Monday, August 31, 2009

The Hole In The Wall Gang ...



Are you a member of the "hole in the wall gang?" Do you get meals in a car from someone "throwing food through a hole-in-a-wall to you? Have you ever really thought about that? Lets leave the food out of the discussion.. for now.

Every time you use a drive through, you burn at least 18 -25 cents worth of gas idling your car. According to Quick Service Restaurant Magazine, the average drive through wait time once the order is taken is three minutes. Add the minute or two that it takes to place the order, and that means one billion car-minutes spent idling each year in front of Burger King restaurants alone! Estimates for total fuel costs for idling in front of every drive through in America are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. You have to let your window down twice ; to order and to get your food.. ( some places have a third window just to pay.) Its not just food that's served ... a heaping helping of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide... all toxic- are served right along with the fries.

An idling car is guilty of using up valuable fuel, not only unnecessarily wasting this expensive resource, but also causing danger to the environment and a risk to the health of many others. Idling may actually harm your vehicle, but that's only the start. It can also be responsible for increasing pollution levels caused by gasoline burning in the atmosphere.

Reportedly idling Americans burn at least 2.9 billion gallons of gas a year, worth around $7.82 billion, according to a recent report from Texas A&M. That doesn’t count the damage done to idling engines by incompletely burned fuel. There are a lot of studies, and people often disagree on the numbers. But ask yourself, would you really want to spend a lot of time behind a vehicle in a long line breathing in the exhaust?

Neither does the planet.

Many people believe that there are times its okay for their car to be idle. This common misconception is what makes parents rushing to drop their children off at school or those in a hurry at the cleaners to leave their car in this dangerous mode. Avoiding idling can also help preserve your car's engine. An engine that's in an idle state doesn’t operate at its peak temperature and fuel combustion is unfinished. This causes fuel residue to constrict cylinder walls, expel oil and harm engine components.

The damage that can be done by an idle car, though, isn't limited to just the vehicle itself. Idle cars produce emissions that have been found to negatively affect respiratory health. Vehicle exhaust also contributes to unhealthy air quality and the presence of smog. These factors have resulted in ailments like asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Children and the elderly have been affected the most, but the environment itself is also impacted.

So lets see:

Idling your car gets:
ZERO miles to the gallon, damages your engine, wastefully pollutes the environment -outside and in, directly and immediately endangers the health of children and the elderly, is specifically a waste of money and dwindling natural resources.

Hmmmmmm......?

Long lines of idling cars doesn't seem too "green" now does it?

What can you do?

Some cities and countries have anti-idling laws. What do you think?

Should cars automatically turn off when in idle? ( hint: mine actually does)



40 comments:

  1. I go though drive thru's all the time i never knew what it did to the enviorment. i never knew that it messed up your car to.
    Kirsten E.
    blue class

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  2. I think cars should automatically turn off in idle. I think it's important to be green. Maybe we should have that law against idling, it would be better for the planet and it would save money too. Also people wouldn't have to breathe in the exhaust and risk getting sick.

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  3. It would be so much easier if you just parked your car and walk in


    Rachel R. Period 2 color: Orange

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  4. tonight i went to McDonalds and i said "Mom just park and go and get our food" so she did and it was so much easier and faster!!

    Rachel R. Period 2 color: orange :)

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  5. I agree there should be a no idling law the environment has been punished enough for no reason. Lawrence Coffey blue, period 5

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  6. I definately think all new cars should be made so they turn off in idle. The world and people's health would benefit so much from it. I also think everyone should just go inside to buy their food. It really doesn't take much more time and its better for the environment and your car.

    Michael E. 5th Period Blue class

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  7. Great comments all... Hey Rachel R, you have taken action way to go!

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  8. I think anti-idling would be great for me and others with lung problems, i have asthma and when i go to a more polluted place i can tell a big difference. i also think if you are in the car line and you are waiting for the bell to ring, turn off your car because even that little would help alot. On another point, parking and go in would probaly be better cause you help the environment, it goes alot quicker and if they accidently mess up your order you can fix it right there instead of either getting home or parking and getting it fixed inside.....


    Michael S., Period 5, Blue

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  9. I think idling cars is also a bad thing to do.ever scence i started your class i have not gone to a fast food place once.i do recycle and recycle it to the baseball feld up the brige from us.

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  10. I want to burger King with my mom and she went to go thru the drive thru and i told her what you said and she parked. we went in and they messed up our order... i felt better knowing that we didnt sit there polluting the air while they fixed our order. it was faster to.
    Kirsten Elin
    Blue class

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  11. I will start going int the restraunt.

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  12. ALL RIGHT GANG!! Already Making a difference !!!

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  13. I never realized that going through a drive thru can do so much damage to the environment. Grant D.

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  14. it's bad enough that drive through cause pollution and can cause young kids and elderly people to become sick but on top of all that the food isn't healthy and drive through's are bad for your cars but you have to admit i bet people are making money off of it.
    kaitlyn class:violet

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  15. Wow, I always knew it was bad to go to drive thrus (the food is bad for you), but I didn't know it was that bad...It actually effects your beathing.

    Chris Tepetitlan BLUE class period 5

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  16. I think It is bad when people idle their cars. They think it is faster going through a drive through but it's not. People are so lazy these days. All they have to do is park their car, walk into the place, make their order, get the food and leave.

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  17. I will try not to go throw drive throws. I will try my hardest not to pollute the air. We can turn off our cars when we are in idle speed. I think the anti-idling laws are great. I think all cars should turn off when in idle.

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  18. I do think cars should turn of automaiccly and also if you are at a fast food resturant like mcdonalds or burger king why dont you just turn of your car and go inside to order, it saves money the enviroment and if it is hot out you can GO INSIDE and cool of while you order instead of sitting out in your car "burnig" wasting money and hurting the enviroment. Charles orange

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  19. I thought the blog was cool and I took the test and it took me a min but I soon got it

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  20. I think that it would be great to avoid idling at the drive thru but you are still DRIVING there so I think that we need to go one step further and get cars out of the equation and just ride bikes to the fast food restaurant
    the good thing about that is you can burn off that large fries that you got(chuckles)
    -joseph reilly

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  21. LOL great comment Joseph..put (+2) two bonus points in the bonus box on your progress log.

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  22. haha i like yours joe. i think if you just turn your car off and walk inside it would be a lot easier and waste the time sitting outside by talking to people inside.

    Hannah Curley.
    5th Period Blue class

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  23. I think that cars should just park and walk in the "restaurant" because people that eat fast food regularly need the exercise anyway...Julie Ducey, P.5

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  24. I never realized how bad idling your car at a drive thru can be bad for you and the environment. I always new that it was bad for the environment because of the toxic fumes and pollution, but i never realized it affected your breathing. From now on i will try to go in the resturaunt.
    Liam Rafferty Period 5 Blue

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  25. I never really noticed how bad idling your car at a fast food restaurant was, people should just turn there car off there car and walk in.

    Cody Hamblin. Period 5, blue

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  26. Hey BLUE GANG .... GRRRREAT comments all of you. It is amazing how the little things we don't think about can both cause problems yet are easily fixed.

    Joe, Hannah, Julie, Liam, Cody remember...
    first name and then the color of your class... as in "Bob Orange" or "Beatrice Blue" OK ?

    (also 2 pts in the bonus box for your comments.)

    Thanks gang

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  27. Wow i didnt know that it burnt that much of your money whenever you went to a drive thrue. And that idling can harm you right there and idling can cause smog.


    Joseph Adair Period 5 Blue

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  28. Wow. I didn't know that something so insignificant makes such a significant problem. I'm going to tell my mom to turn off the engine in drive thrus.
    David Blue

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  29. I never really knew how bad idling their car at a fast food restaurant was, people should just turn there car off there car and walk and go inside cory thmpson blue

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  30. I think that people that work in the drive threw should be more efficient when they work so people dont have to waste cas and hurt the enviornment. Clark/Blue

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  31. I think instead of going through the drive through, you could park your car and walk inside the building to get your food. Plus americans need more and more excercise know than ever. Or you could just eat at home.

    -Anna, Blue.

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  32. I have never thought about it like that if i knew that going thru drive thrus could be so "ungreen" i would have never said " hey mom lets go thru the drive thru to save time" and unfortanutly i think there are other people who think like me, who need to read this article.

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  33. Wow... This really made me reconcider going into drive thru's. I have fast food places all aroun my house and i usually take a car to get to them when I could take a bike or even walk. It was save money and help the earth! It might take a little longer than three minutes or so but at least I'm not being lazy and destroying the earth.
    ~ Caroline, Blue.

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  34. I think we should have less drive throughs. I don't go to a drive through alot. This might not work for some people.
    Chesney blue

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  35. I am personaly part of the hole in the wall gang.... and i think that this will deffinetly change the way i think when i am about to pay at a drive through. Instead of thinking, "I can't wait to eat my fries"... I will probly be thinking "Oh my gosh, can they please hurry up.... this is costing my mom/dad money." I never thought that just stopping at a drive through window could make such a difrence in the amount of oil people use every year.

    - Brianna. Blue

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  36. i think going through a drive though is a bad thing.if u want fast food so bad and your to lazy to park ur car and walk a couple of feet to a door then you should not be eating fast food.and when u wait in line for a fast food drive through you are hurting the earth.the cars cause people to get asmua and other things.it mostly effects the young and the older people.plus when u go 0 miles in hour you adamaging your car, so there for you are not onky harming the environmant and people , you are harming you car.-sarah,blue

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  37. I don't think that all cars should turn off in idle. That would wear down the ignition system.
    It also takes a bit of gas to start a car.

    Levi, Blue,

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  38. Certainly we could use less oil, and eat ALOT less fast-food. I figure that if we do both of those things at the same time, it will solve alot of America's problems.


    -Levi Blue

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  39. wow im glad that i dont eat fast food and if i do i walk to the one thats about a mile away from my house. my question is why do we even like fast food it is disgusting, when i do eat it i feel sick after. also are drive throughs really easier than just walking in? in my opinion its not. plus waiting in line for your food just waste gas.

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