Whether you like to do your bit by recycling cans and newspapers, or whether you've converted your home's toilets to flush using rainwater, most of us have had our lives changed by Britain's growing obsession with ‘going green'. And there's no denying that, though the origins and objectives of the green movement are fundamentally pure, ‘going green' and being 'eco' is still a massive market, and there's plenty of money to be made from being the ‘most environmentally friendly'.

This has obviously spelt success for innovators of certain industries, like clothing companies specialising in organic fibres, and companies that promise to make your home greener by selling you lots of clever little green trinkets like biodegradable cutlery! For one industry, though, the growing green market has meant a surge of competition, and a necessity for radical thinking and scientific innovation.

The car manufacturing industry has been vastly altered by new ideas about fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions and hybrid engines. This new competition, to come up with greenest car on the market, has for some time been separating the motor world's men from the boys. It has been a challenge accepted by most, but has been truly money spinning for others.

Toyota, for instance, have enjoyed such success in recent years with their world-renowned hybrid car the Prius, that Ford have recently admitted falling behind them in sales, and have announced their own plans to improve their own green image by cutting their CO2 emissions across Europe and the US. Despite also admitting that in the past they had failed to meet their commitments on sustainability and reduction of emissions, Ford said that their new plan was a "blueprint of where we're really going."

Toyota may have stiff, and more immediate competition from BMW, though, whose 118d was recently awarded the title of ‘Green Car of the Year' at the 2008 New York International Auto Show. The jury for the competition, consisting of 47 motoring journalists from 24 different countries, concluded that the 118d, with its EfficientDynamics technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop and Electric Power Steering, was accelerating in the right direction.

As well as a healthy market offering new technologies and new opportunities to be green, the green car industry can also help with your car finance, argues Head of Direct Line car insurance Tony Chilcott. Cars with lower emissions, and thus greater fuel-efficiency, as well as limiting "further damage to the environment", could also "provide financial benefits," Chilcott said.

With the chance of saving money, and lots of motor companies vying for the allusive title of ‘Greenest Car', the time has never been better to improve you carbon footprint by stepping into a more environmentally friendly vehicle.

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