with the greenest new cars in the U.S. for 2011, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.  They have recently unveiled their Thirteen Greenest Cars List for 2011 (the list usually consists of twelve, but an error eliminated the current twelfth place and allowed thirteenth to sit in the twelfth spot; ACEEE allowed a tie).  The list includes six new models that pushed off models from last year.

Of the models on the list, three are made by Honda.  Two each are made by Toyota and General Motors.  Nissan, Daimler-Benz (maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart), Ford, Hyundai, BMW/Mini, and Mazda each claimed one spot on the list.

Cars have always been an interest to me, and I have always been fascinated with fuel-efficient and alternative fuel cars.  This list is an excellent resource for what cars are green, and which cars are not. 

Interesting findings from the list:

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• The Honda Civic GX topped the list for the eighth year, beating out the all-electric Nissan Leaf.  This is because ACEEE’s rating system places a larger emphasis on pollution overall, rather than emissions from the vehicle itself.  So, although the Leaf emits nothing from its tailpipe, the generating station that generates the electricity it uses could be very dirty.  This explains the Chevrolet Volt’s relatively low ranking, as it is a plug in hybrid.  Therefore, the Civic was given more of a nod for its clean emissions. 

• The Mazda2 manual was the vehicle accidentally emitted from the list.  It barely edged out the Chevrolet Volt for twelfth place.

• Many of the regular gasoline vehicles on the list are equipped with manual transmissions, as opposed to the more popular automatic transmission.  In fact, the only vehicles on the list equipped with automatic transmissions are the Honda Civic GX, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Insight, and Chevrolet Volt.

• The Volt scored relatively low because of curb weight and lower fuel economy compared to other hybrids on the list.

• The Smart ForTwo lost to the Civic GX and Leaf by only one point.

•  The Chevrolet Cruze Eco and Ford Fiesta SFE are versions of their vehicle that have been suited for better fuel economy than other models.  Therefore, not all Cruzes and Fiestas could be considered as environmentally friendly as these (though they are still relatively green vehicles). 

• The Honda Civic GX is not the regular Civic, but a version not available nationwide that runs on natural gas.  The redesigned 2012 model will be available nationwide.

All this said, here are this year’s Top Thirteen most environmentally friendly vehicles:

1.       Honda Civic GX                                                              Green Score: 54

2.       Nissan Leaf                                                                     Green Score: 54

3.       Smart ForTwo (manual)                                                   Green Score: 53

4.       Toyota Prius                                                                    Green Score: 52

5.       Honda Civic Hybrid                                                         Green Score: 51

6.       Honda Insight                                                                  Green Score: 50

7.       Ford Fiesta SFE (manual)                                                Green Score: 50

8.       Chevrolet Cruze Eco (manual)                                         Green Score: 49

9.       Hyundai Elantra (manual)                                                 Green Score: 49

10.   Mini Cooper (manual)                                                      Green Score: 49

11.   Toyota Yaris (manual)                                                     Green Score: 49

12.   Mazda2 (manual)                                                             Green Score: 48

13.   Chevrolet Volt                                                                  Green Score: 48

The ACEEE also lists cars that are “Greener Choices” on their website, as well as the vehicles that are the greenest in their class.   These lists are available on their website.  They also list the “Least Green” Cars as well.

Source:

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: http://www.aceee.org/press/2011/02/latest-technologies-place-dont-win-years-greenest-vehicl

Autoblog Green: http://green.autoblog.com/2011/02/16/aceee-names-honda-civic-gx-nissan-leaf-greenest-vehicles-of-201/

Kirkland Signature Environmentally Friendly Body Wash

We all use soap when we wash our hands and get in the shower.  Yet, these soaps contain sulfates, which can be very damaging to the environment.  Therefore, for years soaps and body washes have not been very sustainable.  This is where Kirkland Signature’s (Costco) new body wash comes in: it is made entirely of pure plant extracts.  This makes the product overall much more environmentally friendly than other body washes and soaps.  But how does it compare to other soaps?  Read more to find out.

The Test

Overall the body wash worked very well.  It cleaned very well and left a sense of cleanliness afterwards.  One thing I noticed was that it felt much less greasy than soaps with sulfates, an added bonus.  It has a pleasant scent, which adds to its appeal – and the scent is not overwhelming as it is in other soaps.  The added sensibility that it doesn’t contain sulfates, that it isn’t tested on animals, and that it is environmentally friendly is an added bonus to this excellent product, which overall I found to perform just as well as a regular body wash.  Overall, this is one of the best products “green products.”

I did notice some drawbacks.  The cap on the first bottle I used was quick to break, which made using the product very difficult overall.  Other bottles I have used since have not had that problem.  Another problem is the plastic packaging.  Although this is what most body wash products come in, I don’t find it very convincing that a product that is trying to be environmentally friendly comes in a plastic container.  Plastics are biodegradable – they just take hundreds of years to break down and release toxins into the area around them.  As it is plastic number two, it can be recycled in Tri-Cities; just not at the curb (curbside only collects plastic number two milk jugs).  You’ll have to take it to a recycling collection center to recycle, which can be out of the way for many people.  The plastic packaging is thick, and the cap is large, but there is no way to recycle the cap, so you’ll have to put it in the landfill garbage. 

The Verdict

Although it loses points for its packaging, this is an excellent product.  As long as you recycle the bottle it comes in, this can be considered practical sustainability.

The Scores

Sustainability: 7

Practicality: 10

Overall: 8.5

Clayton-Ward Recycling Does Not Accept Styrofoam for Recycling

In a previous post, I reported that Earth 911 stated that Clayton-Ward Recycling in Richland collected Styrofoam for recycling.  Unfortunately, I have found this to be false.  I called Clayton-Ward in Richland, which said that it only accepted plastics one and two.  This is nice, but Styrofoam is plastic number six.  Therefore, I have concluded that there is no place to drop off Styrofoam in the Tri-Cities.

Earth 911 stated that there was also a place in Hermiston that accepted Styrofoam for recycling, although I have not called them to verify whether or not they do.

Curbside Recycling

If you are like me, you try to stay very aware of what can and can’t go in curbside recycling.  However, Kennewick’s recycling program can get tricky and confusing for many reasons.  This makes it very difficult to follow, and easy to put a recyclable in that isn’t collected by Waste Management.

One thing I noticed is that you can only recycle certain types of plastic.  You can’t even recycle all plastics with recycle symbols on them.  Kennewick will only accept plastic water/pop bottles (with the caps removed and put in landfill garbage) and plastic milk jugs.  This is disappointing to me, as there really isn’t a facility in the area to take these recyclable plastics to.  This means that we are forced to waste a lot of plastic.  I hope that they will soon accept these plastics, or a facility will open up here.

Listed below are the recyclables that Kennewick Waste Management will pick up curbside:

• Paper
•    Corrugated cardboard
•    Magazines
•    Office paper
•    Newspaper
•    Paperboard
•    Paper cardboard milk and juice cartons
•    Mail
•   Junk mail
•   Phone books
•  Metals
• Aluminum cans
•    Aluminum foil
•    Steel cans
•    Tin cans
• Glass
• Clear glass
•    Brown glass
•    Green glass
• Plastic
• PET plastic water/pop bottle
• HDPE plastic: milk jugs

  Source: http://www.wm.com/customer-service/residential-recycling-faq.jsp

Where to Recycle Alkaline Batteries

Alkaline batteries no longer present the threat to the environment that they once did.  They no longer contain hazardous compounds, and can therefore be thrown out with landfill garbage.  However, this is neither sustainable nor the best option, and there are better things you can do with your household f batteries when they have run out of charge.  Of course, using rechargeable batteries is the most sustainable option, but unfortunately that is not always an option.  Therefore, recycling has become an excellent alternative to throwing alkaline batteries out with your garbage.  Listed below are places in the Tri-City area that collect alkaline batteries for recycling.

Household Hazardous Waste Facility

1721 Dietrich Road

Pasco

Richland City Landfill

3102 Twin Bridges Road

Richland

Unfortunately, there are not a lot of places to recycle alkaline batteries in our area, and the places that do collect alkaline batteries are located in areas that are very far out of the way. 

I have quite the collection of alkaline batteries to recycle at my house.  Eventually, I plan to take them to one of these facilities, and will report back about how practical it is, and whether or not it is worth the drive out there to recycle the batteries. 

I can only hope that in the future there will be places closer into town and more accessible that will collect batteries to recycle.  Recycling batteries will become a large industry in the future, as we will continue to use our resources to make the batteries.  Also, it will be an excellent way to stop pollution.  A good place for these collection boxes could be at places such as grocery stores – somewhere where everyone eventually has to go and not too far out of the way.  We can only hope that something like that will come to our area soon.

 Source: 

Seattle Public Utilities: http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Recycling/LookupTool/Electronics/Batteries/HouseholdAlkalineBatteries/index.htm

Earth 911: http://search.earth911.com/?what=alkaline+batteries&where=99338&max_distance=25&country=US&province=WA&city=Kennewick&region=Benton&latitude=46.190425049&longitude=-119.254862521&list_filter=all

New vs. Remanufactured Ink Cartridges

As we begin to rely more and more on computers, printer cartridges become more and more important in our everyday lives.  Until recently, printer cartridges were a one-use item, sort of like plastic water bottles.  Now, manufacturers are beginning to offer remanufactured printer cartridges.  I used some a while ago, and here are my thoughts comparing new printer cartridges with the remanufactured models for the same printer.

The Test

Overall performance of the two different cartridges is similar.  There is no noticeable color quality difference between the two cartridges, and both are just as easy to read, with no gaps in either lettering.  The two also printed very smoothly and fit into the cradle correctly.

As for the longevity of the ink cartridges, that is a different story.  The remanufactured model did not print as long as the new model, and overall didn’t have quite as much ink.  The computer also registered the cartridge to be relatively empty of ink, and I had to deal with “Low Ink Level” warnings throughout the life of the cartridge.  This was slightly annoying, but easy to get around.

Another low I noted was how the remanufactured ink cartridge was how it was packaged.  The new cartridge was packaged in a plastic bag, with a thin strip of plastic to keep the ink in the cartridge.  Although this is not very sustainable, it is more so than the packaging of the remanufactured cartridge.  It came in a plastic bag as well, but a thick, plastic case surrounded the cartridge to make sure the ink didn’t leak.  Unfortunately, there was no way for me to reuse it, and because of the area I live in, I could not recycle it at the curb and had to throw it out with my landfill garbage.

Overall, though, the remanufactured ink cartridge held its own against the new cartridge.

The Verdict

Although the remanufactured ink cartridge held up well overall, it really doesn’t offer that much more than a new ink cartridge.  Considering the more wasteful packaging and more frequent depletion of ink levels, remanufactured ink cartridges cannot be considered practical sustainability.

The Scores

·         Sustainability

o   Recycled Ink Cartridges: 5

o   New Ink Cartridges: 4

·         Practicality

o   New Ink Cartridges: 7

o   Recycled Ink Cartridges: 3

·         Overall

o   New Ink Cartridges: 5.5

o   Recycled Ink Cartridges: 4

Sustainable Alternative?

Another alternative to the above options is to refill ink cartridges after you have used all the ink.  I have not yet tested this alternative and will report back when I have finished.