Gas Guzzlers

[janiepopps]

Well, I am in full agreement with the ad for someone who drives a car like that and the roughest bit of track they'll see all day are speed bumps outside a school.
Im an eco warrier in as much as I belong to Greenpeace & BCUK because I believe we are killing the one thing we depend on and it saddens me.
I do such small things to try to make a difference, recycling, composting, growing instead of buying plastic food, picking up other peoples litter and handing it back to them (try it - its hilarious!), canooeing not jetskiing, trying to reuse & adapt what I already have before having to buy new, avoiding plastic carrier bags like the plague, and making people smile to make it a happier place to be

But Im by no means perfect - I drive a diesel car 200+ miles a week to get to work. I understand its difficult but I guess so long as we all do a bit its got to better than the alternative.

I truly look forward to the day when my work life and my home life become one

BTW - what was todays currency - lamb, beef, chicken...?

j

 

[JonnyP]

Well, I am in full agreement with the ad for someone who drives a car like that and the roughest bit of track they'll see all day are speed bumps outside a school.
Im an eco warrier in as much as I belong to Greenpeace & BCUK because I believe we are killing the one thing we depend on and it saddens me.
I do such small things to try to make a difference, recycling, composting, growing instead of buying plastic food, picking up other peoples litter and handing it back to them (try it - its hilarious!), canooeing not jetskiing, trying to reuse & adapt what I already have before having to buy new, avoiding plastic carrier bags like the plague, and making people smile to make it a happier place to be

But Im by no means perfect - I drive a diesel car 200+ miles a week to get to work. I understand its difficult but I guess so long as we all do a bit its got to better than the alternative.

I truly look forward to the day when my work life and my home life become one

BTW - what was todays currency - lamb, beef, chicken...?

j

Penny's actually, lol........I think you have your head screwed on right Janie and if everybody did ther bit, it would be a better world for sure.......
I was in Montana, visiting my parents a few years ago and this guy came to visit, it was very cold outside and he left his car running to keep it warm, he stayed all evening with his V8 burbling away outside........
Saying that, I traveled by airplane to get there, so maybe I am the biggest culprit ????

 

[Phil-N]

I love my landy !!
{and it's silver}

 

[pierre girard]

3/4 or 5/8 ton extended cab 4X4 pickups, usually Fords, are "the thing" with the guys I work with. I have to drive quite a ways to work, living back in the brush, and try for cars with good mileage.

One of my co-workers moved out a ways recently, and found he couldn't afford to keep fuel in his truck. He bought a 1990 Honda Civic, and has fallen in love with it. He gets 48 miles to the gallon with it.

He's got me convinced. My current car gets about 35 miles to the gallon. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an old Honda Civic.

 

[Tengu]

Im my experience of them, greenpiece members dont own 4x4s...they borrow them.

and I couldnt drive a honda, i live in honda territory.....

One vehicle i reccomend wholeheartedly for economy and practicality is that Japanese quissential, the lunchbox van.

dont believe what you hear about engine inaccessabily, take the seats out and its there. (try a new car for awkward engines....)

 

[havingagiraffe]

If your mini tried to tow my trailer, it would pull its chassis off or bury itself. Like the photo btw...........

The plate on the towbar said the Mini was good for a 500kg braked trailer. It was attatched to rear valance with two M8 bolts, and to the pan under the seat with another four M8s. That was all.... I think the shell would have sheared if I tried to pull the dolly with a car on it... The dolly in the photo weighed about 300kg unladen and was about as big as anyone sensible would tow with a car weighing less than 600kg.

 

[havingagiraffe]

The key to this is "well maintained". Because the bottom line is MPG. If the car started life at 30MPG and over the years, that has dropped to 15mpg, then the answer is no, ditch it and get a new car. The carbon output per ton of steel and aluminium is pretty constant, regardless of where the steel is smelted. It's pretty easy to estimate the amount of CO2 produced in manufacture, by knowing the weight of constituent materials. So basically we can fairly accurately work out how much CO2 is produced when making a given model of car.

On balance, an old car with a low MPG doing 12,000 miles a year, puts out more carbon than an economical car, even if you bought a brand new economical car every 2 or 3 years.

Obviously, if the old car is very well maintained and it's just as economical as it's modern day counterparts, then that is a different story - but how many 1976 series landrovers have the same MPG as a 2006 defender? If the 2006 defender is significantly more economical, then you'd be more environmentally friendly by buying the newer vehicle.

If your 20 year old landy does 30mpg, there is no real eco-reason to upgrade. But if it does 12mpg, there is every reason to trade it in.

Thanks for the interesting information. Are there any figures on whole life environmental impact? For example, a Honda XL125 uses the same amount of raw materials as a Chinese XL125 copy, and does roughly the same mpg. However, it has a longer life expectancy so it should be better for the planet in the long term. The Japanese factory probably has cleaner emmissions than the Chinese factory, but on the other hand the Chinese workers probably cycle to work rather than driving or using the train.

Environmentalism's a tricky one...

 

[havingagiraffe]

I love my landy !!
{and it's silver}

I love mine too... even if a Transit would be better 99% of the time...

 

[swyn]

Just a thought that PG has reminded me of. When I had to travel quite a number of miles for my work. I found that if I owned a vehicle that did less than 25 MPG I could not afford to run it as I would have to sacrifice other parts of my living to pay for this consumption.

PS Eggs are a good currency here.

 

[EdS]

how much damage does get rainbow Warrior stuck on a coral reef do?

 

[Tengu]

None at all if the spindoctors do their job right....

 

[bogflogger]

At least Greenpeace are doing something a bit more constructive than just "Mouthing Off" on a supposedly, enviromentally caring forum.

 

[EdS]

problem with Greenpeace these days is a mixture of bad/sloppy science and knee jerk swipping at easy targets.

I agree that there is no real need for ANY big car 2x4, 4x4 or 6x6 in town. They should have a go at old tatty cars (a 2CV pumps out as much as some 4x4s) and excessively large luxuary cars.

End on rant.

Video is OK - but it carries on the myth that only 4x4 are polluting.

 

[Fluxus]

problem with Greenpeace these days is a mixture of bad/sloppy science and knee jerk swipping at easy targets.

can you give us some examples EdS?

 

[EdS]

well you could start with the Brent Spar cock up.

Or the fact that my Land Rover 90 is smaller and does more MPG than the car some of the people on the Greenpeace stand as Glastonbury last year (those on the anti 4x4 bit) travelled up in.

- mine does get use off road as it is meant to be, plus I have an Astra as a "sensilbe" car.

 

[Andy]

You can't put all 4x4 in the same box
our disco did the same MPG as our current car (merc) round town. Of course both are quite large but then my parents use 7 seats, the merc is better on a run but I wonder if the disco would be better when towing a caravan.
Also having spoken to someone who spent a lot of time working in A&E I'm not sure if the big 4x4 are any worse to be hit by.

Some 4x4 may not slow down so quickly though and may not handle so well round corners, but this again is specific to each car

I wonder how many people could car share but don't

 

[bogflogger]

Judging by the thousands of cars stuck in "Gridlock" that I filtered past daily as a Motorbike Courier, I would say that at least 90% of cars had only one occupant.
Furthermore, the more upmarket the car, the more likely this was.

 

[Fluxus]

This thread got me googling and I found this link you might like / hate!
http://www.stopurban4x4s.org.uk/reasons.htm

Flux

 

[Klenchblaize]

What car should a member of Amnesty International drive?

I’m sorry, but for every person who genuinely feels that Landrover owners are serious obstacle to a healthy planet, there are another 10 who use this debate simply to further perpetuate the class war. Until recently it was that bloke sitting atop a 17 hands-high hunter dressed in red – now it is the in-town 4X4 driver who is seen to epitomise the excesses of capitalism and the so-called "new rich".

As soon as Mayor “I’ve Got My Head So Far Up My Trotskyite A___” Livingston chirped up I just new I was on the right track!

Cheers

 

[BorderReiver]

What car should a member of Amnesty International drive?


Cheers

Sorry,what have Amnesty International got to do with cars?