Top ten cheap eco-friendly cars

With the urge for fuel efficient or environmentally friendly cars, there has been a greater consideration given by car companies to build their next electric car which has a very low CO2 emission rate. With all the car companies below is a list of cheaper of those cars.

1: Seat Ibiza, 1.4 TDI 80PS Ecomotive, diesel
CO2 (g/km): 99
Price: £11,000
Seat's probably not the first name you think of when it comes to green cars, but this three-door supermini's both cheap to buy and cheap to run.


2: Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion, 1.4 TDI 80PS
CO2: 99
Price: £11,995
This little diesel has all the solid German build quality you'd expect, plus an incredibly economic engine that'll make the man at the garage a distant stranger.

3: Honda Civic Hybrid 1.4 IMA ES
CO2: 109
Price: £16,300
As the cheapest hybrid in the UK, the Honda Civic Hybrid is a good, small family alternative to the Prius -- so long as you can stomach automatic transmission.

4: Renault Megane Sport Hatch 1.5 dCi 86 Expression 3 door
CO2: 117
Price: £13,000
Like Citroen, Renault's one of the unsung French brands which has been doing a huge amount to cut emissions across its range. This small family car is a particularly economic example.

5: Citroen C3 1.6HDi
CO2: 118
Price: £13,000
The Citroen C3 is an efficient, straightforward car with a big boot and not quite enough legroom at the back.


6: Ford Focus ECOnetic 1.6 TDCi
CO2: 115
Price: £15,800
This is a brand new version of Britain's most popular car. It's incredibly fuel-efficient and, if it's similar to the Ford bioethanol Focus we reviewed, will make for a good reliable drive.

7: Renault New Laguna Hatch dCi 110
CO2: 130
Price: £17,100
As it emits 130g of CO2 per kilometre the Laguna is just on the borderline of being a greener option, and it's also on the pricey side. But it has some of the best green creds you'll get for a car of this size.

8: Skoda Fabia Estate1.4 TDI PD 80PS
CO2: 109
Price: £13,100
No more funny jokes about Skodas. This one is big and clever -- not to mention as cheap and green as estate cars come.

9: Peugot 207 SW, 1.6 HDi
CO2: 119-123
Price: £13,900
Another big but green option. According to Autoexpress it's a little dear, but it has everything you could want in an estate.

10: SMART Fortwo Cabrio
CO2: 113
Price: £10,500
With their heavier frames for safety and structure, it's surprising any open-top cars made this list. But we can fully recommend this Smart, since it emits so little CO2 and only costs mite over £10K.

Source: http://www.smartplanet.com/news/transport/10000902/top-10-cheap-green-cars.htm

How to make compost

1
Choose a site that is handy to your garden and kitchen, yet out of plain sight.
Step
2
You don't need a bin to make compost—a pile of leaves, grass clippings and other yard wastes will do—but a bin keeps the compost contained and looks neater. You can corral compost in a simple wire column made from a 4-foot wide by 8-foot long piece of stiff wire mesh.
Step
3
You can also buy a more permanent bin or build a three-bin compost system made from slatted wood or recycled pallets. Leave the bins open on one side so you can add compost materials and turn the pile easily. Cover the top of the bins with a sheet of plywood if you live in a very rainy climate. A three-bin system allows you to turn the compost from one bin to another and store finished compost until you are ready to use it.
Step
4
The two basic elements that make up compost are green garden debris (grass clippings or old annuals) and brown garden derbis (dry leaves). Green ingredients are high in nitrogen and brown materials are high in carbon. Adding too many greens can make the pile smell bad. Do not add animal waste, meats, oils, dairy, diseased plants, weeds that have gone to seed, or plants treated with pesticides or herbicides to your compost.
Step
5
Compost piles with a balance of one part green to two part brown materials break down fastest. The easiest way to achieve this balance is to add one garden forkful of green material to the pile, top it with two forkfuls of brown material, and mix them together. Continue adding greens and browns until the pile is at least 3 cubic feet (3 ft. x 3 ft. x 3 ft.). Piles of this size heat up quickly and break down faster.
Step
6
Add in a shovelful of finished compost or garden soil to help kick start the microbial activity in your pile.
Step
7
Compost also needs the correct amount of moisture to breakdown. Compost with the right moisture level should feel like a damp, wrung-out sponge. Too much moisture can cause temperatures to fall within the pile (and make it smell). Too little moisture slows down the decomposition rate and keeps the pile from heating up. Check your compost pile's moisture level once a week and adjust it if necessary by adding water to increase moisture or more browns to help dry the pile out.
Step
8
Turn the pile once a week to move material from the outside of the pile in. Turning also keeps the pile from compacting, which reduces airflow and slows down decomposition.
Step
9
You should have finished compost in about two months. You'll know your compost is finished when it no longer heats up and you can't identify any of the original materials. The compost should be dark brown, moist and earthy smelling. Dig finished compost into your garden's soil. You can use partially composted material as mulch.
Step
10
You can also build a very basic, passive compost system by simply piling up leaves, grass clippings and other yard waste into a pile in a secluded corner of your yard. The compost will be ready when the original ingredients are unrecognizable, usually in about 6 to 12 months. Compost at the bottom and middle of the pile typically "finishes" first.

Source: eHow

Environmentally friendly products

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A bright way to cut your power bill

Compact fluorescent light bulbs cost more off the shelf, but they'll save you money and time in the long run, and help the planet. Here's how the math pencils out.

I regularly mention using compact fluorescent lights for the home, but I haven't laid out the entire case for CFLs in one place before. It's time to change that.

Below are five huge reasons why you should switch your home light bulbs to CFLs today. (Even if you already use CFLs, you may want to read this list. There's something on it for you, too.)

For this exercise, I'm going to refer to a six-pack of General Electric 26-watt CFLs, which you can get from Walmart.com for $15.16, giving them a cost of $2.53 a bulb. These bulbs claim 100-watt equivalence, but I actually find their brightness to be between that of a 75-watt and a 100-watt incandescent bulb, so we'll compare them to 75-watt bulbs. For comparison's sake, a four-pack of GE's 75-watt incandescents at Amazon.com is $4.10, or $1.03 a bulb.

1. The bulbs themselves are cheaper.
2. The per-hour cost of energy for CFLs is cheaper.
3. The time involved is less.
4. They cut carbon emissions.
5. You can save $1 on a GE CFL during July 2007.

Article by: The Simple Dollar
For full article

Green cars in line for better lithium-ion batteries

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The lithium-ion battery, already a fixture in personal electronic devices, soon will become the answer to high oil prices and environmental concerns as it bulks up to power rechargeable electric vehicles, government, university and industry panelists predicted Monday.

But although the technology shows great promise, battery makers worldwide still are grappling with high costs, the impact of charging and depletion on battery life, keeping the batteries cool and other issues, according to panelists at the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose.

Tien Duong, who works in emerging battery technology with the U.S. Department of Energy, told the group he believes lithium-ion batteries are ready to start displacing the nickel-metal-hydride batteries now used in many hybrid gas-electric vehicles.

Full Story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25803020/

51 Things We Can Do to Save the Environment

Can one person slow global warming? Actually, yes. You—along with scientists, businesses and governments—can create paths to cut carbon emissions. Here is our guide to some of the planet's best ideas.

1.Turn Food Into Fuel
By Alice Park

Are corn husks better than corn for producing energy? Ethanol is the alternative fuel that could finally wean the U.S. from its expensive oil habit and in turn prevent the millions of tons of carbon emissions that go with it. The Department of Energy has doubled its 2005 commitment to funding research into biofuels—any non-petroleum fuel source, including corn, soybean, switchgrass, municipal waste and (ick) used cooking oil. Already, half of the nearly 11 billion bushels of corn produced each year is turned into ethanol, and most new cars are capable of running on E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gas).

Yet the eco-friendly fuel is beginning to look less chummy of late. Some of the 114 ethanol plants in the U.S. use natural gas and, yes, even coal to run the processors. And ethanol has to be trucked. Existing gas pipelines can't carry it because it corrodes iron. Then there are the economics. Producers depend on federal subsidies, and increasing demand for corn as fuel means the kernels keep getting pricier.

That's why researchers are prospecting for more alternatives, preferably ones that don't rely on food crops or a 51 cents-per-gallon tax break. Municipal waste, wood pulp and leftover grain and corn husks are all quite attractive; they can produce something called cellulosic ethanol, which contains more energy than corn. But they don't give up their bounty easily, so for now they're more expensive than corn-based ethanol to produce. Undeterred, researchers at several cellulosic-ethanol plants are developing innovative enzyme concoctions and heating methods to make the process more economic. Nothing like haste to make something out of waste.

2. Get Blueprints For a Green House
By Laura Locke

Reducing your impact on the earth is not just a question of what you drive but also of what you live in. Residential energy use accounts for 16% of greenhouse-gas emissions. If you begin thinking green at the blueprint stage, however, low-tech, pragmatic techniques will maximize your new home's efficiency. Installing those systems from the ground up is cheaper than retrofitting. "Doing simple things could drastically reduce your energy costs, by 40%," says Oru Bose, a sustainable-design architect in Santa Fe, N.M. For example, control heat, air and moisture leakage by sealing windows and doors. Insulate the garage, attic and basement with natural, nontoxic materials like reclaimed blue jeans. Protect windows from sunrays with large overhangs and double-pane glass. Emphasize natural cross ventilation. "You don't need to have 24th century solutions to solve 18th century problems," Bose says. Next, consider renewable energy sources like solar electric systems, compact wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps to help power your home. When you're ready to get creative, GreenHomeGuide.com will help you find bamboo flooring, cork tiles, and countertops made from recycled wastepaper.

To Read the rest of the article, http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/

How you can create less trash..

# Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted.
# Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is packaging.
# Buy products that you can reuse.
# Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.
# Check reports for products that are easily repaired and have low breakdown rates.
# Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
# Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
# Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.
# Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.
# Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.
# Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.
# Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old newspapers make great packaging material.
# Compost your vegetable scraps.
# Buy used furniture - there is a surplus of it, and it is much cheaper than new furniture.

Source:http://www.seql.org/