Our family is trying to decide whether to replace our 2012 electric car and it’s a right pain in the butt. I love our current car but over the years the range has dropped dramatically and in winter when the heat is on it’s really only good for school runs.
So we’re knee deep in spreadsheets comparing the cost of
- installing a new battery,
- upgrading to a second-hand Leaf (the model we currently have),
- upgrading to a EV with a longer range,
- buying a second fossil-fuel car for long journeys
- reverting to our main car being a fossil-fuel car
My head is spinning, but it’s a big decision, so it’s worth doing our homework. I’ll let you know what we decide.
One good outcome for the exercise was discovering that, thanks to lower fuel and maintenance costs, our current EV has paid for itself over the 6 years that we’ve owned it.
Anyway, enough talk of adult admin, here’s this month’s positive eco news …….
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Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash
According to one energy expert Ireland’s total offshore wind resource is enough to comfortably power the country’s electricity needs
Did you know that costumes from Sex and the City are thrifted?
California grocery stores must now donate all edible food under new “composting” law
Irish study finds that unmowed lawns attract just as many insects as wildflower meadows
Car adverts in France will have to recommend less-polluting forms of transport such as cycling under new rules
Recycled Christmas trees find a second life as protection for the fragile coastline in New Orleans
Lego has announced that its first carbon neutral factory will open in Vietnam in 2024
Ed Sheeran to rewild as much of the UK as he can
How to spot an unethical fashion brand
Irish courts see 50 cases against illegal hedge cutting during the bird nesting season.
Rifó is an Italian clothing company offering clothing made in Italy from recycled clothing!!!!
Have you ever thought about what clutter robs you of?
Endangered red kite successfully released to nature reserve in Meath
Fossil fuel plant in the US reopens as a bitcoin mining operation!
If Antarctica’s ‘doomsday’ glacier collapses it could trigger global floods and swallow islands (my one negative item of the month!)
And now or something nice and relaxing; the sound of a restored coral reef
Analysis suggest providing free green electricity and transport would reduce carbon emissions better than returning revenues to the public in the form of cash rebates
New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland have reached peak meat and are now starting to see a decline
Irish podcast Féasta discusses the looming cloud of digital waste and what we can do about it
Why made-to-order clothing is sustainable
A great article on stepping off the consumption treadmill and creating the life you want
Lots of great zero waste craft videos on this Irish Youtube channel
Till next month. In the meantime find me on Facebook or Instagram and if you want to read previous newsletters, just click the link.
Elaine
living lightly in ireland 
Well done Elaine?
Some really interesting facts.
Good luck with the car challenge .
I had my 2002 Red Honda Jazzz and planned to give it to my son on his 18th but in 2019 crashed into a wall.
Thankfully I was spared serious physical energy but very traumatic.
So just kept the cigarette holder section and popped a scratch card into it.
Your amazing love reading your tips advise articles
Have a lovely weekend.
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Delighted you’re enjoying the articles. Glad to hear you weren’t injured in the crash. Hope your son won on the scratch card!
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I would recommend an i3 with rex. We recently went from a two car house (one electric and one diesel) to a 2 car electric house (one leaf and one i3 Rex), and then decided to go down to just one. The rex means that for the really long distance journeys we can top up with petrol if we need too, but 95% of the driving is still on the battery which is about 200km pure electric. The Rex only takes 6L of petrol but adds about 100km more to the battery.
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Great. Thanks a mill for that recommendation. I think we looked at that before but can’t remember what we decided about it. Will take another look now.
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