Hybrid waste article:
Hybrid vehicle implications:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es702178s
Toyota Prius Harmony:
While car companies may give the impression that they are on the green side, it is visible that they are really just concerned with selling another product. Advertisement agencies have been able to take advantage of the consumer’s care for the environment and manipulate it. Consumers are told that if they buy a hybrid car with great gas mileage then they will be saving the planet and will be protecting the younger generations. Although this point is partially true you have to look at the process of creating one of these hybrid cars. For instance, the production that goes into making a Toyota Prius is one that is quite costly towards the environment. According to writer Dave Roos of HowStuffWorks.com, “in 2007, a report commissioned by an auto industry trade group insisted that when you factor in the waste generated during production, the notoriously gas-guzzling Hummer is actually greener than the Prius” (Roos). This shows that although the car does promote environmentally friendly miles per gallon it is actually damaging towards the environment. Not only is the waste produced by a hybrid car terrible for the surroundings, but the manufacturing factor is terrible as well. The process of building a lithium-ion battery takes incredible amounts of energy to produce, more so than a conventional car. They rely on mining nickel, copper and rare-earth metals like lithium, which are responsible for higher sulfur oxide emissions (Constantine Samaras). Continue reading