It’s possible, if you follow this guy’s instructions to the letter. A fella under the name HotelPriusVideos is posting detailed guides on how you can detail a Prius for multiple night stays. His advice?

Well, it’s interesting. We’ve included video two below for your enjoyment, and information.

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The post Live Out of… a Prius? [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

Because life is sexier when you’re not a gas guzzler.

1. You’re so stealthy in that Prius, I’ll show you how to make some noise.
2. I save so much energy with this car, I can put the leftover to good use.
3. Just because I don’t use crude oil doesn’t mean I don’t like things dirty.
4. This car is small, but we can make it work.
5. Do you like things battery operated?
6. Can I offer you a space to plugin and recharge?
7. I like things with more miles per gallon.
8. Don’t worry, my energy levels never get low.
9. Want to charge up with me?
10. You make me glow as bright as your dashboard.
11. Who needs oil when you’re naturally charged?
12. Want to drive for miles and stare at my dashboard?
13. Nothing is sexier than meeting CAFE standards.
14. You’re so energy efficient.
15. I’d love to use you as two types of fuel.
16. My batteries are designed for extended life.
17. How long is your lifecycle emission?
18. Would you like to buy me dinner with your tax credit?
19. That aerodynamic architecture sure makes you look good.
20. I can feel my energy security rising when I am with you.
21. I bet we could maximize on that kinetic energy.
22. I’ll make sure you idle less.
23. Is that an advanced piece of machinery or are you just happy to see me?
24. How many engines do you have under your hood?
25. If I were a hybrid car, I’d let you hand the control over to my electric engine.
26. I don’t need to keep my engine running when I am with you.
27. I bet your dual source of energy means you’re up for a good time.
28. Don’t let the compact size fool you.
29. Are you as efficient with your hands as you are with your energy?
30. Would you like to improve my fuel economy?
31. You should see MY Stop/Start capability.
32. Did you just say “propulsion power?”
33. What do you say we pull over and plug into the grid?
34. Hold on, let me put on my back up sensor before you say another word.
35. Convert this.
36. You make me want to become a cleaner-burning woman.
37. Did you get the chassis stiffener on your model?
38. What do you say we get some non-toxic cleaners and go wax your car?
39. I’d love to be your hydrogen fueling station.
40. With all the MPG you get, we can totally drive into the sunset like, twice.
41. With all these high gas prices, we should park somewhere and talk.
42. You have a hybrid? You’re so unconventional. I like that.
43. Oh, you have two motors? That’s hot.
44. Your car’s power and movement turns my wheels.
45. Petroleum is so 2000.
46. What’s your favorite cruising speed?
47. This car is roomier than I thought! Does that mean we can recline the seats?
48. Mmmmm… plug in sounds sexy.
49. You’re like your hybrid, so quiet but so powerful.
50. Let’s make sure your gasoline engine doesn’t engage.

ALSO CHECK OUT:

Pick Up Lines for Jetsetters

Pick Up Lines for the Backyard Homesteader

Pick Up Lines for Foodies

Image: DaveOnFlickr

The post Pick Up Lines for the Hybrid Lover appeared first on EcoSalon.

Must-know terms for switching gears from gas and emissions to alternative vehicles.

Don’t get left behind while the future charges forward. We’ve created a definitive list to charge your knowledge of electric as the auto industry gears up for a hybrid vehicle forecast filled with plug-in and battery options. Here’s a list to help you brush up on the lingo and fuel your thirsty intellect.

Battery Electric – a vehicle powered by a device that stores electrical energy. Unlike gas in the fuel tank which only powers the gas engine, an electric motor on a hybrid car can put energy into batteries as well as draw energy from them.

Bio-Diesel – A diesel fuel comprised of vegetable oil or animal fat base.

Biomaterials – Car seats made of soy-based foam or soundproofing using old denim is an alternative interior material used by Ford’s engineers and others to furnish their new fleets with sustainable sources found in nature.

Butterflies – Used to curb range anxiety, the feedback screen in the 2013 Ford Fusion displays butterflies as an indicator of the additional range beyond your selected charge point destination. The more efficiently you drive, the more butterflies you see and the greater your battery range.

Carbon Efficiency – The cost of driving a vehicle in terms of emissions generated.

Charging Station – Why is San Francisco rushing to set these up outside City Hall? To encourage use of plug-ins of course. The stations, like gas station counterparts, are publicly accessible terminals to recharge your EV.

Chevy Volt – The 2011 Motor Trend car of the year, GM released the Volt in U.S. in December of 2010 and is considered by the EPA to be the most fuel-efficient car in its class with an internal combustion engine sold domestically. The Volt can travel up to 50 miles on its lithium ion battery before needing a charge.

Clean Coal – Is there such a thing when it comes to the environmental impact of coal energy generation? This term implies coal can be made a viable fuel source low in carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants. Techniques include chemically cleaning the minerals and impurities, gasification, treating flue gases with steam to remove sulfur dioxide and other methods to aid the efficiency of the conversion into electricity.

CNG – Acronym for Compressed Natural Gas, also known as methane.

Diesel Electric – A transmission system with a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator. It creates electricity that powers electric traction motors. Considered as a class of hybrid electric vehicle when electrical energy is stored in rechargeable batteries for high efficiency applications.

Electric Motor – A hybrid’s electric motor lets it act as a motor and generator sot hat it can draw energy from batteries to accelerate the car. When serving as a generator it can slow down the car and restore battery energy.

Electro Pollution Smog – A new kind of pollution often associated with cell phones and high tension cables, e-smog derived from electricity + smog is a term for all artificially produced electrical and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. According to Ford, the Middle East has among the highest restrictions to reduce any dangers.

EV – Electric Vehicle

Feedback Concepts – As with the Ford butterfly display, feedback provides vehicle data to help drivers with range, navigation, phone, radio or other information.

Fisker Automotive – An American automaker that plans to release its Karma in the summer of 2011. It’s billed as the the world’s first true EV with extended range of 300 miles. The first 50 miles are on tailpipe-emission-free-electric-only charge. After 50 miles, a gas range-extending engine turns the generator to add an additional 250 miles of range. The Karma debuted at the 2008 North American International Auto Show and established the premium green car segment, one most major companies have since pledged to follow.

Ford Fusion – the 2013 plug-in exemplifies Ford’s new commitment to convert to affordable electric.

GM Impact – New green car concept introduced by GM at the Los Angeles Auto Show in the early 1990’s. The EV was touted for a driving range above 80 miles, a top speed of more than 100 mph and acceleration from 0 to 60 in 8.0 seconds.

HEV – An acronym for Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell – This electrochemical cell consumes hydrogen to generate electricity.

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – Hybrids have a dual system that uses a small internal combustion engine and an electric motor to power a vehicle. The ICE refers to an engine with intermittent combustion of a fuel (usually a fossil fuel), as occurring with an oxidizer such as air in a combustion chamber.The expansion of the high temperature and pressure gases from the combustion applies direct force to a component of the engine such as pistons and moves the component over a distance generating mechanical energy. 

Lithium ion Battery – A rechargeable battery accommodating the flow of electricity by the movement of lithium ions from the negative terminal to the positive terminal.

NiCad – a type of rechargeable nickel cadmium battery using metallic cadmium as a cathod (electrode or terminal by which a current leaves an electrolytic cell).

Nissan Leaf – The 100% electric Leaf has been reserved by 2,000 customers  in limited U.S. markets – nearly 7,000 getting dibs in the first 65 hours Nissan opened the reservations.  “People are ready” says Nissan about the vehicles that spare  some 700 gallons of gas per year.

Overhead lines –Wires used to transmit electric energy to trains, trams, or trolleybuses at a distance from the energy supply point.

Parallel Hybrid – Combining two power sources (fuel tank and batteries) this way means both the engine and electric motor can turn the transmission at the same time and the transmission turns the wheels.

Mercury Switches – Their use has become controversial recently in terms of environmental restrictions on safe recovery and disposal of heavy metals by manufacturers. Such metals are used in automotive batteries and fluorescent lights and are present in factory waste or contaminated waste sites. A mercury switch consists of a sealed glass tube with two unconnected electrodes and a small amount of liquid mercury. When the tube is moved past a certain angle the mercury will pool between two electrodes and a connection is made, allowing electricity to flow through a completed circuit. Mercury is hazardous so many manufacturers are replacing switches with other mechanical methods of disruption electrical current.

Range Anxiety – Some of the new plug-ins need charging every 50 miles and this can produce anxiety in drivers worrying about running out of power.

Series Hybrid – Unlike parallel, the gas engine turns the generator and the generator can charge the batteries or power the electric motor driving the transmission. The gas engine in this type of hybrid does not directly power the vehicle.

Shielding Radiation – Are hybrids dangerous to our health? Scientists continue to study the effects of surplus radiation generated by the electromagnetic field from the AC current flowing from batteries to the engine and back again. Known as ionizing radiation, it is widely used in industry and medicine and presents a health hazard to living tissue. Numbers of acceptable levels vary, according to experts.

Toyota Prius – Now in its third generation, the Toyota hybrid hatchback went on sale in Japan in 1997 as the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle – and is considered the real McCoy by purists. Available worldwide in 2001, sales reached 1 million in September 2010, spurred on by rebates to reduce gas consumption. The U.S continues to be the biggest market.

Wireless Energy Transfer – The process in any system where electrical energy is transmitted from a power source, most commonly devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and carry electricity to telecommunications systems. Wireless transmission is useful in cases where instantaneous or continuous energy transfer is needed but interconnecting wires are hazardous or impossible.

Images: Justin Pickard; avinc; Chevy; EMF, Futureatlas, TechShowNetwork, Dustin Reynolds

The post A Glossary of Car Terms to Recharge Your Thinking appeared first on EcoSalon.

How car companies are marketing gas guzzlers as green.

Car makers, desperate to move lingering inventories, are immersed in frenzied marketing campaigns, bombarding us with TV ads that dangle attractive zero-down financing and $1,000 rebates. While the sticker deals appeal to all consumers, the language lauding eco-flavored 2011 models is shamelessly aimed at a specific audience: The responsible buyer who might break down and crossover to a road hog at last.

Consider the Ford Flex Ecoboost edition. Praised for its twin turbocharged 3.5 liter engine offering V8 power and unsurpassed,V6-like fuel efficiency (EPA estimated 16 city/21hwy/18 combined mpg), it hauls ass fast for what is essentially a reconfigured minivan for seven passengers and minimal cargo space. The term “ecoboost” is a grabber – one that implies the stretch cube is infused with the kind of green engineering that will end global warming and reduce landfill plastic. But in reality, it means if you need to commute daily in a flashy bus, the gas savings is better than most.

Edmunds notes, “despite the added power and performance, the EcoBoost V6 manages to achieve the same fuel economy as the standard V6.” While the auto review publication admits the Flex isn’t “sporty” it adds that “the EcoBoost variants should supply enough excitement for the majority of drivers.”

Male reviewers love the giddy up of the Flex, which takes a mere 6.6 seconds to reach 60 mph while enjoying a quiet, smooth, Coupe Deville kind of ride. This punch makes it much more fun to drive than the standard model – and for an additional $10,670, the boost should be quite a blast. As Chrysler emphasizes in its recent Town and Country ads, safety and technology should be standard – not costly options – and the same should apply to fuel efficiency and other green benefits – which now greatly jack up prices.

This is especially true with new breed of  SUV hybrids – like the Chevy Tahoe – packaged as a great gas saving sport vehicle and retailing for up to $53,000 and change. This is compared to the non hybrid which sells for a more affordable sticker price of $37,000 and upwards.

What do you get for the extra $15,000? Well, you get to flaunt the eco moniker, for one thing, plus pretty good mileage for a sporty soccer mom shuttle. The Tahoe boasts better fuel economy than any competitors in its class: an EPA estimated 20 MPG in the city, 23 on the highway. This with 332 horsepower, 367 lb-ft of torque and up to 6,2000 lbs. of towing capacity. Towing capacity is always important in considering a hybrid. Sure it is!

Essentially, this means the SUV holds up to some of the new mid-size hybrids, like the 2011 Ford  Fusion – rated number two in its class, and demonstrating efficiency with 23 mpg in the city. Priced at around $28,000, it  also wows with eco-friendly cloth seats and an eco flow display system to track the power-train’s four modes of operation. But both the Fusion -with these sexy green features – and the Tahoe seem ridiculous when compared with the original gas savers, like the Toyota Prius,which gets 51/48 mpg city/highway.

Some complain about capacity, along with low visibility in the Prius – but avid composters and reusable bag toters seem to have adjusted just fine. The pernicious greenwashing of the hogs may assuage the guilt in choosing an SUV, but serves little other purpose.

Perhaps Lexus – the leader in the luxury SUV hybrid market – has performed the most egregious washing to date in its partnership with the Fairmont hotels to offer “the Lexus Hybrid Living Eco-chic  Suites” in San Francisco and Washington.

Auto Blog Green called the marketing ploy “taking hybrid hype to the next level” because it links the experience of driving the Lexus LS 600h (a $111,000, 21 mpg, 12 cylinder sedan) with green amenities that can make the affluent feel good about their footprints: bamboo furnishings, an organic mattress, a mini bar stocked with local biodynamic wines and coffee tables fabricated with recycled leather from Lexus cars. It only runs $869 a night – a pittance for potential buyers of an LS 600h – a hybrid which emits an annual 8.7 tons of CO2 with an air pollution score of 8 out of 10.

It all boils down to experience, really, and how much you care about the price of filling up and emitting. If you care a great deal, you might be a Smart Car or Nissan Leaf devotee. If you have those concerns, but care more about power and luxury, you just might buy into the green hype, getting the comfort and status you need along with an eco-boost from the letter “H” glued on the rear for all to see.

Images: Ford; GM; Toyota; Lexus

The post Greenwashing the Beast appeared first on EcoSalon.

People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. Esquire’s Women We Love. What if the two had a baby and put it in gdiapers? And then it grew up into a man who could pick out produce like Michael Pollan. Or make us laugh like Jon Stewart. Or keep us guessing like Johnny Depp.

Bottom line? There are far too many good men out there to be ignored. And so, month by month, we at EcoSalon will perform the painstakingly arduous task of researching the most attractive men ever to frequent a farmers’ market. And then we will serve him up on a platter of details as to why we want to have his babies.

And so, for December, we give you the man whose sensitive smile and ability to manfully grip a cereal bowl while staring wistfully into the distance is legendary. (What’s he looking at? At his girlfriend gardening? At a doe playing with her fawn? Who’s to say?) We give you – Ryan Gosling!

Why is The Gosling just so damned perfect? First, he speaks feminism. In his latest film, Blue Valentine, he plays a character who performs oral sex on his wife, played by Michelle Williams. Because of this scene, the MPAA gave the film an NC-17 rating. To which Gosling replied:

You have to question a cinematic culture which preaches artistic expression, and yet would support a decision that is clearly a product of a patriarchy-dominant society, which tries to control how women are depicted on screen. The MPAA is OK supporting scenes that portray women in scenarios of sexual torture and violence for entertainment purposes, but they are trying to force us to look away from a scene that shows a woman in a sexual scenario, which is both complicit and complex – it’s misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman’s sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than this film.

Michelle Williams also addressed this issue in a spectacular fashion – click here to read more.

So he’s a feminist, or at least talks like one. But the outspoken activism doesn’t stop there. Gosling has urged action on Darfur and is a critic of inhumane slaughter tactics used by McDonalds and KFC. He drives a Prius. And he had a long term relationship with noted greenista Rachel McAdams. Just how green in Rachel? She has her own green web site. Which practically makes him our husband.

Also? He is extremely a-dorbs. I have seen The Gosling in person. Seeing a celebrity can go either one of two ways – you’re struck with the knowledge that he or she is actually “meh” or you’re struck flat to the sidewalk that he or she is possibly the most attractive person of your preferred gender you have ever laid corneas on. This would be our Ryan.

And last but not least, he was Lars.

Do you have a man or woman whom you think we should love? Let us know. We promise to share.

The post Introducing EcoSalon’s Men We Love: A December Ode to Ryan Gosling appeared first on EcoSalon.

In the earth-friendly circles in which I travel, I meet a lot of extremely dedicated eco-activists. They are all outrageously well meaning, if a bit overly caffeinated. The fact is I tend to keep my distance from the true zealots – those endlessly earnest composting vegans, the ones who wear hemp, sew their own cloth diapers, and vibrate with positive energy. Instead, I seem to gravitate towards women who are more like me: well-intentioned but slightly slothful and just the tiniest bit cranky. Basically, I am committed to the Earth but reluctant to break a sweat. I would describe myself as “chill” except that my kids have forbidden me to use that word (unless it’s in the context of chocolate pudding). For low-key gals like me who want to make a greener, cleaner Earth – while still finding time to relax – I offer the following tips:

1. Resist the urge to procreate. This will protect the Earth from the harmful effects of 4,000 disposable diapers while saving 100 gallons of water each and every day. Also, it will save you 18 to 22 years of hard labor. As a side benefit, you will be able to wear clogs and use inappropriate, youthful slang without anyone criticizing you for it.
2. Stop eating mayonnaise. There is absolutely no way to get those jars clean enough for recycling, so just switch to mustard and call it a day. In the long run, the Earth will thank you – and your arteries will, too.
3. Buy a Toyota Prius. This will earn you such massive eco cred that you won’t really have to do anything else except stand around looking smug and virtuous.
4. Get a dog. Dogs are an excellent way to dispose of leftovers, and most of them will also eat junk mail, couch pillows, eyeglasses and other household items that would otherwise end up in landfills. Cats will perform many of the same functions, but on the downside”¦they’re cats.
5. Go to a car wash. This is counter intuitive and flies in the face of all that homespun, simple life, do-it-yourself rhetoric, but the fact is a professional car wash is much more water efficient than using a garden hose in your driveway. Plus, your dog – and husband – will find the car wash endlessly amusing.
6. Start buying Diet Coke in cardboard boxes containing 24 cans. This way, you won’t have to cut up those annoying, plastic six-pack rings. Also, you’re less likely to run out of Diet Coke.
7. Announce that you will no longer cook any endangered species of fish. Also refuse to buy chicken or milk containing antibiotics or PCBs or eggs that aren’t cruelty free. This will knock so many foods off your menu that you’ll be able to serve microwave popcorn for dinner without feeling guilty.
8. Designate one day a week as “Stay in Bed Sunday.” On this day you will use very little electricity, you won’t contribute to the out-of-control consumer culture, you will produce almost no waste, and your skin will look refreshed and wonderful.
9. Work at home if you possibly can. Telecommuting saves the planet from harmful automotive carbon emissions. Plus, it is sometimes possible to nap during the workday.
10. OK, I know that’s only nine, but frankly, I’m exhausted. And I really believe that nine tips are more than enough. Yessiree, nine tips are plenty.

Image: bredgur

The post The Lazy Woman’s Top 10 Tips for Saving the Planet appeared first on EcoSalon.