Today we’re cruising in my veggie car to go skiing at Mammoth Mountain here in California. I’m looking forward to snowboarding and traveling a healthy way.
As some of you may know, my car runs on vegetable oil. Yes, that’s right, fry oil from restaurants! It’s been filtered, so it’s safe to use in my car, but it’s essentially used vegetable oil.
My car is vegetarian too! My own silly joke…
My car runs on Diesel, so I purchased a conversion kit about 3 years ago that allows me to switch between Diesel fuel and vegetable oil.
Why did I make the switch? I asked myself, is there a way that I can make a difference in the world, even if it’s in a small way. I heard about this concept and searched out a diesel car that I could convert and here you see it in the video. My Volkswagon Golf TDI. I love this car!
I feel like I’m contributing to a healthier, cleaner world.
We are always voting with our dollars, so I’ve decided NOT to give money to the big petroleum companies and put my money towards a better cause. That’s my way of making a contribution.
You can make a contribution to a healthier environment in your own expression. This was my way. Not saying everybody needs to do this exact project, just thought I would share Kardena’s world.
The night we left for our trip we have to get the vegetable oil tank filled and ready to go. We just fill the veggie oil tank with the dark-colored vegetable oil from a 50 gallon drum I have and we use a small pump, and we’re good to go!
FYI- I have a delivery company drop the oil to my house. I do have the equipment to filter the oil myself (a simple pump and filter system), but really I don’t have the time to pick up the oil from restaurants and filter it at home.
The oil tank fits very snug in my trunk. It’s a little car but it has as much room as I need, plus I have the roof rack for skis, surf boards, mountain bikes, or travel case. This is our travel car and it gets a ton of use with all our outdoor activities.
In the front of my car there’s a switch which allows me to go back and forth between Diesel and veggie oil. There’s even an indicator light which tells me which fuel I’m using.
The heated tank sends the oil to the engine and guess what kind of mileage I get out of it? Try 600 miles to the veggie oil tank!, that’s about 40 miles to the gallon and Waste Veggie Oil produces half the carcinogenic particulates that diesel fuel produces.
It smells like french fries when I’m driving down the road! Kidding…
Do you know where used trans fat waste fry oil goes when it’s picked up from the restaurants? Most of it gets sent to companies that make pet food and feed stock! That’s crazy! If fried foods are not good for humans what-so-ever, why on Earth would we feed this toxic oil to our most precious doggies and kitties or livestock? No wonder animals are having more and more health problems! Not all pet foods use this toxic oil, but as far as I know the lesser quality pet foods are typically the companies who use it.
So for me, this is more than a diet, it’s a lifestyle. Healthy inside and out!
How do you contribute to a healthier you and our sacred Earth?
Kardena Pauza
Author of EasyVeggieMealPlans.com
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