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Detroit Auto Show 2009: First Look at Toyota FT-EV Electric Car Concept

Diminutive but Electrifying The Toyota FT-EV electric car concept that debuted at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show is based on the platform of the 57 MPG Toyota iQ microcar that recently went on sale in Europe and that is apparently already a hit in




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GM Volt Versus Toyota Prius: Which Design Type Will Be More Effective At Reducing Stack & Tailpipe Emissions, And Energy Consumption?

This is one of those comparison posts that that could draw many angry comments: like Could Hype Sell An Inferior Hybrid? - Ford Fusion versus Toyota Camry did. Please carefully read the caveats.




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7 Hollywood Hotties and Their Hot Green Cars, Round 2 (Slideshow)

From crush-worthy Crash star Thandie Newton's celebrity-favorite Toyota Prius (pictured) to Paris Hilton's GMC Yukon Hybrid, these seven celebrity hotties are




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George Will Disses the Prius, Obama and the Facts

On This Week with George Stephanopoulos yesterday, conservative columnist George Will commented on President Obama's emphasis on green cars, now that the White House is arguably a co-owner of Chrysler and




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Toyota Kills Most Inexpensive Prius Model, Raises Price $400 on Others

Image: Toyota Supply & Demand A few months ago, Toyota was quite afraid of the new low-cost Honda Insight hybrid. It even went as far as to make a $21,000 version of the 2010 Prius (aka Prius I) to try to compete with Honda on price. Well, seems like




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Toyota Recalls 3.8 Million Vehicles, Including Prius Hybrids

Photo: Wikipedia, Public domain 2004 to 2009 Prius Included in Toyota's September 2009 Recall Toyota has just announced a huge recall. About 3.8 million vehicles are included, and that includes the 2004 to 2009 Prius hybrid. Since that's probably a




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2010 Detroit Auto Show: Toyota FT-CH Hybrid Concept Might Join Prius Family

Photo: Michael Graham RichardPrius Might Become a Family, 8 New Hybrid Models ComingMaybe the rumors that have been floating around for a long time were true... Toyota said during its press event at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show that they are considering




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Toyota Will Increase Hybrid Production to 1 Million Units Per Year in 2011

Photo: Michael Graham Richard Twice As Much as 2009 Hybrid Production According to the Nikkei, Toyota is planning to ramp up hybrid vehicle production pretty significantly this year, with a goal of production 1 million hybrids annually in 2011 (up from




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Toyota to Recall the 2010 Prius in U.S. and Japan for Braking Problems

Photo: Toyota Update: Kaizen Fail: Toyota Recalls 437,000 Hybrids Worldwide, Mostly 2010 Prius Models 311,000 Third Generation Prius Hybrids to be Recalled by Toyota It seems like Toyota has yet to hit rock bottom. Last week the NHTSA announced that it




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Kaizen Fail: Toyota Recalls 437,000 Hybrids Worldwide, Mostly 2010 Prius Models

Photo: Toyota Ouch We all knew it was coming, but now it's official. Toyota has formally filed a voluntary recall for 437,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide. Most of those are third generation Prius hybrids, but they're also recalling the few Prius PHEV out




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Zipcar Stops Renting 2010 Prius Hybrids Until Brake Problems are Fixed

Apologies for the bad Photoshop job... Photo: Zipcar Logo, Toyota Less Than 1% of Zipcar Fleet, But... I'm pretty sure that many TreeHugger readers are also Zipcar customers (car-sharing in general is booming), and chances are that with that crowd, the




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Cosmic Rays May Have Driven Toyota Vehicles Crazy

More than 8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been recalled worldwide (including the 2010 Prius), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has linked at least 52 deaths to unexpected acceleration in these vehicles. Although floormats




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Toyota Prius Named Top Green Car

It's been a rough year for Toyota, which has been plagued by recalls, but the Japanese car maker's top selling Prius is still scoring points for the embattled company. Kelley Blue




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Looking for an Affordable Mercedes? Try the Hybrid

OK, affordable might be a bit of an overstatement, unless you're one of the richer tree huggers out there. We've told you before about Mercedes-Benz's hybrid S400,




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China Bans Rare Earth Sales To Japan; Japan Starts Serious Recycling

Alex previously wrote about concerns as China Tightens Grasp on Rare Earth Metals Vital for Green Technologies; now we are seeing it in action. After a dispute over a collision between the Japanese Coast Guard and a Chinese




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Toyota i-Road 3-wheeler launching in French carsharing & smart city scheme

I love this little vehicle. If it ever becomes commercially available outside of carsharing schemes, I may have to get one. Or maybe I should just start a carsharing scheme in my city....




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11 electric cars now under $27,000... in California

There are now 11 mass-manufactured electric cars that come in under $27,000 in California... after federal and California incentives.




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Toyota's Thermo-Tect Lime Green paint saves energy and lives. Why isn't every car this color?

It's ugly, but it sure can keep that car from cooking, and it is going to be seen from a long distance.




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Toyota builds a wooden car designed to be a family heirloom

It's a TreeHugger dream: an all electric wooden car designed to last forever.




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Lexus to go hi-viz, encrusting car with 41,999 programmable LEDs

It makes perfect sense to make cars easier to see, night and day




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Toyota will advertise its hydrogen fuel cell sedan with smog-reducing billboards

In a bid to highlight the clean air advantage of the Toyota Mirai, a hydrogen fuel cell electric car, the company is putting up pollution-scrubbing billboards.




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Toyota's new power plant will use dairy manure to make clean electricity & hydrogen

The forthcoming Tri-Gen facility is being called "the world's first megawatt-scale 100% renewable power and hydrogen generation station."




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How to drink green juice and still be “green”

Green juices and smoothies aren’t necessarily the other kind of green—the eco-friendly kind.




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The problem with eco-labels on food

And why 'ethical' grocery shopping isn't going to save the world.




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Organic gardening helps inmates kick drug addiction

Physically and mentally, growing plants without chemicals has a transformative effect.




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First-Ever Recycled Vinyl Wallcovering

Wallpaper for commercial applications must be a hardy, sturdy product to withstand daily wear and tear. But vinyl is a TreeHugger no-way…unless it is recycled. LSI Wallcovering is making wallcovering waves with the market's first ever recycled vinyl




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A Healthy California School Lunch: Fruit, Veggies, And A Bit Of Lead

Vinyl man (pictured) may be disappointed. "The hundreds of thousands of lunch boxes given away by California state health officials over the last several years were designed to promote healthful habits, bearing slogans such as "Eat Fruits & Vegetables




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Quote of the Day: Michael Schade on PVC and Environmental Justice

Sam Suds and the Case of PVC The entire life cycle of PVC is an issue of environmental justice and racism. Many PVC plants are located near poor and communities of color. These facilities have poisoned workers and fence-line neighbors, polluted the




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Target to "Systematically Reduce" PVC Use

Photo credit: What Rhymes with Nicole Target may finally be feeling the heat from consumer, health, and environmental groups such as the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), which has been vociferous in its campaign to get the nation's




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Eco-Flexx: A More Benign Billboard Material

Years ago, whilst working as a researcher for Greenpeace, looking at how effective its campaign had been to make the Sydney Olympics PVC-free, it became apparent to me how polyvinyl chloride so dominates certain industries. This is certainly true of




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Sears & Kmart Join Wal-Mart, Target In PVC Reduction Programs

Short design-life products made of PVC have been a common, inexpensive, and functional choice for almost 50 years. But, vinyl can also be a risky choice of material for objects often handled by consumers, posing a risk of lead exposure, especially if




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Len-Tex's Surface iQ Wallcoverings Earns Cradle to Cradle Certification

Joining gDiapers, the US Postal Service and more, Surface iQ's commercial wallcoverings have earned Cradle to Cradle certification. The only printed commercial grade wallcovering to have earned this certification, Surface iQ's products have an




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February Deadline To Get The Lead Out Of Kid's Clothes & Toys: Recycling Allowed?

The US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), under pressure to lessen childhood exposure to lead in toys and clothing, has set a deadline of early February 2009. That's




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Handmade Toys And Clothing: Threatened With Extinction Under US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), as passed by the US Congress in August, 2008, inadvertently threatens to take many handmade toys and children's clothing items off the market. According to the




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How Not To Present Vinyl as an Environmentally Sound Choice

Over at the Sietch Blog, an environmental site that I respect a lot, a roofer named Leo defends PVC roofing as one of the greenest roofs. He isn't wrong; it comes in white, and white roofs are all the rage, it lasts a long time and is a




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Terrific Green Tool: Precautionary List From Perkins+Will

Architects usually keep their proprietary research locked up and closely held. Perkins + Will has done the opposite and made it a public service. Launched at Greenbuild the Precautionary List is a compilation of available data on chemicals and




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Eco Reminders; Wall Stickers with a Poetic Message Help You Get Rid of Bad Habits (Photos)

Stickers can be fun, but how eco-friendly is this new craze for decorating walls? We have found two brands that claim their vinyls to be eco-chic, and some even come with decorative eco-reminders; very clever! Hu2 in the UK has just




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Susan Freinkel on Our Toxic Plastic Love Affair (Podcast)

It clogs our oceans and tampers with our bodies, yet without it, all modern life would skid to a stop. Susan Freinkel's new book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story, explores the rise of plastic into ubiquity, hails it for its life-saving wonders, and explores




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Big Mistake: Hiring "Greenpeace Co-Founder" Patrick Moore To Peddle Vinyl Windows

They look so cute on their polyurethane sofa, in front of the wall of vinyl windows and doors, in the stock shot from the Canadian vinyl industry. The Vinyl salesmen are also




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On Parentables: Christine the Chemist Explains The Problems With PVC And Vinyl

Should the stuff be kept away from kids? The American Public Health Association thinks so.




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Interface introduces vinyl flooring

This is what has been touted as the greenest company in America. Will they give vinyl a green sheen?




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Carry your house on your back with Steven M. Johnson's Parka Place

In which Steven shows once again how far ahead of the pack he was.




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When it's cold, insulating your body is the place to start

Steven M. Johnson has some good ideas, but there have been others worth noting in TreeHugger.




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Carry your cutlery on your face with the Goggle Cups

Steven M. Johnson's great idea for ultralight camping combines your dinnerware with your goggles.




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Hey Google, this rooftop solar cooker is perfect for your self-driving car

Why turn your car into a living room when it can also be a kitchen?




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A picture is worth: Steven M. Johnson's GYM

I thought the ELF was a great new idea; turns out our hero was there first.




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Steven Johnson's transformer chair turns into a rowing machine

I could use this right now.




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Your office is in your car

Steven M. Johnson shows how the well-equipped mobile worker got around twenty-five years ago.




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Never leave the office when you have Steven M. Johnson's Office Sleeper

Work/life balance is over-rated anyway.




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It's not womens' metabolism that keeps them cool in the office; it's the men in suits.

And Steven M. Johnson has the answer to the problem.