Driving a Floral Business in Sustainable Vehicles

My small business philosophy is centered on sustainability, green ethics and eco friendly options.  So what do I drive?  Well, for a while there, it changed from week to week. I was using City Car Share, to get myself around town for meetings, small pickups, deliveries and non-business needs.  One of my favorite cars to rent was the plug-in hybrid in Civic Center, SF. The gas mileage was pretty darn good, especially after a good charge.  I could get upwards of 60 mpgs with a full battery.  Although an extra step or two, charging it was fairly easy.  My neighbors were probably wondering why I had an extension cord running out my house and into the car...  little did they know it was saving gas and the air. I often use our family wagon to deliver to larger events and make large flower runs for Gorgeous and Green Events: We run it on recycled biodiesel from Biofuel Oasis.  Thankfully, this recycled vegetable fuel cooperative actually moved into a fueling station within a mile of our house, so we can go fill up at most hours of the day without a big hassle.  Since it's relatively safe in comparison to gasoline, we fill up two carboys with the stuff so we have extra on long trips or when we want to stay away from the station longer.  Thankfully, there are biofuel stations popping up all over California, so taking a road trip has not been a hassle.  Check out this cool map of fuel stations across the US if you have a diesel car and are looking for a fueling station near you: www.biofuel.org.  Make sure you learn about how it works and how to take care of your car, since it is a little different than petroleum diesel.  When it's recycled, it's way better for the environment too! Recently, I have been driving a lot more on a weekly basis, and got a little tired of having to pick up a city car share car so frequently, so I decided to get a car.  Two years without my own car, and I finally broke down.  Since I wanted to go affordable as well as fuel efficient, I decided on a Mini Cooper.  Ok, ok, so I was also looking for stylish and cute, can you blame me?  I had tried them out using city car share, and really enjoyed them.  Plus, I noticed they got great gas mileage and got even better if I drove them more consciously.  I had been waiting for MINI to start selling their E Mini, but they haven't come out with them just yet, and so I decided to lease a regular one for 3 years until they do. So far, my gas mileage has been steady, an average of 36 miles per gallon for my combined city, bay area traffic and freeway driving. I bet I could get my freeway mpg's well over 40, on a steady trip.  How is it so high? ... You might ask.  Well, I bought the basic version, few extras with a manual transmission.  So it's light and I have more control over the gas.  I have also made neutral my friend and don't rush up big hills, after light changes and up to stop signs.  It takes some getting used to and a little patience from my co-drivers on the road, but it doesn't mean I can't go fast.  I do have a 6 gear engine, after all. All in all, I wish there were more cars out there with better gas mileage, or no gas mileage for that matter.  I would love an all electric car, or a high performing hybrid and more style options to boot.  We have the technology, and we've had it for almost 15 years, but someone has been locking it up. For more info, do check out the film: "Who killed the electric car?". At least every once in a while I get to see one of these, which makes my heart go pitter, patter:

A Rav4 all electic car on the streets of San Francisco.

In good health and great gas mileage, G&G