The SUV Suburban that I drove until recently was a great vehicle, but it wasn't exactly environmentally friendly. Recently, I switched to a new Toyota Highlander hybrid vehicle from Pacific Auto Leasing in Glendale. The half-electric, half-gasoline-powered vehicle puts out about 40 percent less in emissions,and I wanted to do my part to cut down on environmental pollution and conserve energy.

It's also a heck of a lot of fun to drive: "In city driving, it switches over to electric so it's completely quiet and has great acceleration. It handles like a breeze, and you can watch the energy that you're saving on a dashboard monitor as you drive."