One of our New Year’s resolutions here at Needmore was to try to do better for the planet. And that starts with driving. You see, just over three years ago, we picked up a used Volvo, a 1990 model DL. The kind you see everywhere in Portland, as a matter of fact. And it’s served us well. It’s a sturdy car, and hasn’t yet hit 100,000 miles.

However, we moved into a real office last fall, and though we do bike to work sometimes when the weather is nice, we haven’t lately. So we started to feel guilty about all the driving, because a Volvo isn’t exactly good with emissions, and it’s quite terrible with gas mileage. What’s a designer to do?

So after chatting last week, and consulting with our accountant, we decided to get a Prius. Or rather, Needmore did! We purchased it through a credit union (Unitus), and picked it up from the dealer Friday night, after a long day of running around and signing papers.

Let me tell you, this is a magnificent car. To someone who’s been driving used cars all his life, it’s amazing. It gets three times the gas mileage and 1/20th of the emissions, compared to our Volvo. So we can feel a little better driving to work and our meetings.

We still use some gas. The pollution isn’t gone completely. But we both sure do feel a lot better about it!