I am not a "green" person

I'm in for all 3 as well, although I am probably what you would consider a "greenie". I reduce (first), reuse what I can or give to someone else, and recycle what's left. I compost and garden. I'm a member of a CSA and eat mostly organic. I have low flow water appliances, I don't leave things on when I leave a room. I have all my vampire electronics on a strip outlet that gets turned off when things aren't in use. I've been a vegetarian for 25+ years. I'm frugal (some might say cheap ) but what I do buy, I like to buy the best quality I can and take care of it. I *hate* throwing stuff in the trash/landfill.

My 15 year old Jeep was still running relatively well and I got 19-20 MPG mixed driving. I certainly couldn't justify getting a car that go 25MPG (I'm shocked at how low the numbers still are - even the Camry I was looking at was 22/33?!)

I've wanted a Prius but couldn't justify the cost against my paid-for, rarely repaired Jeep until the Jeep died with some ailment so expensive (e.g. transmission) that it wouldn't pay to keep repairing. If the c4c hadn't come up, I'd still be driving the Jeep and oggling my friend's Prius and saving up for the day when I "needed" a new vehicle. When I was test driving, I drove a very nice Camry 6 speed which had fewer bells and whistles but was only $3K less than the Prius II. I figured with as much as I drive, I'll make that up in 2 years!

I feel much more internally harmonious driving the Prius, saving $ and saving the environment and not supporting the huge oil companies and cranky countries so much. Besides, the service guys at the dealer promised me that this car would last as long and get as many miles as the Jeep ("because it's a Toyota") so I'm all set for the next 15 years

Robbin

 

I am cheap. I was going to have a bumper sticker made that said

“I am not Green, just cheapâ€

 

I would also fall under all three categories, so didn't vote.

I wouldn't consider myself totally green, but I love the planet that God gave us to live on and I like to take care of it when I can!

Our recycling can is always more full than our garbage can, but I don't compost. (don't have a garden, and don't want to deal with it.) I have a half dozen re-usable grocery bags that I used most times, but still get plastic bags sometimes to use in my small garbage cans.

We have many trees on our property, and I planted most of them.

When I need to get a new appliance, I look for Energy Star rated appliances. Just got a new front load washer and love it!

But, I run the air conditioning all summer. (can't breath if it gets humid, which it always is during the summer in the midwest.)

Love the Prius because it's new technology (I LOVE new gadgets), is excellent on low emissions, and saves us lots of gas use. (we just went on a trip that was around 1000 miles, round-trip, and only spent around $34 on gas!! Last year at this time we spent over $100 on gas, same trip)

 

It's safe to say if it wasn't for the improved, more sporty styling and 17" wheels, I wouldn't be here.

 

Not to get too far off topic (but doing the "math" was in one of the poll questions).

Let's say you have a car that gets 20 mpg and another that gets 50 mpg. If you "average" them you get 35 mpg or in the mid thirties...or do you?

Assume you drive an equal number of miles in each -- 100 miles. The 50 mpg car consumes 2 gallons and the 20 mpg car consumes 5 gallons. So you went 200 miles and used 7 gallons. 200/7 = 28.5 mpg. Yes, when you "average" a 50 mpg car and a 20 mpg car you get 28.5 mpg.

And if you doubled the mpg for the 50 mpg car to 100 mpg your average would only go up to 33.3 mpg. Even if you used zero gas, an infinite mpg, such as with a bicycle, your average is only 40 mpg.

To get mid thirties with a 50 mpg and a 20 mpg car you'd have to drive the 50 mpg car 250 miles for every 100 miles in the 20 mpg car (thus using equal gallons in each car).

3PriusMike

 

How could you NOT recycle? It's so easy and good for our planet.
Shame on you.

 

1. The state of the economy has tightened belts and the result is a decrease in fuel demand resulting in lower gas prices. This will end with the economic upswing which is sure to come.

2. One of these days Israel is gonna nuke Iran and that will set off a chain of events leading to gas rationing. Once in place, the Prius will be unobtainable unless you already own your own oil wells. If you won't like the $4-5/gal gas price by 2012 how're you going to feel about $50/gal black market prices.

I'm sort of green in that I recycle when I can but I don't obsess. I just want to be able to drive something other than my bicycle when the sh*t hits the fan.

Buzz

 

I love the new-gadget-ness, too! And now you've got me all excited to make my first big trip which won't be for months yet! I am taking a shorter trip soon, and caravaning with friends who have a Jetta (not the diesel version) so it will be fun to compare fill-ups with them at least :evil:

Robbin

 

You should have allowed multiple votes: I would have voted all 3.

 

Thanks. I always sucked at math. I would do it again - I am really loving this car. It really is our inner reptile that picks the car anyways, right? All the rationalization is after the fact, lol.

 

< < < !

 

My household is trying to go green. My wife in incharge of recycling and we now only throw out 1 bag of garbage every 2 weeks while recycling the rest. I am planning a storm water retension system to collect rain water from my gutters (3000gal) and use it for lawn watering. Solar is in the plans also along with a totaly electric vehicle (hopefully something along the size of a scion xB) and of course the Prius

 

I think the poster's assumption was pretty reasonable. After all, you did say this:

The implication of your post seems pretty clear. Now if you actually really wanted to recycle but you just could not because it was just too difficult where you were, then you should have phrased it differently. The difference between can't and won't is significant, and your post implied the latter not the former.

Further, given your last comment, if you actually believe recycling is not "good for the planet", which you seem to hint at, that would imply you are not recycling because you consider it a harmful practice, so would imply you are attempting to be green by not doing so.

So given all that, perhaps you'd like to clarify?

 

Buzzard767, you mentioned something that was in my mind as well. I think an Israel-Iran clash is inevitable and I don't even care to guess how high gas will go then. Not THE reason I bought the car but it was one of many reasons.

 

Sadly, in many places, it is not easy to recycle :-( I am lucky enough to live within miles of a plant that recycles almost ALL plastics into building materials and have a metal/paper/glass recycling center on the way to work. My sisters in Illinois have to drive quite a ways to get stuff to recycle centers - and those centers only take certain items. A friend at work used to haul glass from his cabin in Maine to a recycle center and found out after 5 years that the glass was just tossed from the recycle bin into the landfill anyway!!!!

While I could probably be diagnosed as recycle-OCD (I take home others' recyclables from work, carry them home from vacations, and generally pull it out of the trash when I see it) the first two parts of the equation are reduce and reuse. The Prius can be a great reducing step. Whether it's for the planet or the wallet. Every little bit helps!

Robbin

 

All three for sure. Also a fourth reason, which is that it has the right size, features, and reliability for our needs. I voted for green because I think it's the reason that makes me feel best.

 

I'm another "all of the above"...not very green but we do recycle and try to use less energy. I'm an engineer so naturally, I'm drawn to high tech gadgets. I'm also a frugal person who did the math.

In my case, the timing was right for buying the Prius. I was ready to get rid of my old car and having known about the Prius, decided to take a closer look. First of all, I was surprised by the space and comfort of the cabin. Next the design, both inside and out compared to the previous model, appealed to me. Finally, a test drive convinced me that I should buy one.

I don't see how anyone can't be a little green. Even if gas prices go down, who wouldn't want to use less of it?

I love the high tech nature of the car.

My daily commute is 40 miles round trip and I figure on working at least another 5 years so the frugality made sense.