As a culture, we are becoming more and more aware of the impact that our daily lives are having on the environment. The “green house effect” is a global issue that affects all of us and our future generations.

Our “carbon footprint” is a measure of the C02 or greenhouse gas that we as individuals emit into the atmosphere as a consequence of our lifestyle and activities, the result of which contributes to global warming. Our “carbon footprint” is determined by many factors, from our transportation and travel choices to the fuels and energy we use to heat our homes.

When it comes to removing CO2 there exists but one solution…growing a tree! To offset its “carbon footprint” Lexus of Edmonton will be planting trees for each vehicle sold from our dealership.

Visit offsetmyfootprint.ca for more information.

Our commitment to the environment guides every decision we make and every action we take. From the creation and improvement of eco-friendly automotive technologies and waste management techniques to contributions to local environmental and clean-up initiatives, it's a vision that we always keep before us no matter where our business leads us. At the heart of that vision lies the Toyota Earth Charter, combining "Kaizen," our philosophy of continuous improvement, with responsible environmental stewardship. It's a vision we're naturally proud of and one we hope will help guarantee Canada's prosperity in the 21st century—and beyond.

Lexus' tireless environmental efforts have grown out of our genuine respect and concern for the earth's environment. Our concerns range from the gathering and transporting of raw materials to the processing and assembly of vehicle parts, and from the processes at our dealer locations to the handling of materials at the end of a vehicle's life.

The focus of Lexus design efficiency is to build a vehicle that is exceptionally lean in its use of raw materials, its fuel, and its impact on the environment - all while pushing the boundaries of performance, luxury and quality.

The design of lighter-weight vehicles means greater natural resource conservation, better fuel consumption, less emissions, reduced brake wear, improved handling and braking performance, and less scrap disposal. Lexus works to reduce weight without weakening the vehicle or eliminating desirable features through sophisticated computer modeling that allows excess material to be designed out during engineering. Extensive testing validates the strength and durability of each component before it goes into production.

Lexus pushes the frontiers of vehicle aerodynamic efficiency, using wind-tunnel-tuned, computer-modeled details to reduce aerodynamic drag. Engine and driveline sounds are analyzed and tuned exhaustively, and airflow sounds are investigated in the wind tunnel and on the road.

Lexus innovations ensure that power plants deliver maximum power from the minimum amount of fuel, with remarkably low exhaust emissions. Sophisticated VVT-i combustion management controls do all this, with the result that Lexus models meet Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) or the more stringent Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) EPA certification standards.

In-plant water use, waste volume and scrap material generation have been cut dramatically at Lexus plants, and improvements in plant energy efficiency help to reduce the greenhouse gases that are a by-product of power generation. All eight plants that build Lexus vehicles are ISO 14001 qualified, having received an internationally recognized certification for environmental management systems.

Lexus of Edmonton is part of this effort. The Lexus Environmental Assistance Network equips all dealers with a customized web site that provides up-to-date waste-management information. Lexus of Edmonton returns numerous components for precision factory remanufacture and ultimate sale as rebuilt parts.

Plastic components used in the interiors and exteriors of Lexus vehicles are molded of a highly recyclable and lightweight material, Toyota Super Olefin Polymer. Its use has reduced by two-thirds the polyvinyl chloride used in the LS 430 during the current model's redesign. Lead and mercury, two of the more challenging substances to deal with when a car is dismantled, have been largely supplanted by environmentally preferable materials.

Lexus is improving recycling technology with facilities such as the Automobile Shredder Residue Recycling plant that recovers urethane foam, fiber, copper, glass and plastics. Vehicle dismantling methods and recycling technologies are being developed to allow Lexus vehicles to meet a vehicle material recovery rate of 95 percent by 2015.