REPORT: Toyota develops its own flower for cleaner air at Prius plant
Posted Oct 30th 2009 8:29AM by Jeremy Korzeniewski
Automakers make cars and trucks, no surprises there. Some even make other interesting things, like Honda, which also builds motorcycles, lawn mowers, jets, robots and solar cells. But until now, we haven't heard of any car company that develops its own species of flowers. Thankfully, Toyota has reportedly stepped in to correct that oversight by creating two new derivatives of the cherry sage and gardenia at its factory in Toyota City, Japan.
This is the plant where the Japanese automaker assembles the Prius hybrid, which seems fitting since the flowers were specifically chosen for their ability to absorb nitrogen oxides and create water vapor. These attributes clean the surrounding air and lower temperatures at the factory.
Other environmentally-friendly efforts at the plant include roof-mounted solar panels, photocatalytic paint on exterior walls, reflective solar tubes that provide interior light and even slow-growing grass that only needs to be mowed twice per year (we've got dibs). According to Toyota, these initiatives help lower the carbon footprint at the plant, which is a good thing since production of the Prius hybrid is a carbon-intensive operation.
[Source: drive.com.au]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
FThorn 8:48AM (10/30/2009)
gag me with a spoon.
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Tourian 1:17PM (10/30/2009)
How about they just make a car I WANT and can AFFORD to buy? Flowers, awesome - nope. I don't drink the Toyota Kool-Aid so this doesn't impress me at all. I'm sure every automaker across the globe does something as impressive or more so to reduce their carbon footprint, they just don't let on about it because its a trade secret they don't want their competitors to know about. Let the end products do the talking. Toyota just felt like letting this cat out of the bag maybe to get everyone feeling warm and fuzzy about them after so many bad PR disaster stories of killer floormats and rusty pickups. Let me know when the new Hachi comes out.
PJ 3:40PM (10/30/2009)
Yeah, they should just drop the pretense and build Priuses in a Chinese sweatshop with lead paint and 120W incandescent bulbs, powered by its own coal plant. Because you *totally* wouldn't bag on them just as hard for being hypocrites.
Look, if the idea of the Prius offends your aesthetic, or political, or ideological sense, fine, but just say so--don't pretend Prius owners are a breed apart from every other buyer who chooses their car based on what it stands for and what it says about them, which is 90% of people on the road. Someone who buys a car because it's an "anti-Prius" is no less self-conscious.
JayC 8:52AM (10/30/2009)
Can these plants reproduce? What will happen if they run amok and ruin the natural flora?
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Egon 9:07AM (10/30/2009)
Funny, I've got the same questions about Prius owners.
Tourian 9:46AM (10/30/2009)
Well, if they migrate to the west they tend to mate with the normal domestic honeysuckles, and being more aggressive, they produce a deadly breed of killers. You've been warned.
FThorn 9:58AM (10/30/2009)
I have three children.
Next question.
mk15 10:23AM (10/30/2009)
These were selectively bred to be the way they are. It's no different from selective breeding in agriculture or pets. It's setting up the factors so that hopefully the result has the traits that were desired. The traits they're trying to achieve already exist in the gene pool of the organism(s) involved. There's no direct genetic manipulation.
hmmwv 10:32AM (10/30/2009)
The new flower must be hybrid of several current plants.
Egon 10:37AM (10/30/2009)
@ mk15
Are you referring to the plants or the owners?
James Sonne 2:34PM (10/30/2009)
If they run amok and ruin the natural flora then great, we've got cute lookin' flowers that soak up more green house gases than the normal cute lookin' flowers. What's the problem?
Egon 8:54AM (10/30/2009)
Are you effiing kidding me?! LIke Prius-driivng toolbags need any more reasons for smugness. "Uh, yeah I drive a Prius AND support entire new plant species to save my planet...and you're welcome."
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The Other Bob 8:57AM (10/30/2009)
I was thinking the same thing. Yuk, yuk, yuk.
Henreh 9:06AM (10/30/2009)
Yo where can i get that grass?
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imoore 9:09AM (10/30/2009)
First, horticulture; next, agriculture and forestry. And I can still remember that story from a few years ago in which Toyota sells pre-fab houses in Japan. Yep, Toyota's plan to rule the world and every aspect of human life seems to be on track.
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Brian05SEL 10:23AM (10/30/2009)
But Wal*Mart has one hell of a headstart on that...
Tourian 11:29AM (10/30/2009)
I think the umbrella of Mitsubishi companies would disagree with you.
Syke 9:11AM (10/30/2009)
Thank you for yet another reason for me to want a Hummer H3.
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Visnick 9:09AM (10/30/2009)
Something tells me they've also dialed in the smell of their own farts
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Leclerc 9:16AM (10/30/2009)
Great points idiots, I think they should have used lead based paints and heated the place with coal. If you morons had a brain cell amongst you and did your little part to look like you give a s*** about our planet and the air we all breathe maybe future generations would benefit in the long run. Maybe these decisions Toyota made isn't going to change our world overnight but at least it is more than you could have thought of . I suppose nobody could convince your otherwise self-centered opinions to the contrary.
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