Interior option

Big picture: are there earth friendly cars?

 

I think all the synthetic material used instead of leather is what is non earth friendly.... Car tires, vinyl, carpet etc... I used to be a fireman back before they all wore the scott air packs.... Car smoke is the absolute worst to breath!!! It is filled with the absolute nastiest stuff!....the only thing that comes close is a bed mattress.

Leather is probrably the most earth friendly part about the car... we are using leather rather than throwing it away?.... its not like cows are being harvested for their hides?
In some countries they use every part of an animal... claws, brain, bone etc etc...
at least we can use a hide and get some good use out of it for years rather than being so wasteful and having to make a petroleum based product instead?...... every since the cave man or Cain and Abel.... we have utilized hides?

I guess we could use cotton for our car seats!.. but what are we trying to prove?.. its in a car! How do you suppose a car is made?.. from the steel to how its powered.. the hybrid part of it is the only thing that gives it any earth friendly redeeming value. Even then we are only lessening the waste of energy we already created with petroleum?


If it makes you feel good to be earth friendly then you better go live in a tent in the woods and eat bugs!.... and it can't be a tee-pee because they use hides!

I personally would like a car with leather for everything!... Imagine the bliss of rabbit fur lined glove boxes!, Elk skin carpets!, Soft deer skin arm rests!, Bone knobs on the dash! Tires made of Sinue from the tendons woven together by some Indian lady! Or we could even carve them out of stone! And last but not least.... a Radio thats a parrot...all I do is pull on its tail and it sings!!!.. And to be perfectly earth friendly.. you will need a 3 foot by 3 foot hole in the floorboard so you can use your foot power!

I think I saw a car like this once.... humm.. where was it?... I know!.... I saw it on the flintstones! I wonder if they can still make em like that? I bet all the earth friendly people would snatch them up! :lol: :blink:

Sorry.. I don't know what got into me???

Now dats funny right there!.. I don't care what anybody says.. thats funny right ther... If anybody don't like that, they can just get out!... "Larry the cable guy!"

 

Yaba-Daba-Doo, Brother!

I have the skull of a Hummer driver dangling from my rear view mirror. Couldn't let it go to waste.


Edited: I need two of them, like those fuzzy dice from the 80s.

 

If you're a sporty driver, cloth seats will grip you better than leather. You will slide around less when taking fast corners in cloth seats. However Leather seats are more comfortable, are easy to clean, and are very durable. The photos of the 2006 Prius seem to show perforated leather, which is better than smooth leather in terms of gripping you and keeping the seating position temperate. I ordered my 2006 with leather.

 

your humidity is low... I think thats prob the key.... have to breath alot if the body can't evaporate elsewhere... you just get soaked wherever your enclosed. I sweat like crazy too if I can't breath.... but I now live in a much less humid climate than I used to "Houston"... wheeew! I won't be moving back there again!

 

"Leather is probrably the most earth friendly part about the car... we are using leather rather than throwing it away?.... its not like cows are being harvested for their hides?"

this is only true if you are taking the hide off and you do nothing to it. the dyes/chemicals/etc to make it what it is to put in the car is detrimental to the environment. and after that process, it is not biodegradable. also, who knows if toyota is using real cow hide?

 

They have to use real cow hide if they advertise "genuine leather". Its the law.

 

Is it advertised as genuine leather? I thought I read somewhere (on priuschat) that toyota started using synthetic materials for their 'leather'. & if leather indeed isn't earth friendly with the applicated chemicals, the alternative would be better anyway. Better, but by no means the best.

Cows are part of the earth, and it's not too friendly to them.

 

All leather used in Toyota vehicles is genuine leather.

 

I prefer the nice gray material that came with my car back in 11/03. Looks like the day I picked it up (no kids). I do like light colored perf leather and that would be good for the car. I live in the NE, so I'd have to have heated seats. I takes a LONG time for a non heated leather seat to become toasty. This is why I haven't got leather.

 

I added leather at an aftermarket dealer that does 95% dealer work--no public advertising.

They do a great job since they have to keep dealers satisfied. My leather could pass for original equipment with a perfect color match. Total price was $1100--and I did not have to buy all the "goodies" in the top package just to get the leather!

Check with your dealer to see if they can recommend a leather aftermarket shop. Most larger cities should have one.

 

Your absolutely right!... but the same dyes/chemicals/etc is countered by the dyes/chemicals/etc that are used for the synthetics.. so all things being equal.. its a wash.... except that in my illustration, I'm still using the wasted cow!....
Hey!.. but this is all foolishness anyway!.... compared to what it takes to make the whole car.. my boasting about leather seats makes about as much sense as someone who wears a synthetic sweater and boast that the buttons are natural bone!
Its negligable and not worth argueing over.....

What we are really discussing is about "values" and belief systems, and I appreciate your level headed discussion.

Honestly, I think one of the main things I like about leather is that it "is" natural. Like having a tree in your house!..or plants!....

I just feel a little closer to myself when I have natural around me... but I try not to make a religion out of it and condemn those that don't go to my church!

Funny part, is this leather is similiar to the good feeling fake plants bring.... not a whole lot of real to it!