Changingly Yours – my journey to bio-diesel
by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC
Change Changes.
I’ve been looking for a car that I can run on local bio-diesel. I found and almost purchased an old (1983) Mercedes – a beauty – on Craig’s List a few weeks back – which excited me beyond all reason (it had 265,000 miles on it for one thing). In the tell-tale ending, the owner decided/realized he couldn’t give “her” up. Going local-biodiesel does that to folks.
I remember the joy of purchasing our Prius Hybrid car in 2004. I fell into eco-love – that feeling of doing it right – of “being the change”. There was even a day shortly afterwards when I found myself transporting 4 Buddhist Monks to my yoga studio (it’s a good story, really) in that then-new car, feeling nothing if not karma-rich and snapshot ready. Fours years later, I’m no longer feeling like quite the eco-hero.
For better or worse, change keeps changing and the feeling of wanting to do more keeps growing. It’s a good sign, I think – to not give in to complacency. We have a lot to do and the abundance of new ideas and innovations is indeed my source of motivation and hope for the future. The more you do, the more you’ll find you can do – that’s the fun part, really.
So, both Jerry and I kept searching for an older car we could run on bio-fuel and within a couple weeks, came across a used VW Beetle. It just arrived from Alabama last week. We’re excited about joining the local bio-diesel co-ops, Piedmont Biofuels, and another smaller operation in town where you put it some sweat equity each week making the fuel. Don’t panic, this is not a requirement in most cases. I chose to include this option because I’m actually looking forward to learning about the process. We’ve also got a friendly little community in my area and many people are offering helpful advice regarding all I need to know to be a bio-driver, including where my bio-fuel comes from. (Now, this feels good – maybe not as eco-good as being on a bicycle instead of in a car, but pretty darn close!)
You never know, maybe I’ll come across those monks again.
February 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Maybe someday you’ll tell us the monks / prius / yoga story!
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Great post! We were brand new parents (to twins!) when my mother-in-law decided to ditch her 1980 Mercedes sedan. We had been begging with her to find someone to take it for conversion to biodiesel, but she didn’t want to put the effort in – and I had no time or energy to do it for her. And now our new neighbor down the street is driving a converted Mercedes, reminding me of this loss every time I see him! Oh well. Best of luck in this! Someday, I’d like to do the same…