Stewardship Tip Oct 12th, 2010- Six Seconds
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, China’s Car Economy is creating new businesses. This includes an “appetite for grab and go meals.” As a consequence, many in China are experiencing what we in the West know all too well…
The drive-thru…
We have drive-thru restaurants, dry cleaners, liquor stores, pharmacies, coffee shops, and, ironically enough, departments of motor vehicles. Sit in your car while you relicense it.
A car, sitting in a drive-thru with an idle engine is getting zero miles per gallon. An idle engine wastes the money and resources that were expended to put gas in the tank.
If gas were an infinite resource and it had no affect on our fish, sitting in the drive-thru would make sense, at least in terms of convenience. However, gas, actually oil, is a finite resource with a dear price. The price is expensive in terms of Dollars, Euros, or Yuan; it is also costly in terms of resources. It requires a tremendous amount of water to extract and refine oil into gasoline. And, in many cases, the effluent from extraction may be hazardous to fish and wildlife. In Indiana’s Patoka River, “oil and brine effluents are acutely toxic to crayfish, fish, and mussels.” according to researchers at the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “Direct pathways include the surface water and groundwater discharge of brine effluents from drilling, the residual accumulation of contaminants into the sediments in the vicinity of oil derricks, and the visual staining and smothering of sediments and habitat by oil by-products.”
Tip for the day: At the drive-thru, if your engine is going to idle for more than six seconds, shut it off.
Research conducted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers indicates that restarting a vehicle equipped with a v6 uses approximately the same amount of gasoline as idling for 6 seconds with the A/C on. Their research indicates that they expect greater savings for a v8, less for a v4.
If you shut your engine off, you will save money, you’ll save gas, and ultimately you’ll save water. That’s important for our fish. And, rather than sitting in the drive thru line, park your car and go inside.
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This week’s sponsor-partner:Dicks Sporting Goods
Dick’s Sporting Goods is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear in a specialty store environment at over 300 U.S. locations.
We are proud to partner with Dick’s Sporting Goods, and proud that they stand with us for stewardship.
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