But let’s get to the matter at hand: a plant in the all-new Escape! It’s called kenaf and is a tropical plant related to cotton and okra plants and looks a bit like bamboo. It’s part of the bolster material inside the doors and is combined with polypropylene in a 50-50 mixture; the plant replaces oil-based materials. The benefit? Beyond sounding cool when you talk about the sustainable materials in your Escape, using kenaf is anticipated to offset 300,000 pounds of oil-based resin per year in North America, and the material reduces the weight of the door bolsters by 25 percent.

Let’s repeat that – 25 percent. Why is it important enough to repeat? Weight savings translates to fuel savings.

Kenaf might also be lurking in everyday items you use, such as cosmetics, and also can be an alternative to wood in the production of paper. Survival tip: the upper leaves and shoots are edible.

Other materials featured in the Escape that are recycled and renewable and reduce impact on the environment include soy foam in the seats and head restraints; plastic bottles and other post-consumer and post-industrial materials in the carpeting; climate control gaskets made from recycled tires; and more than 10 pounds of scrap cotton from the making of denim jeans. The new Escape meets the USCAR Vehicle Recycling Partnership goal that 85 percent of the vehicle is recyclable.

Today, we present the figurative jelly bean game, but if this jar is full of Ford vehicles with EcoBoost® engines, you have to guess how many you think sold in 2011. Go ahead, take a moment; we’re again distracted by drooling, this time over a jar full of Ford vehicles.

The correct answer is 127,883 EcoBoost-equipped vehicles, making for record sales! And now Ford is aiming to more than triple the production capacity of EcoBoost-equipped Ford vehicles in 2012. This year, Ford will offer EcoBoost engines in 11 vehicles; in 2011, 7 had the engine. The EcoBoost has also contributed to accolades for Ford, such as the F-150 scoring the Motor Trend 2012 Truck of the Year® award.

Other big EcoBoost news has already included the 1.6-liter engine for the Escape and Fusion. “EcoBoost expansion and availability in high-volume nameplates such as the all-new Ford Escape and Fusion will take this affordable, fuel-saving technology to the heart of the market,” said Sue Cischke, Ford Group Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering.

Additionally, the full-size Taurus sedan becomes the first Ford vehicle to offer customers a choice between two EcoBoost engines: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder making an estimated 237 horsepower and giving customers up to EPA-estimated, class-leading 31 mpg, while the iconic Taurus SHO sport sedan features a 365-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 delivering an EPA-estimated 25 mpg highway. Plus, the Focus ST arrives this year as a high-performance – yet fuel-efficient – sport compact EcoBoost application, and there’s the EcoBoost-powered Police Interceptor.

The EcoBoost sounds like quite the multitasker, doesn’t it? But it’s ready, having already been tortured and subjected to cold-weather testing.

Here’s a fun tidbit: In 2010, all F-150 trucks sold featured a V8 engine. Just one year later, 56 percent of 2011 F-150 customers bought pickups with a fuel-saving V6, either the base 305-horsepower 3.7-liter or the 365-horsepower 3.5-liter EcoBoost. By the end of 2012, nine Ford models will deliver or are anticipated to deliver an EPA-certified 40 mpg highway or higher, with still more fuel-efficient vehicles on the way.

Sounds like the Blue Oval might just deserve a bear.