Should you simply buy the latest best fuel mileage cars to be environmentally
friendly? Which vehicle is the most environmentally friendly?
To be as green as possible its not just a case of buying the car that uses
the least gas. Building new cars eats up enormous resources, as does subsequent
transportation to dealers. It might take years for even the
best
fuel mileage cars to repay to the environment by way of their better
gas consumption.
To be as environmentally friendly as possible we ideally need to consume
less. This means both driving less and not buying new products as often,
products such as cars. The most environmentally friendly thing to do is
not own a car at all, and use public transport, a bike, or walk instead.
Many of the journeys driven by car could be replaced by another method of
transport, especially when living in a large city.
If you do need your own vehicle you could opt for a scooter instead of a
car. Scooters uses less resources to build and are far more fuel-efficient
than even the best fuel mileage cars. Scooters are becoming more and more
popular in congested cities as a quicker, cheaper and fashionable way of
travelling. Their main drawback is safety, and its a big drawback. You have
no protection in a crash except for your helmet and leathers. Not the best
if you come up against a truck.
Of course there are lots of journeys which can only be done in a car, but
you don't always need to own a car yourself to do them. In cities you can
participate in car share schemes either with friends or through a business.
Car share businesses are growing fast the world over. They offer the benefits
of car ownership through the use of cars located in local "pods".
Often car share businesses have the best fuel mileage cars to save on their
costs, which is great news for the environment. By using a car share scheme
you save thousands of dollars over owning your own car, plus the planet
benefits enormously since 100 people can share 10 cars instead of owning
1 car per person. Usually you'll pay by the hour to use a vehicle and you
don't pay for fuel.
If you wish to purchase your own car its most likely better for the environment
to buy a fuel-efficient used car rather than one of the brand new best fuel
mileage cars. A used car that is 20% less economical than a new car will
still probably be better for the planet because of the resources necessary
to build a new car. You can buy a five year old vehicle that has very respectable
fuel consumption.
The worst thing you can do for planet Earth is buy a new car every 2 years
even if it is the latest fuel-efficient hybrid. If you do want a new car
at least try to keep it for between 5 and 10 years. Modern cars will be
reliable over this time period so there's no need to keep buying new ones.
We should stop thinking about cars as fashion accessories, to be swapped
and changed regularly. They hurt the environment too much for this. Manufacturers
don't help here. They change their designs regularly and advertise them
as the next cool thing you need to have.
To make the situation more complicated car makers are now telling us about
their green credentials by claiming the use of renewable power or carbon
offsetting during the production of their cars. Although this is a step
forward, beware of their statements. It would be almost impossible for car
makers to produce cars while having absolutely no environmental impact,
and if they could there would be no profit left for them.
The question of whether the most economical cars are also the most environmentally
friendly is not an easy one to answer. If you do want to buy a brand new
vehicle, make it one of the best fuel mileage cars and try to keep it for
as long as you can.