We live in a car-based society, especially here in Southern California, so it's refreshing to see how that culture can adapt and redefine America's automotive future within a sustainable and ecologically-minded future.  New designs, innovation and technology are bringing a new generation of cars onto the market, including the all-electric Nissan Leaf and plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt.  

And then, of course, there's the Prius, who has chronicled its 10 year history in a series of infographics sharing the milestones, statistics in the context of relevant issues with regard to environment, technology, and pop culture.  Check out the design for 2008 below.

image:  toyotapriusprojects.com

In just over ten years of production, over one million Prii (yes, that's the official word) have been sold in the U.S. and this month, Toyota is celebrating with a nifty little project, Prius Goes Platinum, an interactive online infographic featuring custom-generated badges displaying the CO2 savings of any given prius, based on the year, mileage and EPA-estimated emissions ratings from fueleconomy.gov.

Our 'badges' are below:  we've saved about 28 tons of CO2 between the two cars...

The quantity of lines represents mileage and the width and length of those lines reflecting the model year, while the color represents the amount of CO2 saved (more green = more savings).  If you don't have a Prius, you can compare fuel economy and emissions at the EPA's Green Vehicle website.  

Or visit toyotapriusproject.com- it's a unique and well-designed platform for innovative social projects, aimed at engaging the online community via art and design contests, events, and collaborative projects- all of which are in the spirit of innovation, creativity, and integration, so if you're a Prius fan, it's definitely worth a look...