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Take the green road
Sue Baker explains how drivers can do their bit for the environment – and save money too
We motorists need to be thick–skinned these days; we’re made to feel guilty – and pay dearly – every time we drive our cars.
The only way to assuage our collective conscience is to go green.
Global warming is undeniably happening, whether it’s caused by the profligate actions of mankind, or is a natural phenomenon. But while the jury’s still out, dragging our feet is not an option. We owe it to future generations to act now.
Here are a few things that each of us could consider immediately:
Share your car
As the world’s oil reserves dwindle, 60% of car journeys involve a lone driver. On any given road, there are hundreds of cars, all travelling in the same direction, each with a single person on board.
An internet–based scheme to match drivers doing similar trips has seen a spectacular explosion of interest. More than 251,500 people have signed up to take turns driving as part of 1,160 lift–share projects around the country.
The scheme is free to join and to use, and these are some of the websites worth checking: www.liftshare.com, www.liftsharesolutions.com, and www.carbudi.com.
Another route to greener motoring is to join a car club that gives you shared use of a car on a pay–as–you–go basis.
There are several such schemes around the country, by far the most successful of which is Streetcar.
It has a range of cars and vans that are available to members for hire 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Streetcar has vehicles at more than 180 locations across London and others in Guildford, Brighton, Southampton, Maidstone and Cambridge. Membership costs £49.50 a year, and prices for use of a VW Polo BM start from £3.95 per hour including insurance and the first 30 miles, plus 23p per mile thereafter.
The club’s website, www.streetcar.co.uk, includes a calculator to work out how much running your own car is costing, to compare with its pay–per–drive. And consider simply lift–sharing with neighbours – very convenient for shopping trips.
Drive a hybrid
The logic of a hybrid car is irrefutable: while it’s cruising at speed, surplus energy generated by the engine is used to charge a battery. This in turn is used to power the car for fume–free, low–speed driving in town. Result: pollution is kept away from where it can do the most damage – to air quality in built–up areas.
The catch is that the choice of petrol–electric hybrids available is limited to just three makes of car and a total of five models, all relatively expensive. You can choose between a Toyota Prius, Honda Civic IMA, or one of three Lexus models, the GS450h, RX400h and LS600h.
The cheapest of the hybrids is the Honda, starting from £17,100, with the Prius next at £17,782. More hybrids are on the way. At the Geneva Motor Show in March there was a rush of new concept cars. Even Porsche is to get in on the act. Last year the company announced plans to release a hybrid version of the Cayenne by the end of the decade.
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