Action #1: Buy a low emission, fuel efficient car
Choosing which car to buy is one of the most important environmental decisions that you will ever make. It is a choice that you will make only a handful of times in your life but it will impact the environment every day that you drive it in the years to come.
SO WHAT KIND OF CAR SHOULD I BUY?
Ultimately, you have to make a decision that combines your values with your specific needs and budget. Consider taking one or more of the following three factors into account when looking for a car: (1) fuel efficiency, (2) tailpipe emissions, and (3) reliability.
(1) Fuel Efficiency
It is important to drive the most fuel efficient car that meets your needs. As you drive, your tailpipe spews out carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, and nitrous oxides, which cause global wqrming and acid rain. The less gasoline your cars needs: the less petroleum needs to be pumped out of the ground, the less gasoline needs to be refined, and the less pollutants are generated by your engine (and it saves you a lot of money). Gas mileage largely correlates with the size of a vehicle. Subcompacts and compacts always get better gas mileage than sport utility vehicles and minivans. If you do choose a larger vehicle make sure that you get the model with the best fuel efficiency in its class because each 0.1mpg improvement in the U.S. car fleet saves 12 million gallons of gas annually. Click here to compare models' fuel efficiency!
CAR MODELS THAT GET 30+ MPG
Toyota: Corolla*, Celica, Echo, Paseo, Prius, Tercel
Honda: Civic*, Insight
Nissan: Sentra/200SX
Suburu: ImprezaDodge/Plymouth: Neon
Mazda: Protégé
Mercury: Tracer
Ford: Escort, Focus
Volkswagen: Beetle, Golf, Jetta
Suzuki: Esteem, Swift
Hyundai: Accent
Daewoo: LanosChevrolet: Metro, Prizm*
Saturn: SC, SL, SW
Mitsubishi: Mirage* = especially reliable models
Until recently, the only choice consumers had to lower emissions was to buy a car with better fuel efficiency, but now many cars have cleaner burning engines. Look under the hood of newer vehicles to see which of the following labels they carry.
Emissions Standards Labels
BEST
ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle)
SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle)
ULEV (Ultra Low Emission Vehicle)
LEV (Low Emission Vehicle)
TLEV (Transitional Low Emission Vehicle)
Tier 1 (the minimum standard for all cars)
WORST
Resources:
Aceee's Green Book : The Environmental Guide to Cars and Trucks
by John Decicco (Editor), Jim Kliesch, Martin Thomas
Put out by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, this book gives a "green" rating from 1-100 for every new model car based on emissions and fuel economy. It includes listings for alternative fuel cars as well.For Californians see the CARB's green car buying guide.
The more reliable you car is: the lower your repair bills will be, the less broken car parts get thrown in the dump, and the longer your car stays on the road--meaning less resources used in the production process.
Resources:
Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide 2000
Consumer Reports New Car Buying Guide 2000 by Consumer Reports
These books give the highest quality information available on what you should know to purchase a car that meets your exact needs. Best known for their reliability ratings for every model of car by year.
The internal combustion engine is a technological dinosaur. It is inefficient, highly-polluting, and loud. It will still be around long enough for you to say your farewells, but there are now many more environmentally-friendly technologies that are being used to power automobiles. Find out more about greener automobile technologies including: electric, hybrid electric, compressed natural gas, and fuel cell from the Union of Concerned Scientists.