Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
Ford Motor Co. announced a slew of new products that will come to North America by 2010, including six vehicles from Europe, as the company responds to rising gas prices and consumer demands for more fuel-efficient options. Here's what's on the way:
| 2009: |
|---|
2009 F-150 pickup, which Ford says gets 7 percent better fuel economy than the current model
2009 Ford Mustang
2010 Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ midsize sedans
2010 Ford Fusion hybrid and Mercury Milan hybrid, which will be the third and fourth hybrid models in Ford's lineup
2010 Ford Taurus with fuel-saving EcoBoost engine
New Lincoln seven-passenger crossover with EcoBoost engine
Transit Connect multipurpose van from Europe
| 2010: |
|---|
New Ford Fiesta subcompact from Europe
New Ford Focus small car from Europe, in four- and five-door versions
New Mercury small car
New small vehicle in a segment that would be new to the North American market (possibly the C-Max multipurpose vehicle from Europe, a minivan-like vehicle built on a Focus platform)
New Ford Explorer, which will be built on a car frame instead of a truck frame and will get 25 percent better fuel economy than the old Explorer.
| Beyond: |
|---|
Ford said it would bring two more European cars to the North American market by the end of 2012, although it didn't name those vehicles. Additional models Ford could be considering are the Mondeo midsize car and the Kuga crossover.
