Shrink your footprint and Fight Hunger in the LBK this week

[Mega-Minipost]

It's that time of year again - Citibus and the South Plains Food Bank are offering up free rides (for a tiny food donation) thru December 5:

Find Your Citibus Routes here

 

So you can help people to eat, have a low-carbon commute, and save some moolah! Could life be better?

 

May we continue to find ways to serve one another while working to make life better for all!

 

 A few more MH posts that feature Lubbock Citibus: 

 

Personal Carbon Reduction: Electric Car Very Basic Orientation

 

Low-Hanging Eco-Friendly Fruit 5: Getting Around (Plus Climate Change!)

 

Low-Hanging Eco-Friendly Fruit 5: Getting Around (Plus Climate Change!)

[Without getting too political, this issue, more and more, is in OUR hands. If it's going to happen in the US, it will be we, the people, who make it happen.]

A few weeks ago, about 9 pm on a Wednesday night I was walking up the sidewalk to my house (in the dark) and decided to check on the tomato plants that had just exploded in the last few months. It was very dark outside, but I was comfortably wearing a short-sleeved shirt. I shined my relatively-smartphone-flashlight on the plants and found several new green tomatoes.

Green Tomatoes (in the dark)

So I headed to the porch and saw a tiny, newborn gecko scurry across my path. To recap - mid-November, short sleeves, new tomatoes, newborn tiny reptile. I realize that I live in a place known for crazy weather, but steadily warmer has become the new norm. And the new norm is happening a lot faster than most climate scientists had predicted. The climate is changing quickly and we are responsible for making it happen.

Temperature Rise Graph - thanks, Nova!

We are throwing more and more carbon into our atmosphere and we are taking away the natural buffers that have protected us in the past. It's a bad, bad combo.

So, what's a Mesquite Hugger to do?

1. Find ways to stop releasing more carbon (by reducing our consumption of gasoline, diesel, coal, and natural gas.)
2. Strongly encourage others to find ways to stop releasing more carbon. Stat!
3. Pursue ways to restore some natural buffers (like composting and restoring native plant life to barren areas

So, let's look at getting around.

Here at Mesquite Hugger, we love tiptoeing around on the smallest carbon footprint possible. Lubbock, however, is a place that does not always make it easy. So, I am a big fan of walking, of biking, of e-biking, and electric cars. I am also fond of Citibus - our local public transportation.

[OK, I'm back. My brain just daydreamed off to a place where my tiny garage had a nice pair of hiking boots, a commuter bike, an electric cargo bike, and a Citicar parked happily together.]

From this Treehugger article

So, dear reader, here is what I will ask of you:

• Please analyze each trip you are about to take and choose the least harmful mode of travel available.
• Please analyze all of your trips collectively. See which ones are unnecessary. See which ones can be combined or changed.
• See if it's time to find more efficient methods of travel.

Riding the Bike

I write a lot about bicycles. I write too much about bicycles, but there's a big reason for it - bicycles (and electric bicycles) are some of the least damaging vehicles on the planet for short trips. And most of us take a lot of very short trips. Add in the fun factor, the super low cost, and the health benefits, and the bike becomes a bit of a miracle machine.

Taking the Bus

A bus traveling by itself is not a very efficient vehicle. It's large, heavy, and cumbersome, but the math changes when you put people inside the bus. The more people you haul, the more efficient the bus becomes in terms of carbon released per person, especially when compared with the carbon release of that many people riding solo in cars. If you'd like to try it out in Lubbock and fight hunger, this week is the week to do it:

Learn more about Lubbock's Citibus here

Carpooling

Not many things are sadder for the eco-conscious than the number of single-occupant cars on the road. But here, that single occupant vehicle is deeply ingrained in the culture. The next time you are near a busy intersection, do a little survey - how many cars around you have only one person in them? (We won't even jump into how inefficient each of those vehicles is.) If you have co-workers or neighbors who can share a ride, you can divide your carbon footprint by the number of people in the car. As much as I am not a fan of big SUVs, I have to admit that four people riding in an SUV is more efficient than four people riding in four sedans. (But four people in one sedan makes even less pollution.)

Electric Cars (and Plug-in Hybrids)

I spend too much time talking about electric cars too, but for a culture so deeply addicted to the car, they make a lot of sense (and cents). The advantages can be huge. Imagine cutting your fuel costs by about 75% and cutting your maintenance costs by about 75% too. Imagine not having to go to the gas station and not being worried about the cost of gas going up. Imagine driving in a vehicle that does not promote asthma, lung disease, or cancer. Imagine a vehicle fueled by locally produced energy. No, a fully electric car won't cover each driver's needs, but it will cover most drivers' needs. And a plug-in-hybrid will cover most of the rest. (And it's not hard at all to find a late-model, low-mileage electric for around $10,000.) They make an excellent second car.

Trains, we don't have no stinking passenger trains around here.

Gasoline/Diesel Cars and Trucks

These are by far the most dominant form of local transportation, and the most damaging. If you do find yourself stuck in these, please do what you can to limit your pollution:

• Keep your vehicle in good tune and keep the tires at maximum inflation.
• Do your best to stop idling. Skip the drive-thru and go in.
• Carpool.
• Plan efficient routes for your travels.
• For multi-car households, drive the most efficient car in your driveway as much as possible.
• Slow down.

All of these things collectively can lighten your eco-load.

Regardless of what you drive, strive to be courteous to others, There's enough stress and frustration out there - please don't add to it with the way you get around. And please, watch out for that dorky blogger on the bike!

May you tread lightly and may we all be better for it.

Personal Carbon Reduction: Electric Car Very Basic Orientation

I rode to work in a diesel hybrid this morning. And it was a pretty luxurious ride (in comparison with the bicycle I rode Monday-Wednesday). At this point, you are probably thinking to yourself Where did the Mesquite Hugger come up with a diesel hybrid? Well, it's not mine. It belongs to Citibus. And it's a beast! But hey, how many of you can say you rode in a diesel hybrid lately? Or any kind of hybrid lately? How much does the average person even know about hybrids or other big-battery assisted cars? Let's talk about these cars.

This morning's chariot

 

(If you know all about this stuff, just move along. I just meet a lot of people who have not yet learned the differences and express surprise when you mention the difference between a Volt and a Leaf.)

Let's start with the simplest - the battery-electric vehicle.

 

The BEV is the simple one here. If you crave simplicity, this is the car for you. These cars require extremely low maintenance because there are so few moving parts. They are also the greenest and most efficient of the bunch. They also keep you out of gas stations - you can fill up at home.

 

Many detractors make noise about getting power from dirty coal-powered utility companies (which is a legitimate complaint to a very small degree) but two things make this option much greener than most anything else. First, the pollution from extracting, transporting, and burning coal is still less than the same process for extracting, transporting, distributing, and dispensing of petroleum products like gas and diesel. Second, we are seeing impressive growth in the amount of renewable energy being offered by utility companies. As the electric power being offered gets cleaner, so does the environmental friendliness of your vehicle.

 

If that's not good enough for you, however, there is another option that can make your BEV extremely clean - go solar at home. If you combine home solar power with an electric car, you will have an extremely low carbon footprint (and a much better return on both investments.)

 

The weakness of the BEV comes in two parts: range and charge time. You need to do a little math and answer a few questions before you commit to a BEV. How many miles do you plan to drive per day? How often do you take road trips? BEV's are especially good for two-car families. A friend and his wife just traded in an SUV on a Nissan Leaf. They have found an overall savings of $600 per month when they factor in fuel, payments, and insurance; and his wife has found the Leaf to be a much more enjoyable drive. Do the math and see how it works out for you.

 

By the way, battery life (and replacement cost) has been a big worry for early BEV buyers, but that is turning out to be much less of an issue than was feared.

 

Common and (somewhat) readily available BEVs are the Nissan Leaf, the Kia Soul EV, the BMW i3, all Teslas, and the Mitsubishi MiEV.

 

Others that are less readily available include the Fiat 500e, the Ford Focus EV, and the Chevrolet Spark EV. These cars have only been offered in restricted numbers and places and are often referred to as compliance cars.

 

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Next, the Hybrid. Environmentally speaking, the hybrid is a big step up from conventional gas-motored cars. And the same is true for their efficiency. Many hybrid models consistently maintain average fuel economy in the mid-40's (mpg). The Toyota Prius regularly delivers averages in the 50's.

 

 

There are many models of hybrid out there. Be sure to do a little research before buying one - not all hybrids are created equal. Be sure to learn the difference between a serial hybrid and a parallel hybrid. (I am a bigger fan of the serial models.)  My wife really wants the Kia Optima Hybrid. I keep wishing that Toyota would create a small hybrid pickup or that Ford would send me a C-Max for Christmas.

 

Some of the more common hybrids out there include the Toyotas - three Priuses, the Camry, the Highlander, and the Avalon; the Hondas - Accords, Civics, CR-Z's, and Insights; the Ford Fusion and C-Max; the Kia Optima; and the Hyundai Sonata. BMW and Lexus also offer hybrid models.

 

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The PHEV: it's complicated, but probably worth it.

 

So you can't decide between the BEV and the hybrid? You should probably check this category out. Ideally I would like for our household to have a BEV and a PHEV.

 

 

Essentially, the PHEV acts as a BEV for a certain distance and then turns into a hybrid when you travel beyond the battery-only range. For instance, if your PHEV has a battery-only range of 40 miles but you take a trip of 60 miles, at the forty-mile mark your gas engine will kick on and keep you going until you reach your destination (or run out of gas).

 

There are lots of accounts out there of PHEV owners who end up driving their cars for months at a time without filling up. Your results may vary.

 

The most commonly seen PHEV in my part of the world is the Chevy Volt. The Volt has very high customer satisfaction and reliability ratings. It also offers much more impressive battery-only range than most competitors. There seems to be news of more PHEV's hitting the market all the time. After the Volt, Fords and Mitsubishis seem to be the more common ones. The BMW i3 can also become a PHEV if you order it with the optional range-extending engine. Porsche and BMW also offer some higher-end PHEV's.

 

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I hope this helps. Which one is right for you? Which one would you enjoy the most? What would your dream ride(s) be? May the answers come to you and be the right ones. As for me, I may have found my dream ride:

 

 

PS. Did anyone notice that I made it all the way through that article without mentioning my desire for a Citicar?

 

Living the dream!