Entry bubble Fuel Economy Estimates for 2010 Vehicles

By: Jake | October 05, 2009 | Category: Money

Gasoline pumpWe have talked a lot about the Car Allowance Rebate System, more popularly known as the "Cash for Clunkers" program but we really haven't talked about fuel economy since Colleen posted about President Obama's proposal for stricter fuel economy standards.

Today, cars must average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks must average 23.1 miles per gallon. A couple of weeks ago, the President formally proposed that manufacturers increase fuel economy 5 percent each year, and in 2016 new cars and trucks would have to achieve an average rating of 35.5 miles per gallon. The new national standard aims at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse-gas pollution. As Colleen mentioned in her original post, there are many pros and cons to this plan.

Fueleconomy.gov just released the mileage estimates for 2010 vehicles. I thought it would be interesting for us to see if the average gas mileage has gone up for cars since 2009. The best overall vehicle last year was the Toyota Prius with an average of 46 overall miles per gallon. The 2010 Toyota Prius averages 50 overall miles per gallon.

My 2009 Toyota Matrix has the same overall miles per gallon for 2010. Does the 2010 version of your car get more miles per gallon overall than your current model?

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Entry bubble Earth Day and Going Green

By: Colleen | April 22, 2009 | Category: Home and Family

Today is the 39th observance of Earth Day.earthd ay

We all know that "going green" is on everyone's agenda today. This includes the makers of plastic bags, who have announced by 2015, plastic bags will be made with 40% recycled content. Doing this is estimated to save 463 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and 300 million pounds of waste per year.

While this is a helpful step, some cities have gone as far as outlawing the bags altogether, and some retailers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have done away with them.

The earthday.gov website has a lot of great tips for living an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Doing simple things like turning off the water while brushing your teeth can make a big difference.

Do you bring your own reusable grocery bags to the store instead of using plastic? What other "green" tactics do you use daily?

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   earth_day   going_green   greenhouse_gas   plastic_bags   waste