“A cardinal principle and practice of any new business should be to perform tasks and services that are sustainably produced and promote sustainability in society as a whole.”

Paul Hawken,
business leader and environmentalist

High-Fives for Hybrids

Some scientists say that no purchase we make has a bigger effect on the environment than the car we buy. That’s because every gallon of gas we burn contributes greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. So, from a climate change perspective, the difference between a gas guzzler and a fuel-efficient car can be enormous.

Among the most fuel-efficient cars available today is a hybrid vehicle—a car that runs on both gasoline and electricity. Hybrids get great gas mileage (some can travel up to 700 miles on one 10-gallon tank of gas!) because an electric motor on board helps share the work with a gasoline-powered motor. And the battery that supplies the electricity for the hybrid car doesn’t have to be plugged in to recharge. Instead, the energy that’s created when the brakes are applied is transferred to the electric battery, so it’s constantly recharging. For these reasons, hybrid cars emit less than half the carbon dioxide of other cars and use less fossil fuels than their gas-guzzling relatives.