Where Yellow Cabs Make More Green by Going Green

I just returned to Minneapolis from a board meeting in Vancouver, B.C., where a Toyota Prius taxi drove me and Mary from the airport to our hotel and back. Taxis, I don't need to tell you, are a huge source of toxic emissions, greenhouse gases and a constant consumer of fossil fuels. It only makes sense that the most heavily used transportation in a region should walk lightly on its surroundings.

I asked our driver if customers liked the Prius. He said they were such a hit that Yellow Cab was ordering a lot more. I checked with Yellow Cab, British Columbia's largest taxi company, and they confirmed that they had added 40 hybrids to its 210-car fleet and were in the process of converting as many as 30 more cars to hybrids in the next year.

I love this story. Green is good business because so many of us want to find ways to help, even in small ways. We want to reduce the threat to our climate, so businesses, recognizing where public opinion is going, are more and more keen on finding creative ways to green up. There's an ever-widening base that will support it. Green makes more green, which is good for our wallets. But I like when people do it for the benefit of peace and health and see the big dollars as a fortunate by-product.