Ecological Products - A marketing game?

August 7th, 2006

Somtimes I look at products claiming to be green, and wonder sometimes whether they are on the market to fill a niche, or because the products are high quality which happen to be ecologically sound (or sounder). Looks like another area to investigate.

Any comments?

Do they work? Which ones do, and which ones don’t?

Why did you buy them?
The marketing people obviously see a market for the product in the envrironmentally less destructive sense, but if they don’t work, is it not a false economy?

Bio Ethanol vs Diesel vs Petrol Vs Hybrid Cars

August 7th, 2006

As mentioned in an earlier Blog, the choice of car is a difficult one. Why can’t we make it easy? Imagine being able to select a range based on economy in MPG or cost per mile, or by the number of seats, or engine type, and then be able to compare all the remaining cars listed, eliminating them one by one, or filtering them further. Until then, trying to find the right car is hard. And when looking at reputation, so much contradictory advice exists.

Bio-Ethanol sounds like a great fuel source. Man made (so an easy to produce and control supply), with no harmful waste products. But where can you get it? Even garages I’ve asked don’t know, so the UK is not ready for it yet. Hybrid cards sound fine, but they have two engines, which means not only heavier, but more to service and repair, with more specialist skills. And with few on the roads, the second hand price is still high.

Fully electric cars have a 75 mile range. How to charge them, and what to do if it runs out, I have not heard, so I imagine its still in the proof of concept stage, with the all electric Smart Car being launched soon.

Diesels provides better fuel economy, despite poorer emissions. Diesels go on and on. Diesels are cheaper to run overall, and well made diesels can still be affordable on both the new and second hand market. But finding one that is comfortable, styled well, and a pleasure to drive comes at a price.

And a diesel convertible is even harder.

The new Megane CC hard top 4 seater convertible is one of the better looking convertibles, and comes with a choice of several diesel engines. So once it’s yours, we hope it will be a worthwhile investment, and will keep costs down. But what about environmental impact? Are diesels bad? And just how bad?

I intend to find out, so that when I make the decision, we can see how much the environment is affected, and how restrictive the consideration in my choice is.

Welcome to the Web Blog for EcoBlog.co.uk

August 4th, 2006

Thank-you for visiting our new Blog site. What I hope to do is update this with the many thoughts, feedback, and unanswered questions regarding how being environmentally concious does not have to become time consuming or expensive.

Your feedback on my comments is warmly welcomed, and hopefully we can all learn together the realities behind the myths.

I hope you find it educational, and an interesting read.

 

Richard

 

This Blog should cover everything from hybrid cars, bioethanol fuels, CO2 release, composting, grey water, waste recycling, and anything environmentally oriented which I believe is within our control to change.