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It looks like someone is finally threatening Toyota's hybrid mileage supremacy. Well, that is, unless you count the Honda Insight...which no one seems to.

VW has gone ahead and approved its Jetta diesel hybrid concept, hoping to turn the car into a legitimate Prius competitor. The car will likely be roomier and zippier than the Prius, both advantages coming from its use of diesel instead of gasoline.

Diesel, which contains more energy per gallon and also produces less CO₂, can improve mileage significantly on its own. Adding a hybrid component to the car really moves up mileage numbers. Unfortunately, diesels require advanced and expensive engines to keep pollutant emissions low. VW already charges $2,000 extra for its diesel models. Add onto that the cost of regenerative braking and a hybrid drive train and suddenly this car is looking out of range.

While the Prius manages to come in at a reasonable $25,000, it's likely that the Golf TDI is going to break $30k while being the sort of car people are used to paying a lot less for. Of course, there are no real numbers on price yet, but AutoBlogGreen has speculated that this high price is going to keep the cars confined to Europe, where emissions standards are higher and people are used to paying for diesels, at least for the first few years of the TDI hybrid's life.

Via AutoBlogGreen

I am a friend of Big Pharma. For me, it's a friendship based on necessity, akin to how some Sicilians feel about the mafia. This friendship means every month I throw away at least two plastic bottles that can't be recycled.

I hear a few of you saying, "Wait, Sea! You can use these bottles for beds, buttons, toothpicks and maracas!" But I already have a home for my beads. My earrings are in a recycled tea tin; my spices are in recycled spice jars. And I don't want to make maracas!

So what the devil am I to do with these little orange bottles? Make a pyramid?!

Be a P.R.O.
I'm not sure if Jacob Willard is still doing his P.R.O. program, but it's worth looking into if you live in West Virginia. In 2005 Willard started a community service project called P.R.O. or the prescription bottle recycling operation. Apparently, a local clinic cleans and reuses the bottles that Willard collects. Anyone can send him bottles. I pray you don't send him anything else. Thank you.

Call Pharm-Ecological Services
If you happen to live in British Columbia, you might have a better chance for recycling your prescription bottles. Pharm-Ecological is a company that takes all kinds of pharmacological plastic packaging and recycles it. Will they take your personal stuff? Send them an email and ask.

Ask your pharmacist pretty please with sugar on top
You could be more adult about the question, but it adds up to the same: Find out if your pharmacist will let you reuse your bottles after you've cleaned them and removed the labels. Chain pharmacies I called weren't hip to the idea, but locally owned pharmacies sometimes are. Each pharmacy typically has one lead pharmacist. Talk to that person.

Bark and meow it
On other blogs I've seen posts that stated veterinarians and animal shelters sometimes accept used but clean prescription bottles. I can't verify this, and my own vet certainly would not do such a thing, no ma'am. But I laud the suggestion.

Make a Christmas Tree ornament
This idea scares me. Perhaps you'll love it.

Call your legislator
This is my favorite suggestion. It may result in absolutely nothing, but if you don't call you can't complain and if you don't complain who else besides your office mate will hear your whining? You'll go to your grave being known as the man who never stopped nattering on about the lack of recycling for prescription bottles.

 

Skateboarding is already quite a green way to get about the place, but what about the board itself?

Here's a sweet little new electric number from the UK for you automotive fans. It's the Lightning GT -- which has motors in the wheels and makes use of regenerative braking -- and you'll need to be over in the United Kingdom for now if you'd like to get yourself one.

The Lightning GT reportedly does 0-60 in four seconds and has 700+ rated bhp. This car, to get where it needs to go, uses "electronically controlled traction control which negates wheel spin and unbalance in the power being applied." The vehicle has no engine, instead offering drivers a "maintenance-free" engine with a few parts, control electronics, and special batteries.

The batteries are obviously the heart of the Lightning GT. The company says these batteries use "nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable" and have a life expectancy of over 12 years. Charging time is said to be 10 minutes and the power delivered per unit weight and unit volume is "several times that of conventional Lithium-Ion batteries."

Also a factor in the design of these vehicle is "Hi-Pa Drive." It is described as "compact, energy-efficient, electric wheel motors" that "produce unrivalled levels of torque with internal heavy-duty tapered roller bearings that can withstand heavy radial loads for robust use."

[via Tuvie]

Solar water heaters are low tech. Basically, they're black pipes on panels. There's no nanotechnology, no monosilicon crystals, and no DC to AC conversion. Just run a pipe to your roof, through the panel, and then back into your house. In many parts of the US, solar water heaters can provide more than 90% of a household's water. And in all but the cloudiest climates, they can provide more than 30%.

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/environment/Solar_Water_Heaters_Could_Save_35_B_Year'; A recent study compiled in the UK (notably, not the sunniest place on earth) has determined that the average household could save around $450 per year. Now, the numbers would certainly be slightly different for Americans, and city dwellers with less roof space might not have the same options. But even with a big chunk shaved off the top, $450 for, let's say, the 80 million American households that are ready for hot water panels, is more than $30 billion per year.

And all of that power would be coming from a renewable and ongoing resource. No natural gas bills every month. Just one installation and then years of cheap water heating.

So why haven't we done it? A few reasons. First, installation can cost more than $5,000 dollars, especially in older houses. Second, new home buyers apparently don't like to see solar water heaters disrupting their "roof lines." But there's good news on both these fronts.

First, banks are looking for new kinds of loans in America. A loan that would, in effect, pay for itself and be more or less default-free could be very enticing. A ten-year loan on a solar water heater would, in effect, be free for the home owner and risk-free for the bank.

Second, people are looking for low-carbon homes now. Installing hot water heaters are a less expensive move (per pound of carbon negated) than photovoltaics. People are now able to be proud of their panels, and their neighbors will maybe even be a little bit jealous.

Via The Telegraph