In my recent column about driving more slowly to get better fuel mileage — and live a saner life, instead of rushing around every second — I boasted that in two weeks I had a tally of zero rear-endings and zero raised middle fingers.

That almost changed on my way in to work today.

I was eastbound at the point where you have to take a ramp — with a series of merges — to get from Route 422 to the Schuylkill Expressway.

In front of me was a small camper trailer from Vermont with a sign in the rear window, “The Portable Ghetto.” Cute.
He was tooling along at 45 mph. The speed limit on the ramp, if I recall correctly, is 30 mph. So we were already exceeding it by 15 mph.

But that wasn’t fast enough for the silver-blue 18-wheeler behind me. He roared up to what seemed like inches of my rear bumper and stayed there.

At a point where traffic comes in from the right, the trucker began to lay on the horn. Technically, I don’t see that merge lane as a right lane. It’s only 200 yards or so before you have to get back left.

But at the sound of the horn, the poor guy in the trailer began to move right … just as the truck driver behind me also swerved right and accellerated. He was probably flooring it.

The trailer swayed, the trucker braked.

I braked, too, fearful that the truck, which had an open bed and no load, would jack-knife into me.

As soon as there was an opening between me and the small trailer that he could get through, the trucker veered left again and roared off. I tried to get his license plate number, but I couldn’t make it out, he was moving ahead so quickly.

I don’t know about the poor guy from Vermont — welcome to Philly! — but my heart was pounding.

In yesterday’s GreenSpace column, I wrote about driving more slowly to get better fuel mileage. I already have a Prius — I’ve had one since 2004 and now have a 2008 model — and simply by paying attention to braking and driving more smoothly and such, I could get pretty good mileage. Consistently in the low 50s.

But I found I can do so much better by driving more slowly. Usually, I cruise along between 60 and 65. What if I kept it to between 55 and 60?

I’d expected to get better mileage, and sure enough I did. But part of the point of the article was to see if driving more slowly also drove me crazy.

In the end, it didn’t. I actually liked it better, not always looking for the opening to scoot through, not always pushing ahead, my stomach clenched because I’m worried about getting somewhere on time.

I took lots of data over two weeks, and the short version is that I found I could consistently keep my miles per gallon up into the 60s on my 40-mile drive from out near Pottstown to Philadelphia.

Going home — more uphill — I could count on making the upper 50s, but occasionally rose into the 60s.

I also made out by telecommuting one day each week.

Next-up: I want to convert to plug-in. 100 mpg here I come!

Here’s a Christian Science Monitor article about “the father of the plug-in car,” with all sorts of information about plug-ins and how feasible they are.

Meanwhile, earlier this month in San Jose, General Motors and 34 utilities agreed to collaborate with the Electric Power Research Institute on plug-in hybrids. Read about it here:

Yesterday, I was fascinated by a biodiesel-powered boat.

Today, I found a cool website about solar powered boats.

I was amazed at the number and variety of projects. People from countries all over the world are having a go at the technology. It makes perfect sense: Where could you find a place with more sun than the open water?
Meanwhile, an update from the Japanese sailor who in 1996 had the fastest Pacific crossing in a solar-powered boatr (148 days). Earlier this month, he completed a 4,350-mile trip from Honolulu to the east coast of Japan in a wave-powered boat. Read about it here.

His official website wasn’t quite up to date when I last checked it, but it has great diagrams of the boat.

By the way, it’s a rare kind of boat that actually does better in rough weather!

In June, an amazing looking trimaran with a swept-back “wave-piercing” design set a new world record for a powerboat circumnavigation of the world — 24,000 nautical miles in 61 days, taking 14 days off the previous world record.

And it was hailed as an eco-achievement.

I snorted at first. Run a fuel-guzzling POWER boat at top speed around the world, and this is supposed to say good things about conservation?

But the boat runs on biodiesel, and the point was to show that running 100 percent renewable fuel, 100 percent carbon neutral — and breaking the world record for circumnavigation to boot — could be done.

Now, Earthrace is continuing with a two-year promotional tour before returning home to New Zealand.

It’s an amazing boat: Parts of the hull are made from hemp composite. Lubricants are made from vegetable oils. The crew wears clothing of bamboo fiber and eats organic or local foods “whenever possible.”

They won me over.

You can track the whole thing online and read more about the project, from eco-details to New Zealander Capt. Pete Behune’s lively blog.

Not long ago, the crew was in Valencia.

After completing the big circumnavigation, Behune was waxing philosophical: “Earthrace is like a tribe. It gives us something to belong to, and something bigger than just ourselves. It allows us to contribute to a cause we believe in. This amazing group of talented people are all part of a great tribe that spans so many countries, cultures and demographics. It transcends wealth and status. We are all basically equal, and all doing our bit. What joins us together is the world’s coolest boat, and the notion that we can and do make a difference with our efforts.”

Okay, this was after a night of celebratory partying: “We’re a tangled mass of limbs writhing away on the dance floor. The heavy base from the fat stereo system pumps away at my rib cage, and my head is a swirling maze of music, emotion, and alcohol.”

But the point stands.

Alas, the boat isn’t coming to the U.S. any time soon. So we’ll just have to keep up with Bethune online to see what he’s up to next.

On a section of the website that sumarizes what biodiesel can be made from — canola, soy, coconut, palm opil, mustard seed, sunflower, animal fat (tallow), fish oil, seaweed and algae — it notes that Bethune underwent liposuction, “and the fat (all 100ml) was used to make a small amount of biodiesel for Earthrace!”

Now THAT’S dedication.

“Same Search, Better Earth” is the motto of of EcoSearch, a nonprofit that raises money for other environmentally-based nonprofits.

The search engine, www.ecosearch.org, looks a whole lot like Google, and executive director David Krasnow said the search actually IS Google, with a different homepage look.

What EcoSearch gets out of the deal is the ad revenue. Krasnow says that if a million users searched twice a day, EcoSearch would be able to donate $15 million a year to eco-nonprofits.

He said money raised so far has gone to Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, TreePeople, the Rainforest Alliance and others.

I’ve made it my own homepage. The “O” in EcoSearch is a little blue earth held in two hands.

In yesterday’s Inquirer, I wrote a story about wind power and how fast it is growing as an energy source in Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. The story focused, in part, on a Bucks County facility that makes turbines.

Julius Steiner, CEO of the company that owns the plant, Gamesa USA, invited me into an office that was comfortably — and impressively! — warm. No excessive air-conditioning chill-out for this place. The offices were high-tech looking, like the rest of the plant. Think something like the set of a James Bond movie. A model wind turbine stood in the corner.

Steiner talked for a while not about energy production, but energy consumption. “No matter how much we improve sourcing energy,“ he said, “unless we dramatically change the was we consume it, we’re going to be in trouble.”

Many agree. I talked to a solar power installer not long ago who said that when she visits people’s homes to gauge whether adding solar panels will work. what she often finds is that the energy demand is too high. The household needs to conserve first, THEN think about solar.

Steiner likens today’s energy problems to the litter problems the country had decades ago. Highways and cityscapes were strewn with cans, bottles, butts and paper. (I know, some still are today. But believe me, it was worse.) The nation launched a “Don’t be a litterbug” campaign, with incessant public service advertisements and fines.

The behavior of the American public changed. Littering became a shameful thing to do.

He suggests we should have a similar campaign now to curb our energy use.

I’m not quite sure how it could be done. Littering is such a visible act! But no matter. I’m all for it.

Lest we all forget that our waterways are the sum of everything we do on the land — and they give back to us in the form of drinking water, recreation, home for wildlife, beautiful vistas and more — the Delaware Riverkeeper Network has launched a campaign to “Remember the River.”

The Delaware is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi. It flows freely for 330 miles from lower New York state, through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

The watershed drains about four percent of the continental U.S. land area. And provides drinking water for 17 million people from four states — roughly five percent of the U.S. population.

A tall order. Read more about it on the campaign’s website.

Speaking of which, a flood of politicos showed up recently for the unveiling of billboards that are going to go up along highways in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. They read, "Welcome to the Delaware River Watershed." 

“The Delaware River is irreplaceably important to our region,” said Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum. She said the campaign is about “reconnecting communities with the Delaware River so they value it and therefore want to care for it.”

In Pennsylvania, the signs will go up on the turnpike and the Northeast Extension. In New Jersey, they’ll be along I-80, I-76, I-195, Rt 46, Rt 202, Rt 206 and the Atlantic City Expressway.

In addition to remembering, the campaign suggests people get out on the river in a boat, walk or picnic along its banks, go native in their back yards by planting native species, pick up litter … you get the idea.

If you want to be a more visible supporter, the campaign also is selling wristband with the word “river” woven into them and “Remember the River” lapel pins.

With all the concern about salmonella contamination of tomatoes and more, it's making a whole lot more sense to keep tabs on where your food is coming from. And what better way to do that than buy it from the farmer?

The region is full of farmers' markets, and never have I seen a more complete list than the one at www.PhillyHealthInfo.org. It lists 27 in Philadelphia alone. I wouldn't have even guessed there WERE that many.

The list is being promoted by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which runs the website, and White Dog Community Enterprises, the city coordinator of the "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" campaign.

The College's Andrea Kenyon says that while buying local isn't fail-safe, it's a good start and helps support local farmers.

Judy Wicks, founder of White Dog, said in a statement that self-reliance -- or, I suppose, a reliance as close to yourself as you can get -- is "urgent as we face the uncertainties brought on by climate change and rising oil prices." Also check out the White Dog local food site, www.localfoodPhilly.org. A goldmine.

Mayor Nutter has proclaimed this week "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" week.

Want to see the guy I wrote about in this morning's column, Jim Crater, in action? Want to see another, albeit closely related, side to his recycling work?

On Thursday, from 7 to 9 p.m. in northern Chester County, Crater will lead an energy-saving workshop, “How To Do What You Do, But Better!”

Crater, who finds creative re-uses for things like fishing line and wine corks and every kind of plastic imaginable, also is an expert on on heating, cooling, electric and automotive issues pertaining to the environment.

Crater says he’s hoping to use the forum as a community-building tool. “Many may now be asking themselves, ‘Will I eat this winter and buy fuel?’ If we act together and share ideas while jointly buying products, we can not only do both but eat and heat better.”

For instance, if ten neighbors, say, got together to ask a company to do energy audits of their homes, all on the same day, it would be cheaper. How come we aren’t already doing things like that?

“I think the biggest thing we have to get across to people,” he told me, is that “I don’t believe there are any big fixes” when it comes to the environment. But there are a multitude of small efforts that add up.

And there are ways to do things more creatively. “There is no shortage of energy,” he said. “There is a shortage of understanding energy.”

The event will be held at the Norco Fire Company, 144 West Schuylkill Road — just east of Route 100 — in North Coventry Township. It is being sponsored by Crater’s nonprofit,  Recycling Services, Inc., plus the Chester County Sierra Club, and the North Coventry environmental action committee.

And the BYOM? Bring Your Own Mug. No disposable drink containers will be available.

For more information, please Recycling Services’ website.