Travelling for business is often a necessary evil. It's a little tougher to be green when we're away from home. It takes more planning, and often some sacrifice, to make our travel footprint a little lighter.

There is one part of travelling that is starting to get greener, however - green taxis. Now available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York through two different companies, if you must take a taxi you can at least make it a green one.

Of course, the cars are not actually painted green. Ozocar, out of New York City, has a fleet of Toyota Prius's for regular trips and Lexus RX400h's for the occasions when extra space is necessary. Inside the car, you'll find a laptop connected to high speed wifi and Sirius satellite radio. In LA & San Fran, you'll find the service provided by Eco-Limo, who has a varied fleet of hybrids, natural gas vehicles, and biodiesel running Mercedes.

Now sure, if you can, use public or shared transit instead of taxis on your business trip. But sometimes, we have no choice. Schedules are too tight or distances are super inconvenient for mass transit. The choice, however, lies in choosing this "green taxi". Like we said earlier, this is going to take some planning. You can't step out to the street corner and hail down a Prius…not yet, anyway. Plan ahead and make a reservation. It may cost a bit more, but hey, the company is paying for it, right? Anyway, it's worth it.

Rebecca says: I just had the pleasure of receiving a (complimentary) ride to the airport from Ozocar. The experience was incredible. A laptop on the internet in the back of a fuel efficient Prius? Incredible.

By the way, remember the Car Diary Project? If you participated, please send me a message with your information ASAP!

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