Archive for June, 2010

Best Green Cars in 2010

As any car fanatic knows, the Kelley Blue Book is the United State's largest automotive vehicle valuation company.  For 2010, it has just announced the top green car picks with the Toyota Prius leading the pack. Toyota Prius The Prius offers a special powertrain combined with a hybrid electric motor and gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine.  Because of these advanced features, the Prius delivers on higher fuel economy coupled with lower emissions in comparison with regular cars in its size and price range. Honda Insight Hybrid The manufacturers of the Honda Insight envisioned the car as the most cost-effective hybrid car in the market and, so far, it seems to have delivered on that vision.  It has a combined mileage of 41 miles per gallon with a tag price of $20,000 - about $2,000 lower than the Prius. Ford Fusion Hybrid The best thing about the Ford Fusion Hybrid is its adept combination of class-leading fuel efficiency with top-notch cabin technology.  You can have a great ride while knowing that you are also doing great things for the environment in your own commuter way. Volkswagen Golf TDI The Volkswagen Gold TDI uses a fuel injection system combined with an electronically controlled turbocharger, of which the end result is better ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Maximize Garden Space with Trellises

With the high cost of food these days, you may have wished that you could start growing your own fruits and vegetables, only to be stymied because you don’t have enough land to do so. The solution is to build a garden trellis, for either vegetables or fruits.  This method is called “vertical gardening” or “growing up,” or using a “square in the air.” You can purchase a trellis from a garden store, or build your own.  The trellises sold in stores are two dimensional, and are usually in the shape of a fan or a lattice.  If you build your own, you can really go to town, building a three-dimensional trellis in the shape of a large open rectangle, as high as you like, and running nylon string, or wire, vertically from top to bottom, or in a V-shape.  Each string will support a single plant, of whatever type of plant you wish to grow.  You merely have to train it to grow along the strings. Plans to build such trellises may be found on the internet, or in handyman-type books on gardening. These trellises are like the filing cabinets of your garden.  Instead of having the plant sprawling gracelessly along on the ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Reclaim Your Youth With An Electrically-Assisted Bicycle

Men have been riding bikes since they were first invented in the late 1800s.  When the diamond-frame safety bicycle was perfected in the early 1900s, women (whom society still forced to wear ankle-length dresses) gained an unprecedented freedom and mobility – indeed,  suffragettes soon began calling the bicycle the “freedom machine.” The electrically-assisted bicycle is the new freedom machine for hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world – the elderly who may no longer have the leg strength or endurance to pedal up even the gentlest incline, the infirm who, because of accident or illness, have also lost their strength, and the very young who lack the physical ability to bike for long distances or take hills. The e-bike, as it is most commonly known, solves these problems, because a battery powers a small motor which assists the rider when necessary.  The typical e-bike has three functions.  Riders may pedal normally, without assistance, or they may flick a switch on their handlebars and have the motor provide them with just enough assistance to keep pedaling at a certain speed, or with another flick of the switch, the motor takes over entirely. E-bikes do not have to be licensed, and current laws allow ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Natural Alternatives to Stop Using Pesticides

More Than Egg-Layers, Poultry Keeps Insects At Bay If your gardens are over-run by pests, but you do not want to use pesticides, what can you do?  Well, if you live in a rural area, whether on a farm or just somewhere with a lot of land, and no nearby neighbors, why not give free-range poultry a try? Chickens, ducks and guinea fowl can supply fresh eggs on a daily basis.  If you allow them the free run of your land, they can also devour the bugs and slugs that would otherwise be devouring your garden produce. Guinea fowl consume ticks (which can carry Lyme disease, besides just being generally gross), fleas, June bugs and Japanese beetles – but they don’t bother with your fruits or vegetables.  Guinea fowl also make good watch animals. The reason guinea fowl are better than chickens for pest patrol is that they do not scratch up the ground.  The guinea fowl is a hardy bird, with few diseases.  One drawback is their droppings will litter the ground.  While it makes for excellent fertilizer, you won’t want you, or your kids, to step in it. However, used properly, chickens can do their part to eliminate unwanted pests as well.  Just ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it

Recyclable Shopping Bags

Grocery Store Etiquette I don’t think you can go into any grocery store in the country without seeing a rack full of reusable shopping bags – cloth bags with the logo a particular store on it, which usually sells for a dollar. I’ve found that using these bags slows me down, most of the time.  In my local grocery store, there’s a high turnover with clerks.  So just as soon as you get used to one checker, who handles the bags like a pro, affixing them to his or her turnstyle with ease, she leaves and her replacement has no clue how to pack them quickly and efficiently. Then of course there’s the cost.  They only cost a dollar, but chances are the first time you use it, you’ll leave the bag in your house, and the next time you go shopping, you won’t have it with you.  So you buy another one.  Eventually you get smart and buy a bunch of them.  You keep half of them in the trunk of your car, and so if you forget to restore the ones from your last shopping trip, you still have those.  But that’s still a cost you don’t need to pay. Certain stores ...

• Bookmark :
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Stumbleupon
• Redit it