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Learn How Wal-Mart is Greening its Truck Fleet

jplatt — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:00:00 -0400

Wal-Mart loves to go green if it will save the company green. The company has made several recent moves to reduce its environmental footprint while saving costs, and according to a recent Reuters article, Wal-Mart's trucking fleet leeds the way in these efforts.

Here's what they've done so far:

1. Trucks now carry less fuel. This keeps weight down, which makes the trucks more efficient.

2. They're using fuel-efficient tires. You can't go wrong there. (You can read more about fuel-efficient tires here.)

3. Wal-Mart has added controls that allow drivers to turn off cab engines while still keeping refrigeration systems running -- a major energy-saver. (Shorepower's Electrified Parking Spaces are another technology that helps cut down on use of diesel fuel when a vehicle is parked.)

In addition, Wal-Mart is looking to reduce the amount of packaging on its products by 5% over the next five years. Less packaging equals less weight and also means more product can fit in a truck, reducing the number of trucks needed.

All told, Wal-Mart expects these changes to save the company billions of dollars over the next five years alone.

And that, my friends, is a lot of green.

The World's Greenest Garbage Can

jplatt — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:00:00 -0400

Did you know that the average garbage truck gets just 2.8 miles to the gallon of diesel fuel? It's true. In fact, garbage trucks get the worst fuel economy of any type of commercial vehicle.

Why such bad gas mileage? Well, garbage trucks are big, fleets tend to be pretty old, and their drivers have to make stops every few hundred feet while keeping engines running the whole time.

With this in mind, and with fuel prices soaring, it makes sense for municipalities, universities and businesses with large campuses to find ways to cut their garbage collection costs. The BigBelly Solar Compactor can help.

No bigger than any other outdoor garbage receptacle, the BigBelly uses the sun's rays to power an internal compactor which crushes its content, allowing it to hold five times as much as your average garbage can. This means it doesn't need to be emptied as often, which saves fuel costs, cuts labor costs, and reduces a whole lot of greenhouses gases in the process.

The BigBelly Solar Compactor costs $4,000 -- but BigBelly says the device can pay for itself in just a year and a half. And that's not trash-talk.

Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars: Save Gas, Save Money

susan — Sat, 24 May 2008 09:05:20 -0400

Here are 10 cars that might just make driving a not--so-guilty pleasure again. The only way you can get closer to a free ride is to bike. You may be surprised to find that hybrids are not the only winners on this list of the 10 most fuel-efficient cars currently on the market, ranked and tested by Consumer Reports.

Toyota Prius Base (Overall Miles Per Gallon 44)
Toyota Prius Touring (42)
Honda Civic Hybrid (37)
Toyota Camry Hybrid (34)
Toyota Yaris Base (manual) (34)
Honda Fit Sport (manual) (34)
Toyota Yaris Base (33)
Nissan Altima Hybrid (32)
Honda Fit Base (32)
Honda Civic EX (manual) (31)

Is all that not good enough for you?

Want to drive even longer for less?

Then watch out for the extreme hybrid -- a plug-in hybrid SUV that gets 150 miles per gallon – and could be hitting the market before too long. It is being developed by AFS Trinity Power of Bellevue, Wash., which showed off a prototype at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

For more information, check out:

15 Tips For Better Mileage -- Want to Get 70 MPG in Your Toyota Prius?

The Hype About Hypermiling

Two Wheels Are Greener Than Four

Honda Civic GX Tops List of Greenest Cars

Driving Green = Fewer Greenbacks

Five Tips to Find the Cheapest Gas Near You

Record Month For Selling Gas -- Saving Cars Getting Better Than 30 MPG

Learn to Improve Your Car's Gasoline Efficiency

jplatt — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:56:56 -0400

With gas prices climbing higher and higher, it's ever-more important for everyone (individuals and companies) to get the most bang for their buck -- in other words, to get the best gas mileage from their vehicles.

Want a simple way to do that? Try installing the ScanGuage II from Linear Logic. This tiny device plugs into the onboard diagnostic connector in almost any car or truck and instantly starts calculating all kinds of critical data -- including your exact gas mileage. Knowing your MPG at any point in your trip allows you to adapt your driving methods to improve your overall efficiency. Bingo, you'll be using less gas, saving money, and putting fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

ScanGuage II also tracks a lot of other cool information, such as how much fuel you have used and how much time you have been driving. It's only five inches across, making it easy to install just about anywhere in your vehicle.

I first saw tools like this in the dashboards of hybrid cars, but this is the first time I have seen an equivalent device that can be used in any car or truck at any time. ScanGuage costs just $169.95 (including shipping) -- a bargain at half the price if it teaches you to improve your fuel economy and reduce the number of trips you need to take to the pump.