Ford has avoided the grisly fate of the other two-thirds of the (once) Big Three. From escaping the heavy weight of tax payer anger/high expectations by NOT accepting Federal bailout money to developing cars that actually aren’t bad- the Ford Fusion just made headlines when NASCAR’s Carl Edwards drove one 1445 miles on one tank of gas- the company seems to have its duck in a row.

In his piece for Low Impact Living, Jason Pelletier writes about the latest indication that Ford is chugging along in the right direction. Ford recently highlighted some of its green initiatives inside the car, including soy-based polyurethane foam seat cushions and backs- cutting its use of petrochemicals by over 1,000,000 pounds- post-industrial and post-consumer recycled content in seat fabrics- reducing C02 emissions and energy use in some models by as much as 60%- and plastic underbody shields made from recycled detergent bottles, tires and battery casings- which diverted 25 million pounds of waste landfills in 2008.

As Pelletier explains, “75%+ of the energy used by a car over its lifetime is consumed in the operation of the vehicle, so this focus on efficiency is well-placed. But we shouldn’t forget about the other 25% of energy use or the environmental impacts that come with it - hazardous chemicals that off-gas when our cars sit in the sun, components that are difficult to recycle, and loads of plastics made from petrochemicals among them.”

Ford isn’t the only automaker trying to chip away at that 25%. Lexus uses plant-based eco-plastics, and its manufacturing plants recycle over 98% of its waste. Honda is also working to reduce the volatile organic compounds in its car interiors.

For more, check out Pelletier’s article.