Eco-Chick · The modern girl's guide to living green & fabulous.

Dresses and Coyotes in the Great Smoky Mountains

6 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 06/05/07

Come on, isn’t this better than a shot of yet another European monument or church? And it’s right here in the U.S.!

Trying to figure out a fun Summer trip? Feeling guilty about jetting to Europe because of how much CO2 your ride would produce? Wanting to try something different, that’s low-impact on your wallet and creates a minimum of stress?

Taken while lying on the ground, contemplating the mountains’ geology

Consider visiting one of our nation’s national parks. After all, you’re already paying for them with your tax dollars! (Hey, I know I sound like an ad for our parks system, but they’re really important ecosystems that are more than worth supporting, I say.) Over Spring Break I drove down with one of my best friends to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, which straddles the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. (I know, to be super eco-friendly, I should have gone to a park closer to my Connecticut home, but I’ve been to most of them, and I was saving Vermont for the Summer.)

Who knew you could find old-growth trees this size on the East Coast? I felt like I was in California as I hiked through the Smokies. And yes, I am wearing a dress! Very comfortable and great to hike in. Eco Chicks should all try it sometime (thanks to Brianne for the suggestion)!

While some of the park was crowded, and it will probably be more so during the warm season (this park is THE most visited park in the United States), once you get on the beaten trail, you will have plenty of room. Most folks who visit this and other parks only ever check out the edges of the woods, at best going on short day hikes.

All-natural cool-down time at a waterfall

Try camping out for just a night or two if it’s not something you haven’t had much practice in. Or stay in a campground and use it as a home-base for extra-long day excursions. Ask park personnel about hikes that will be your speed. We got some really good advice and suggestions from all the park employees that we asked. I’ve found this is generally true in national and state parks.

Rain can turn everything into a gorgeous wet wonderland as long as you’re prepared with the right gear.

We camped out in two different sections of the park, really getting to see a variety of ecosystems within a small area, and spotting some wildlife. Remember, it’s always smart to hang your food up in a tree to keep bears away; in the Smokies many campsites have pulley-systems already set up for this purpose, which makes it easy to keep the bears away. After all, you’re in their home now, but they’ll still want to chow on your treats.

A not-so-shy coyote I caught on camera on evening

Needs no caption

bears, car, dress, epa, Europe, fall, farm, Food, Home, MPG, north carolina, produce, spring, summer, trees, water, Wildlife, wood

For the first time, Green means GO.

9 Comments

by Starre Vartan · 01/28/07

Illustration exclusively for Eco Chick by Greg Grigoriou

TEXT by guest-blogger Greg Grigoriou

When I set out to look for my next car, i had a feeling the list would be short. A born again friend of the Earth, I knew that I would be relegated to a cute little Prius, or a fairly powerless Toyota Camry Hybrid. Now don’t get me wrong, those cars are tremendous technological achievements, with nearly zippo emissions and high mpg. But why do I have to drive Miss Daisy just because i want to spare the planet?

Then i checked out Honda and found my next car.

The Honda Accord Hybrid is the first car I’ve found that offers scintilating performance in tandem with near zero emissions (its a PZEV, a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle). Granted there are some pretty amazing hybrid offerings from Lexus, but unless you are in the 100k income bracket the closest you’ll get to sitting in one of those is at an auto show.

The numbers, for those of you who care for bragging rights, are downright gaudy for a working class car:

-0-60 in 6.7 seconds, about the same as an Audi A4
-253 hp, 23 more than a BMW 328i.
-35 highway mpg /28 city mpg. (15 percent more fuel efficient than a Volkswagon Jetta.)

Unlike other hybrids (cough cough Prius) which claim mpg’s of 50 and 60, but in reality only deliver in the low 40s, this car actually meets its expectations. And the warranty is just as impressive as the engine: 8 years on battery components, and a 15 year warranty on emissions control components.

The car has only a few annoying quirks. For example, the rear seat doesn’t fold down, which is frustrating considering the car is a midsize sedan (the battery blocks access to the trunk). So I guess I’ll get some weird stares when I have my hockey sticks stored on a roof rack. And then there’s the price. Don’t get me wrong– you definitely get what you pay for with this car– but it’s still over 30 grand, putting it in the same class as the more prestigious 3-series BMW, or Audi A4. If you’re trying to impress your clients, this car probably isnt the way to go. I also think the sales of this car would have benefitted from more stylish design cues to separate it from the regular gas engine counterpart.

The Accord hybrid won’t save you as much money at the pump as other hybrids, but you still get the same nearly zero emission effect while idling or driving at lower speeds. There is a subtlety of engineering at work too; unlike the Prius, which turns its engine off completely when the battery kicks in, the Accord drives just like a regular gas-powered car with the assistance of battery power. No whirring, or fancy dashboard graphics to advertising your tree hugging greatness to the world. In fact other than the hybrid logo, this car is one stealthy green machine.

Honda has done right by car afficiados and environmentalists alike, and once again proves itself to be a leader in automotive inginuity.

automobiles, car, cars, design, driving, emissions, epa, farm, gas, Honda, liver, model, models, MPG, prius, sales, spa, Tea