I was just catching up on my celeb gossip (yes, this green mama does that from time to time), and I read something on The Daily Green that made me guffaw: “Zac Efron arrived at last month’s Teen Choice Awards in an eco-limo.”
A what?
An eco-limo? If that isn’t a misnomer, I don’t know what is. I mean, can you imagine a stretch Hummer or something that considers itself ecologically sound?
Turns out I had the wrong impression of exactly what an eco-limo is, something I discovered after I Googled, what else, “eco limo.”
In reality, EcoLimo is a California transportation company with a fleet of earth-friendly cars–or as earth-friendly as you can get in the luxury car category. There are seven kinds of cars to choose from: four hybrid (gas/electric), two biodiesel (smells like French fries) and one CNG-fueled (compressed natural gas–hey, isn’t that what cows make that has burned a hole in the ozone layer? Just kidding…) The cars themselves range from a Lexus SUV (gas/hybrid) to a Mercedes sedan (biodiesel).
Of course, Zac Efron isn’t the first celeb to show up at an awards show in an environmentally friendly car. That honor would likely go to Ed Begley Jr., who is greener than the Jolly Green Giant, and has been driving an electric car since 1970. Other celebs arriving at awards shows in good-for-the-environment cars include Cameron Diaz and Tim Robbins, both of whom opted for a chauffeur-driven Toyota Prius as their ride to the 2003 Oscars.
Back to EcoLimo: the next time I’m traveling on business to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington, DC (where EcoLimo has locations) and need to book a car service, I’m going to seriously consider giving this company a call. I just hope that their good-for-the-earth approach isn’t bad-for-my-budget.
READ LEAH ON HOME GOES STRONG
Interesting article. These days almost all big car producing companies started to make hybrid-cars. GM producing hybrid trucks, Lexus few month ago started to produce a huge hybrid Limousine, so I believe that after 5-10 years every company will produce a hybrid cars.
Many limo hire companies are not only working on making their limousines kinder to the environment, but their whole business as well. However, in making their limousines more environmentally friendly, there are a number of simple things the limo hire companies can do. For example, having the limousines serviced regularly ensures that they are not using more fuel than necessary, this also includes ensuring the tires are balanced and not worn as this also makes the car work harder and use more fuel. The limo hire companies are also able to convert some of their limousines to run on compressed natural gas which is better for the environment, and there are even limousines which run on electricity, doing away with fuel worries all together.