Going Bio

Isn't she pretty? I would love to find a baby like this.

I want to switch to biodiesel for 2 reasons.
1- I want to reduce my carbon footprint. With the amount of driving I'm doing I'm dumping literally tons of CO2 and other toxins into the air. It pains me.
2-I don't want to give money to the devil anymore. The oil and auto industry are running this country and that has got to stop. I watched "Who Killed the Electric Car" and was enraged, sad, empowered and irrate all at the same time.

If you haven't seen it, watch it and you'll see what I mean. "Who Killed the Electric Car"

I don't own a home, so the biggest impact I can make right now, actually I'd be making less of an impact on the earth but more of an impact on the economy is buy a car that doesn't pollute as much as doesn't use gas. Biodiesel is nearly carbon-neutral, meaning it contributes almost zero emissions to global warming! Biodiesel also dramatically reduces other emissions fairly dramatically. The one emission that goes up with biodiesel is NOx. NOx contributes to smog. But a slight increase (up to 15%) in NOx is greatly offset by the reduction in all other emissions and the major reduction in greenhouse gasses.

I would buy an electric car but they are harder to find and are quite expensive. I started doing research a few weeks ago. At first I was going to go with the obvious and buy an old mercedes like my friend Gerry did. Then I saw that you can run any diesel engine on biodiesel so I explored the idea of getting a used VW. A dealership I bought my current car from found me a VW TDI Golf, 2001, for $12,900. The price was a little high and I don't want my monthly payments to go up so I passed on that. I told her to look out for another at the auctions a little less pricey and she said she would but they are hard to find and when you do find them everyone bids on them. It's a hot item now. That's good news, people are catching on to the biodiesel wave.

It is a little more difficult to get in LA with the biodiesel stations only in Pacific Palisades, Marina del Rey, and Westwood but there are delivery services and once I convert my car to use veggie oil, I won't have to go to any gas station.

Now I think I might hire a guy I found on Craigslist for $300 to find me a good used VW Golf. My budget is about $10k. Let's see what I can find.

Spending to make a Difference

I just went to Ralphs and bought organic. I just needed some juice, egges, milk and frut. I spent about $6 more than I would have if I'd just bought regular eggs and juice. But now I have peace of mind and really yummy organic Tropicana juice.

Lately, I'm feeling the effects of what I put into my body. I had a bowl of organic steamed broccoli the other day and had so much energy that night I couldn't believe it. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true.

In order to make companies change their ways, they need to see it's more profitable to do things with consideration for a healthy earth. It's so important for every individual to make conscious choices with everything they consume and everything they throw away, it's really the loudest political voice we have. I've always known this but didn't really feel like my little money could make a difference. It probably can't, but all my words, actions, and purchases combined could possibly make a difference, and that's the way I'm trying to live my life today.