carbon offsets

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Toyota Engineers Carbon-Offset Flowers

November 18, 2009 in Biz News, Hybrids, emissions by kristen | No comments

I’m not sure if this is science at its best or a bit creepy: Toyota has created two new species of flower to offset the carbon emissions at its Prius factory in Japan. And that’s not even counting the grass. Or the fact that they planted the flowers in a sunset pattern.

According to Popular Science:

  • The Toyota version of cherry sage absorbs greenhouse gases through its leaves
  • The Toyota version of gardenia acts as a humidifier to cool the factory grounds and reduce the need for a/c
  • The Toyota grass, which used to need mowing three times a year, now only needs a trim once a year

Is Toyota harnessing the power of science for good or evil? Grow your opinions in the comments.

Car Rental Site Offsets Carbon Emissions

October 16, 2008 in Consumer News by kristen | 1 comment

New web site VroomVroomVroom.com (I’ll just call it Vroom from here on out) aggregates car rentals into one-stop online renting. Enter your travel dates and destination, and Vroom will find you the best rental deal. The difference is, the company will pay to neutralize the carbon spewed into the air by your rental car.

Vroom has teamed with CarbonNeutral to accomplish its green goals. They figure one gallon of gas puts out about 20 pounds of CO2. They calculate distance driven and the fuel efficiency of the rental car to determine how much they need to pay for offsets.

Vroom doesn’t specialize in finding hybrids to rent or low-mpg cars. It’s just a portal for comparison shopping with Avis, Hertz, Alamo, Budget, and the rest of the big rental guys. Tracking down a rentable Prius is up to you, but this site could help you find a good price or ease the guilt if all you can find to rent is a gas-guzzling, full-sized sedan or smiliar.