I have a new car. In fact, it's the first time I've ever had a new car, although I'm kind of in two minds about cars generally because of their environmental impact. Still, they're jolly useful and we'd find it hard to get by without one in our family. And they are quite fun, too, although I wouldn't count myself as a petrol head.

After umming and arring a bit, and after plenty of research, I decided to go for the Mazda 6 Estate 2.0 d TS in 'carbon grey' (car colours have the most imaginative names). It's a fantastic vehicle. Solidly built, fun to drive (a little sporty), big enough for the family (but not too big) and nice to look at. Like a boy with a new toy I've been driving for the sake of it. And I reckon that with 167 g/km CO2 emissions and 45-ish mpg fuel consumption, it's not too environmentally unfriendly. I promise only to use it when I really need to. I feel very lucky.