Will you feel better about driving a planet-warming SUV if you’re sitting on seat covers made from 100 percent post-industrial waste? Ford hopes so. Its 2008 Escape Hybrid sports seat fabric crafted from discarded plastic and polyester fabrics "that would have otherwise ended up in landfills." (Though an all dead-cow interior remains an option.) The eco-friendly fabric is also available on the gas-guzzling version of the Escape. "The new fabric offers the same feel and durability of virgin-fiber fabrics, and was subjected to a battery of tests to verify its durability, seam strength, color consistency, and even new-car smell," according to the tag attached to a shopping bag made from the seat material express-mailed to Green Wombat from Motor City. (A sniff test confirms that new-car smell, and the material looks and feels better than that found in the last Detroit-made rental Green Wombat drove. And as Ford PR person cleverly notes, the bag could come in handy in San Francisco, which has banned non-biodegradable plastic bags.)
Now, it’s hard to whack Ford (F) for showing some eco-imagination, as it were. And a 34-mpg hybrid small SUV like the Escape is certainly better than no hybrid at
all. (Full disclosure lest I be flickrized: Green Wombat drives a so-called cute ute himself, a Toyota
(TM) RAV4.) Yet it’s way too obvious to point out that offering recycled seating on one product line will hardly offset the greenhouse emissions produced by such crimes against nature as the Ford Expedition and the F-150. And we won’t even go into the campaigns by Ford – and General Motors (GM), DaimlerChrysler (DCX), Honda (HMC) and most of the other automakers – to quash efforts to raise fuel-efficiency standards and a California law that limits cars’ carbon spew.
The recycled seat covers are made by InterfaceFabric, a division of ecologically oriented Atlanta textile company Interface (IFSIA). Interface estimates that the green-seated Escape will eliminate the
equivalent of 1.8 million pounds of carbon dioxide and 7 million kilowatt
hours of electricity consumption while saving 600,000 gallons of water. Impressive. So why not make InterfaceFabric’s material standard equipment on all Ford vehicles and urge other automakers to follow suit. In fact, if you want to really get post-industrial about it, start using recycled materials on dashboards, moldings and other interior trim. There should be plenty of raw materials on hand when gasoline hits $5 a gallon and Suburbans, Tundras and Tahoes start landing on the scrap heap of automotive history.
Green Wombat 
You’ve got to be kidding, as if Toyota isn’t “spewing and fighting” C02? Get a clue…Ford and GM are no worse than the beloved Asian automakers, and in fact are better, in many respects. And go check the lawsuit in California on fighting it’s idiotic CO2 lawsuit…Honda and Toyota are right on there fighting away. And as for fuel economy regs, how about putting some blame on consumers who keep driving more and more? Men’s journal just did a survey on global warming. 80 percent wanted fuel economy regs … but 80 percent also wouldn’t pay more for gas (a tax) to curb use. We’re the problem…not the carmakers.
Exactly. That’s why I mentioned the Toyota Tundra.
Honda and Toyota are greener than Detroit’s big-3, at least according to the latest report from Union of Concerned Scientists. Toyota is no saint, but it’s a lot cleaner than Ford, overall, and it was the first to really put its money behind a hybrid for the American market and push forward with hybrids in various vehicles. There’s a reason why GM and Ford are falling behind and will continue to do so as gas prices increase. Consumers are a large part of the problem, and only high energy prices will solve that problem, but that gets reflected into the companies that anticipate energy trends.
Honda and Toyota only have good fuel economy because they historically made small cars. In a class size comparison GM is usually better, with the exception of hybird which has debatable environmental benefits anyway. For example: Hummer H3 is larger than Toyota FJ Cruiser and gets better fuel economy. Saturn Outlook is larger than Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander and gets better fuel economy. GMC Acadia is larger than Acura MDX and Lexus RX330 and gets better fuel economy. Chevy Siverado gets better fuel economy than Toyota Tundra. Honda Ridgline does not compare since it only tows 4500 lbs and has very limited payload. In fact Chevy trucsk are close to ridgline with near double towing and payload capability. Pontiac G6 gets better fuel economy than Camry and Accord with more horsepower. Basically anyone with sizable vehicle needs (children, towing, etc) will find GM most fuel efficient.
It is sad that Ford thinks that such a trivial thing is important. They need to bring back the all electric version of their simple clean Ford Ranger truck design.
We need real EVs Ford! Not greenwashed seatcovers.
I know what would be a great idea….Let’s stop whinning about who’s better than who and fix the problem! All of the before mentioned auto maker’s have the ability to make greener products that can be affordable and still be just as usefull as what we are driving today. The question should not be is the vehicle fuel efficent, but what steps are these american companies making to be competitive in this changing market…Seat Covers? Give me a break ford! how about raising standards on all vehicles and completely cutting out (on all vehicles) materials that they have the ability to get from recycled goods? How stupid do they think the american people are? Hey, and instead of getting on CA for uping their standards to what they claim are unreachable goals, how about working to change your obviously failing system…
Didn’t Ford kill the electric car?
I want this option all cars, not just Ford cars.
Don’t wait on the car corporations to clean up your emissions, increase your fuel economy or start producing all of the high tech, high cost “green” vehicles that we may or may not see in the next decade. There are options for cleaning up your car AND reducing your fuel costs. The company I am involved in converts automobiles to run on propane, which is cleaner, cheaper and gets equal fuel mileage to gasoline at half the price. Emissions are cleaned up as much as 90%. If you buy an EPA certified conversion (we own certs for the Ford F150, Expedition) you can get tax credits from the IRS. Depending on the state you live in, they will also give you credit for converting your vehicle to a cleaner alternative fuel. Here in Illinois, they match what the feds do with an actual rebate instead of a tax credit.
People need to start understanding that if they want to reduce their impact and costs, their going to have to take matters into their own hands…..
The Online Phenomenon 2008 Ford Escape
I didn?t know about it, so I opened autos.yahoo.com and edmunds.com to verify the 2008 Ford Escape phenomenon. I mean, they really love the Ford Escape and it is definitely a big hit online!