Stooopid Mercedes benz ad.

[The Buddha]

Evidently they have an SUV that has lots of power and runs 600 miles on a tank of diesel.
I am like WTF - maybe they have a 100 gallon tank dumbasses. MPG is misleading enough. Miles per tank is just BS.
Cool.
Srinath.

[spc]

The new Merc Diesel SUV's have like a 20 gallon tank, the get around 30mpg while supplying some absurd amount of HP in the 400 range

[GeeP]

I used to have a Diesel Rabbit that got 60MPG on a 12 gallon tank.  Drove from IL to NJ without stopping numerous times.   

[The Buddha]

Yes ... I sorta surmised that ... but ooooo .... 600 miles on a tank sounds impressive ... while 30 mpg does not. But screw that, I'd drop a freaking extra tank in my already 35+ gal ford truck and say I'm getting 600 miles a tank too.
BTW, why the F(uk dont they make a biodiesel motor. Sulphur mulfur ... Just use some hard ass nikasil or what not.
And VW rabbits were super cool and they could use bio diesel as well. My friend used to do spokane to seattle on 1 tank of biodiesel (wherever it went it smelled like french fries). I like using industrial waste for various things ... recycle is for wimps and it wastes fuel, energy and produces items of lower and lower quality unless you add other chemicals to it. For the present state of the world its worthless. Reuse is the real name of the game.
Old beer cans - wash carb parts in it before tossing it. Old ragu bottles - use it for sugar, home made sauces, cilantro, garlic, flour, tea, weed whatever ... I blame duck Cheney - who BTW moved his several billions out of US denominated assets early 2007.
Cool.
Srinath.

[DrtRydr23]

Old beer cans - wash carb parts in it before tossing it.

If you toss it then you're not really re-using it, just delaying its waste.  You can wash carb parts in something you are not going to throw away and just recycle the cans.  Plus, unless you never buy another jar of sauce again, you are going to run out of things to reuse them for.  Might as well recycle them.  I do agree about alternative fuel though.  It would be great if someone made a real move toward hybrid technology or biofuels for passenger vehicles.  Hybrids are coming along slowly, but I guess any progress is good progress.

[The Buddha]

Well tossing = recycle. Yes I would use it indefinetly ... except I drink more beer than I have to clean carbs.
BTW, I use bottles for several years, I dont believe we have ever thrown a bottle in the time we lived in charlotte. However as we moved out we had to toss a few. ~20 bottles and ~10 plastic coffee cans.
My wife used to make her own ragu type sauce. In that period the bottles weren't piling up that rapidly. I'd use them in the garage after she was done with somehting (usually it got too much of the smell of what was in it before) ...
She'd pack and store stuff in them several times. Just use them like mason jars. They are just about the same darned thing.
However, the food we would sent with my son to school, and they constantly throw away stuff instead of just sending it back. Like she'd put juice in a water bottle and they'd toss it. That in fact thinned out the herd.
We'd write post it's and tell them and everythign, and we'd even say we need to know how much he's eaten through the day etc etc ... they still toss it probably with 1/2 the juice still in it.
Cool.
Srinath.

[bombadillo]

I'm in the land of hippies and neo hippies here around arcata CA and Eureka.  We have diesels tooling around everywhere from jetta TDI to full sized jacked up dodge 3500 with huge "powered by eco-diesel" stickers and banners all over them.  The stupid things reek of kfc when they take off 

[spc]

Ahem,  don't forget about the Twinstar Thunderstar.   that's one bad ass diesel, now if it would just go into production

[jserio]

guy by the name of Banks is doing some neat stuff with turbo diesel engines. 

[The Buddha]

Oh hey as an aside to my reuse instead of recycle philosphy - as consumers we only can do so much.
Comapanies need to step in the gap, and so do stores.
Example - They should sell Pasta sauce/coffee/garlic paste/peanuts in bottles as well as plastic bags or cardboard boxes where applicable.
Cardboard/bags should say refill pack on it and show pics of you putting it in the glass bottles with the same brand name etc etc. There should also be a size correlation (like dont sell 8oz bottles and 10 oz bags).
The cardboard/bags should be a good bit cheaper than the bottles, and the bottles should be sturdy enough to take a few of the refills without crapping out on you.
They should also be cleanable - with wide mouths so you can put in dishwasher. Essentially in India we even used to buy milk in plastic bags. We used to only throw away vegetable peels and these plastic bags were our trash bags. That was all the trash we'd throw on a daily basis. Birds, ants and cockroaches will eat it in 10 mins flat from the trash and we never had to worry about ground water pollution or land fill areas.
BTW we need to redesign lots and lots of things, practically everything. Antifreeze bottles, milk bottles, juice cartons, oil bottles for starters, none of them pour out well without spilling or hurting your hands when they are full. Even with a funnel in some cases. I think they should all have pouring spouts and be designed so that it can be used without wasteage.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Kasumi]

I agree with Srinath, alot of manufacturer's these days deliberatly sell things in awkward sizes it happens everywhere but where you will notice it most is in food stuffs.... Take a can of beans from your local supermarket. You wana have beans on toast, the decent sized can costing you whatever 80p has too many beans in it for your average beans on toast, but only just. They don't make the can resealable so your forced to stuff yourself with the extra beans so as not to waste them which will mean you will need another can for the next time, or you save them and they off or you have to throw em away. So you think well thats shite so next time you go to the supermarket you think ill have some smaller cans, well the smaller cans are either too small and you need more than one or the perfect size but you pay a fortune to get an equal amount of beans to the first can.

So alot of the wastage here is caused by manufacturers, causing you to buy more of their product, or the more expensive (comparatively) products they sell. If they got their act together and said ok its costing the people a fortune in waste disposal, its a vicious circle thats going to come and bite us in the arse...lets make things more effiecent then we would get somewhere. Because lets face it, the huge corporations are the people making the most waste, and also play a big part in influencing how much waste each house hold has.....

.....another example to finish.... packaging things twice?! where is the point in that. You buy some mince, in a foam tray cling film wrapped. Perfectly preserved with a little label on it telling you weight and cost... pretty much how Tesco Value mince is packed. Well you look at that then you look at the finest range.... they stick a colourfull cardboard sleeve on that says finest on it...? errr what you going to do with that... yes throw it away.

[The Buddha]

WTH is "mince" and who has beans on toast ... we have beans on taco.   
OK I know, baked beans and dont even get me started on the pitiful can openers we have that entirely fail to open baked beans cans without leaving shards of metal in it. Pop top and yes I hear you on the resealability and on the fact that the mondo sizes are not linearly priced with the tiny ones. In fact that should be another law. 1 oz should cost 1/2 what 2 oz cost. Yea, you go to buy gasoline, and 1 gallon is $3, 100 gallons are $1 each ... doesn't work like that right, so why is the rest of it that way. OK OK I understand fine, there is a social value to having lower $$ for larger stuff, its cheaper on ... drumroll please ... packaging. Its also a benifit to lowincome/large family who would give up variety for $$$, but that is exactly why you do refill packs. Beans in a plastic bag should cost less per oz than beans in a can. Poor/large family people will buy plastic bags and put in their jar, and pretty much eat it ASAP. Then ones who would buy small quantity can buy in bag or can.
Whatever, we cannot even have the same size from the same brand. Today its 40 oz of coffee, tommorow, same damn folgers, same roast of coffee, its 48 oz. WTF is wrong with you people, Its now not fitting in my shelf cos its 3 inches taller. Morons.
Cool.
Srinath.

[Kasumi]

And now because its not fitting in your shelf, you have to find a new shelf to put it on, or move your shelf or hell... replace your kitchen. Ok OK i might be getting carried away now but everything these days is designed in a stupid awkward fashion in order to drain the few pennies left after they stole money from you for various taxes they decided to implement.

[The Buddha]

Wowee ... you've got a lot of bitterness in you kiddo ... you're only 18 ... man you're going to be a joy when you're my age ... OK fine screw that, I was just as bad when I was 18, so maybe there is hope for you.
I suggest hard drugs. Yea. I didn't get them, and now look at me.
And yes, stay in school ... WTF does that mean, Stay there, always, never leave, not when they close for the day, or after you turn 40 ... like die there OK I see why it makes sense 
Cool.
Srinath.

[Kasumi]

Lol Srinath is my idol... i've only just realised

Ive done with education now, joined the RAF to become a pilot... maybe that will re channel my biterness away from civilian things.... Like putting milk in such large cartons that when you defrost it and it says consume within 3 days you havn't got a fookin hope in  hell of using it all before it goes off, then the smaller container runs out before you've finished needing milk for shaZam!.

[The Buddha]

OK we're screwed. Pandy is your mum, I am your idol and you're flying fighter planes (with Nukes I presume). OK can anyone else see what's wrong with this picture.
OK while we are still ranting - buttermilk/creamer/whipped cream etc etc in a carton that doesn't have a cap (you tear open one end and pour) = stupid. We use that to fill a bottle and then toss in the fridge, but its best that they say on the carton.
You want the damn thing to taste like paper,  like the rest of us, you have to lick your morning paper buddy, no cheating and getting paper from the creamer.
On a side note - tea from a tea bag tastes like paper, the only way you'd drink that and like it, is if you have never had that same tea made without that bag. Paper bags also prevent you from steeping it as well.
Coffee that has been roasted and ground and brewed and drank within 1-2 days of roasting tastes soooooooo good, once again, the only way you would drink folgers type sheite or starbucks sheite is if you have never had that 1-2 day from green beans to your cup. My fave is buying it at this place in charlotte called Lava Java and for $3 you get like 1/4 lb. Buy it friday nite, and by monday, its done, and it never loses its liquid velvet quality. Nothing like that first cup still.
Cool.
Srinath.

[GeeP]

What are you crying about?  You get long-life milk over there.    

Milk doesnt stay around here long, I drink 3 gallons a week.   

[yamahonkawazuki]

 

[The Buddha]

Oh yea, those post it note pads with each one opposite to the previous/next one = stoopid. Whose dumbass idea was that ... ever tried using it, try writing and pulling it off wit 1 hand. Yea moron. Its also probably a lllllllot harder to manufacture.
Cool.
Srinath.

[pantablo]

guy by the name of Banks is doing some neat stuff with turbo diesel engines. 

Banks rocks!