ShaggyJebus wrote...
But the major things can be very difficult and/or cost a lot of money, like getting solar panels, messing with your car so that it runs on vegetable oil (or buying an electric car or hybrid), and updating all the stuff you own with "green" products. I think it would actually be cheaper to just buy a house that's already green than to replace everything in a typical home with green products.
Hybrids aren't cost efficient enough to really be considered "green" technology at the current time. It'll take the vehicles life time for the "fuel savings" to add up enough to really make any debate for them. Plus, the current price for replacing a battery for a Toyota Prius is sitting at a heft $2600 which really just means that once the battery is used up (usually around the estimated 10yr mark) nobody is going to invest in the repairs to get the vehicle up and running. I read an article in a magazine which I was getting work done on my car that debated that current hybrids are basically throw away cars and exist solely to prey on the idiotic nature of some "green freaks".
Solar panels the last time I heard were an expensive 10,000 for a small array and can take up to ten years to recoup the savings and begin to produce a profit. Though I heard about technology or an innovation actually that "saves" the cold from night in Arizona to cool buildings during the daytime to save energy. The main problem with all the green technology is that it is currently expensive to produce and market.