Category: Environment

fry fuel

Saturday, 11 March, 2006 at 12:33 am

This thought came to me while walking home from school …

You know how they’re turning used cooking oil into fuel for diesel engines? They say it smells like something. I don’t remember what. (Apple pie? O_o) And there was this episode of Dirty Jobs where this guy would take used oil from a Mexican restaurant and turn it into fuel for his diesel engine. It smelled like … something, I’m sure. I don’t recall.

Well, I was wondering, couldn’t McDonald’s take their old french frying oil and turn it into an alternative fuel? And hopefully it would smell like their fries. XD;; Good, influential advertising!

You’re driving along … “Mmm, I smell … let’s go to McDonald’s!”

(Yes, I did think I smelled fries while walking home. >.>)

envirodork

Friday, 9 September, 2005 at 10:48 am

It is COLD today! o_o And yesterday and all the rest of the week it was hot! So weird. Where did this cloud cover come from?

Anyway. I wanted to find out what kind of mileage my car is supposed to get, because I never remember, so I looked up my car on Yahoo and I found this site: fueleconomy.gov. Isn’t it so cool! XD

Here’s my car, Dodge Stratus 2001. A year ago I used to get almost 28 mpg, but now I only get 26.9 mpg, probably because I’m driving home in the afternoon instead of in the evening. People in the afternoon want to go home, so they go 75 … and the trucks in the right two lanes (which I usually prefer to drive in to go a more reasonable speed and therefore get better mileage) go 60 or so, which is just irritating to me (and besides big rigs freak me out). So I’m going 75 instead of 65. Actually, when I was getting 28 mpg I would go 75~80 on the freeway. But I had this neat trick, see. When going downhill I would hit the gas so I’m going 75, then when I’m going uphill I would ease off the gas a little so I’d slow down to 65/70. I stopped doing that though because to go 75 I had to be in the second lane, and people in the second lane didn’t like it when I slowed down going uphill. ahaha.

Anyway. That site is neat! The worst mileage my car ever has is probably 24/25 during the summer, ’cause I’m not driving on the freeway every weekend. muahahaha.

—

[10:53] Hm. I was looking at the Save the Redwoods League website, at the picture on the mainpage, and thinking about Sequoia, and thinking about people clearcutting the forests in Northern California … and I started to feel sick. Physically sick, like dizziness and nausea. Is that normal? O_o

Japan dresses down

Tuesday, 31 May, 2005 at 9:06 pm

In a nationwide campaign to save energy by cutting down on air conditioning, the government has asked public workers to leave their ties and jackets home for the summer.

The Environment Ministry campaign has nothing to do with loosening up Japan’s stodgy government ministries — and everything to do with meeting targets under the Kyoto global warming protocol. Tokyo needs to cut so-called greenhouse gas emissions to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

To help make the goal, air conditioners in government buildings will be set at a toasty 82, the maximum allowed by law. Offices usually keep the temperature at around 77.

The Energy Conservation Center estimates if all offices in Japan increase summer temperatures to 82, it could save 81 million gallons of oil in one summer.
news.yahoo.com

O_o Is that why America turned that thing down? Sheesh … 82 … on an air conditioner! I have seriously never heard of it … I didn’t know there was such a setting … 77 even would have stretched my imagination. But 81 freaking million gallons of oil! *dreams*

(Yes I know America didn’t sign whatever it’s called because we pointed our fat finger at some other country who didn’t sign and said, “They waste a lot more! We don’t see how our waste will make that much of a difference compared to them!”)

Earth day, I guess

Thursday, 21 April, 2005 at 10:49 pm

I’m not a very good environmentalist if I don’t know when Earth day is, am I? ^_^;; I even read this bit in the newspaper about how people argue over when the real earth day is, the first day of spring or … whatever tomorrow is.

I don’t know. I tend to advocate saving earth every day. (Of course, actually going outside and doing something about it … that’s another matter. *lazy and doesn’t like leaving the safe, very safe, house* >.>)

Anyway. The reason why I even started writing this post. hah. There’s this thing on Yahoo! (the stuff I liked):

Remove yourself from junk mail lists. Believe it or not, 100 million trees are felled each year to produce junk mail.

If every household replaced one lightbulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, it would be the equivalent of eliminating the pollution from 1 million cars.

Using appliances carrying the Energy Star can save the average family $400 per year in energy bills.

Carpool or take public transportation to work once a week, and walk or ride a bike for short trips. Don’t forget to celebrate Carfree Day.

If every plastic bottle were recycled, landfills would be 2 billion tons lighter. Reusable bottles and water filtration systems make an even bigger difference.

35 years of Earth Day, huh. (Yes, that would explain why I saw an ad on the Yahoo mainpage for the Toyota Prius … I need sleep. Badly.)