Earth, Wind & Power Blogazine

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid a Winner

In response to the increased demand for eco-friendly transportation, Earth, Wind & Power Media hosted its 2^nd annual EARTH, WIND & POWER Awards in Los Angeles. There, the Most Environmentally Progressive Car of the Year was announced.

The mission of the EWP Awards is to recognize vehicles driven by a power source that helps reduce global warming, are conducive to promoting a cleaner environment, and support the mission to achieve energy independence through alternative sources.

Great progress is being made by automakers in the environmental arena by reducing the energy they consume through the use of greener power supplies, thereby producing more fuel efficient vehicles and upgrading to cleaner power sources such as hybrids, electric, flex-fueland ethanol. The EWP Awards honor vehicles making this progress.

With global warming and concerns about dependence of foreign oil becoming more mainstream today, more and more people are turning to fuel-efficient or alternative fuel vehicles,” said Courtney Caldwell, ICOTY creator and producer. “It’s become of vital interest to consumers, automakers, and the future of our planet to produce vehicles that are compatible with our environment.”

While environmentally friendly vehicles contribute significantly to returning the planet to its organic state, it’s important to note that cars alone are not the main cause of global warming. There are many causes for greenhouse emissions from commercial buildings to individual consumption. “It's wonderful to see the rapid progress automakers are making with the development of alternative power sources that will not only protect the planet but will also improve the quality of our lives.”

Most Environmentally Progressive Car of the Year

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Editors Note: During a recent visit to Rhode Island I had the chance to request any press vehicle for my week long stay. I requested the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid because of the way it handles and its gorgeous styling. It gave me great pride driving it around the state not only because of its stellar performance and fuel efficient offering but also because it was an award winning vehicle that has won numerous awards from many highly respected automotive magazines as one of the most earth friendly cars on the planet this year. Read more about it in this review written by John Heilig.

 For more information on earth friendly cars and products, visit RTM's Planet Driven section.

 

Consumerism and the Hierarchy of the Three R's

By Sara Hoffman
Just like the three R's hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle), I've always seen a hierarchy in consumerism. When making purchases, the items in question tend fall onto one of three levels: necessary, convenient, or downright extravagant. The majority of things people buy on a regular basis fall into the convenient category - they are the things we don't need, but which improve quality of life.

Razors, the stereotypical hippie would argue (with a display of female armpit hair) are simply part of the convenience factor, right along with take-out containers and pre-cooked dinners. Most of us can agree that jetskis and expensive bottles of wine are extravagant and wasteful purchases, even though they are fun to have. Clean running water, food and good medical care are necessary for life to be sustained. All the items in each of the levels can be made more environmentally-friendly, but will remain either necessary, convenient, or extravagant.

That's why reuse is so powerful! Whether you get your old, broken-down jetski fixed up, pick up vintage fashions at a resale shop, or use that milk jug you're done with to water flowers, you don't have to worry about finding a recycling facility. Between buying something new that's labeled eco-friendly or just reusing what you already have (or can scrounge up), reuse always wins.

That's why certain recycling programs are often more inefficient than individuals simply reusing. Blogger Shiba of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle has an interesting standpoint on the recycling of newspapers:

“Placing recycling bins in train stations may reduce the amount of newspapers being littered, mainly the free London papers, but I don’t think it will reduce the amount of paper being used in total, if anything it will increase it ... A newspaper is one of those products that can be reused numerous amount of times, so why place a bin which is going to encourage commuters to dispose their paper rather than leaving it on the seat for someone else to read? Seeing as we all do pick up newspapers on tubes, trains, trams and busses, I think it’s an unintelligent step to take.”

For more information like this, see RTM's Earth Tones section.

Subscribe to Earth, Wind & Power Blog Become a Facebook Fan