Green is Becoming the Favorite Rental Car Color

For travelers who need to rent cars, suddenly, rental companies are seeing green. You can offset your carbon footprint at Enterprise Rent-a-car by purchasing credits at the counter. Rob Lovitt writes in MSNBC this morning about the new options for car renters.

Hertz is planning to take delivery of 2400 hybrid cars this year, putting the number of rentable gas sippers in the country to more than 10,000.

Right now, Enterprise leads the way offering more than 5,000 hybrids people can rent. Avis joins the pack with 2500 of the popular cars available to rent.

"If we could get them we'd buy 10 times more hybrids," said Pat Farrell, Enterprises VP of Corporate responsibility.

It's not just feeling good that makes this a good idea for travelers. At $3.00 a gallon, you can save $30 on gas for a 500 mile trip.

But before you get primed for your next green rental, of course, this is America, so there's an extra cost: it can cost up to $24 more per day, depending on how many cars are available and where you rent.