Bridget's Green Living: Transportation

Showing posts with label Transportation. Show all posts

Friday, July 26, 2013

Review - Ford C-MAX hybrid: love, love, love

Ford C-Max Hybrid - review of my test drive

The Ford C-MAX hybrid is efficient and fun to drive.

A couple of months ago I was given a Ford C-MAX hybrid car to test drive for two weeks. I have never been into cars but the idea of a hybrid vehicle appealed to me so I was excited for the opportunity. Cars still don’t thrill be but my two weeks with the Ford C-MAX sure did.

It was my first experience with a hybrid so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had some assumptions: low fuel consumption, lower CO2 emissions and many have self-charging batteries which enhances efficiency too. You’re going to pay a little more for a hybrid vehicle (in some cases a lot more, depending on the make and model) but you’re going to save money on gas and you’ll pollute less.

But there was more that impressed me about the potential of hybrid vehicles.

Greening your ride - more eco-friendly transportation

My husband is a huge fan of the Comex. Aside from the fact that it keeps us a one-car family he gets to relax and read his book on the way to the office. The added bonus, it keeps our family`s carbon footprint low.

Transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and among all modes of transportation cars are the worst offenders. According to Saint John Transit, a single public bus takes 40 vehicles off the road during rush hour, reducing air pollutants by nine tones a year.

Taking your car off the road as often as possible has other benefits too. Think of what you’d save on gas, insurance and parking expenses.

Tips: cellphone safety

-Buy a low-radiation phone. Look up your phone, or search for a new phone, in this handy guide. (Check under your battery for the model number.)

-Use a headset or speaker. A headset emits much less radiation than your phone and using speaker phone mode keeps that radiation away from your head.

-Less radiation is emitted when you're texting compared to talking, and texting keeps the radiation away from your head.

-Stay off the phone if you don’t have a strong signal. Your phone will emit even more radiation when it’s working hard to get the signal to the tower.

-Limit children’s phone use. Young children’s brains absorb twice the cell phone radiation as an adult’s.

Tips: Steer clear of bottled water

Fill water bottles at home before you head out on a road trip. Even if you’re just out and about for the afternoon.
Make sure you have enough bottles for everyone in your family (and maybe a couple of extras).
Bring an empty bottle with you when you travel. Fill it from the bathroom tap in your hotel room (so you’re not buying the expensive bottle of water in the room and can steer clear of plastic.)
Buy a carbon filter for your kitchen tap if you don’t like the taste of your tap water. Or buy a filter jug to keep in your fridge.
At restaurants ask for tap water if they offer bottled water.

Tips: Packing eco-friendly lunches:

- Reduce (or eliminate) prepackaged foods.

- Pack food in reusable containers.

- Pack stainless-steel spoons and forks. (Plastic utensils can’t be recycled).

- Use stainless steel water bottles.

- Only use plastics with 1, 2, 4 or 5 on them (inside the recycling symbol). These are food-safe numbers & recyclable.

- Don’t put food items in any containers marked #7. (It contains Bisphenol A, a hormone disruptor banned from baby bottles.)

- Don’t heat food in plastic containers, no matter what number is stamped on it.

- Reuse plastic sandwich bags & then recycle them.

- Better yet, use plastic containers and fabric snack bags instead.