Jason O’Grady’s Blog

We did it today. We needed a new car so we bought a 2008 Toyota Prius. Cliché, you say? I hear you, but 48 MPG speaks for itself. Maybe more people should look into getting one. Unfortunately, just as we bought it the price of gas started dropping.

There is a 6-12 month waiting list for cars, depending on who you talk to. We got ours by getting on several waiting lists months ago and we jumped on the first one that came along in Seaside Pearl. I’ve heard that some dealers are taking the 1 or 2 Prius’s that they get allocated each month down to auctions in places like Florida where they’re selling for US$6-8k over MSRP at auction.

So far so good, it’s super-silent when running off the battery and I can keep the gas engine from kicking on by keeping it under 20MPH. I’m still trying to figure out if there’s a hack to keep the gas engine off longer.

The first fill up only required a little over nine gallons of petrol (US$33.33) in the 12 gallon tank and I was able to get about 400 miles on the first take. We’ll see how the MPG numbers end up over the next few months.

Stay tuned for lots of Prius hacks on this page

From today’s Press of AC (”Carpet recycling gains traction in region“):

Carpet recycling is slowly gaining traction in Atlantic County, and the Seaview project is believed to be the largest of its kind so far. In November, the Atlantic County Utilities Authority added residential carpets to its list of recyclable materials. In five months, the authority sent nearly 50 tons of carpet to CarpetCycle. Most of the material came from homes in Egg Harbor and Galloway townships. In December, Margate became one of the first municipalities in the state to adopt a law banning carpets from being thrown out with curbside trash.

Complete article here: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/v-print/story/150003.html
with a copy after the jump…

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An article in today’s Press of A.C. encourages boaters to recycle the 14 pounds (on average) of shrink wrap many boaters use to cover their crafts in the off season.

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The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) collects Christmas trees in Absecon, Ventnor, Northfield, Linwood, Buena Vista Township and Hamilton Township on specified dates for yard waste in January.

Christmas trees should be placed at the curb on the day of yard waste collection, which is either Saturday or Monday depending on which zone you live in. You can confirm your zone by downloading the Yard Waste Collection Zone PDF from ACUA.

Some tips:

• Trees should be free of lights and decorations, including tinsel
• Trees do not have to be bagged
• Flocked trees are acceptable for collection and composting
• For more information on Christmas tree recycling please visit: www.earth911.com

In other Christmas tree news, an article in the Press of A.C. has determined that fresh cut “real” trees are more eco-friendly than artificial trees.

Often made of PVC - “the worst of the worst when it comes to plastics,” - fake trees, while reusable, have no green method for disposal. Also a factor is the cost of shipping a tree, real or fake. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, 85 percent of fake trees are made in China.

…A real tree is a renewable resource. For every tree that’s cut, three are planted. When a tree is young it gives off the most oxygen. We give an ecological benefit and they’re a good habitat for wildlife.

Have you seen the Ambient Orb?

It’s kind of expensive at US$150 just to monitor the stock market but I read a cool story in Wired magazine about how they’re using Orbs to monitor the power grid “to signal changes in electrical rates, programming them to glow green when the grid was underused — and, thus, electricity cheaper — and red during peak hours when customers were paying more for power.”

I kind of reminded me of a cool gauge that my friend Shaun Redmond showed me that monitors your energy usage in your house.

Ideally, I could keep tabs on my home power consumption from my computer or iPhone from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Even wilder it the EnergyJoule (pictured) which is currently only available to Consumer Powerline customers in New York City.

If you liked “Who killed the Electric Car?” then you’ll love Plug In America, a group that advocates the use of plug-in cars, trucks and SUVs powered by cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity to reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. Good stuff (Thanks Shaun!)

A friend turned my onto this cool eco-site called TravelMatters.com:

Welcome to TravelMatters, the website for those interested in learning more about how travel habits and transportation choices affect global climate change. TravelMatters offers a trio of resources—interactive emissions calculators, on-line emissions maps, and a wealth of educational content—to emphasize the close relationship between more efficient transit systems and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

In achieving a world climate balance, travel choices do matter. To learn more, click the icons below, or simply follow the sidebar menu.

Maybe we all need to take a look?