The USC Environmental advocacy group ECore hosted a “Do Better” rally on their campus last week and want its president to drive a Toyota Prius.
USC’s environmental advocacy group “ECore” hosted a “Do Better” Rally last week at USC. Among their catchy slogans was, “Hey Nikias, buy a Prius” which was aimed at their campus President C.L. Max Nikias, to make better personal decisions and set an example for the rest of the campus. While that slogan was probably chosen because “Prius” rhymes with “Nikias”, if President Nikias wanted to truly be sustainable, there are better sustainable options to be had.
While a new Toyota Prius is a right step on the path to sustainability, at more than $23,000 for a new one, not only is a Prius another car altogether, it’s not addressing one of the biggest carbon polluters out there, the manufacture of the new car to begin with. And while Nikias can probably find a nice used Prius at a decent price, as a car enthusiast, it would be cruel and unusual (/s) to subject Nikias to driving such an appliance around.
According to Scientific American, a new car from Toyota uses about 28 percent of its lifetime carbon dioxide emissions from its manufacture and transportation to the dealership. Presumably, the same percentages can be assumed for most other cars. Sure, methods for making cars have got greener, but the fact remains that a huge chunk of a car’s carbon emissions comes from the car being made.
Instead, if President Nikias, if he sees fit, decided on a set of wheels, he should look at the used car market where the original carbon emission price has already been “paid for” by someone else. He’ll also want to look for a car that gets better gas mileage than the one he’s replacing.
Sure, over the long run, the Prius might turn out to be more sustainable than a used car, but there are so many used cars out there to choose from.
If President Nikias really wanted to go sustainable, a used Electric car with a charging source certified with power from renewable energy would be the way to go.
