by Paul

Your learning section seems extensive and gives me a chance to take a look at options for “going green”. Glad to see there is a lot of info available without listening to lectures about how bad I currently am.

Thanks

by Kavita

I went online to pay my NSTAR bill this afternoon and found the following:

“Starting in January, pending approval from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, NSTAR will be offering electricity supplied by renewable sources to interested Basic Service customers.”

“Customers will be able to choose to have half or all of their electricity come from NSTAR Green.
As proposed, there will be an additional premium of 1.75 cents (half option) or 3 cents (full option) per kWh.”

see more at http://www.nstar.com/residential/customer_information/nstar_green/nstar_green.asp

For me, living in an 850 sq. ft apartment, this would mean an additional $9 - $15 a month if I choose to do the full option. Done and done!

NSTAR will apparently be advertising this option in the coming months. Stay tuned, greenophiles!

by Kavita

I had the chance to live and travel abroad for much of the past two years, and from Singapore to the Arctic Circle, everywhere I went, climate change was something that would arise in casual conversation with local residents (whether Singapore and the Maldives would sink as water levels rise, how much the monsoons in south India had changed in recent years, the extraordinary recent summer heat waves in Central Europe, the rainy winters in Finland where once it was only snow).

I moved back to Boston in June ‘07 and decided that I would try to go without a car for a few months and see what it was like. Initially the financial reasons were as much a factor as the environmental issues. Now, three months later, I don’t ever want to own a car again unless I can get one that runs only on air or love. Or biodiesel. I’d settle for a car that smells like a french fry.

The payoffs are ever growing - I save money on car payments, insurance, gas, etc., I save myself the stress of parking around town and moving the car on street cleaning days. My clothes fit better (I seem to have lost a few pounds from walking and carrying groceries). I’ve realized that things are actually a lot closer than they seemed when I was driving everywhere. I’ve discovered just how much things like parks and urban density mean to me. I have re-committed myself to being more environmentally minded in other areas of my life.

by Todd

Can a car or truck use vegetable oil as fuel? Yes, with some modifications a diesel car or truck can use old filtered food grade vegetable oil (the kitchen oil that restaurants throw out everyday) as fuel. I have a 2004 Passat TDI, and I bought a kit from GreaseCar (see www.greasecar.com) that allows me to use vegetable oil or diesel as fuel in my car.

Where did I get this idea? My co-worker had a Greasecar, and he told me about the financial benefits that he was getting with his converted 1996 Passat TDI. The cost of gasoline is around $2.50 - $3.00 per gallon. Waste vegetable oil (WVO) can be acquired for free, and it can be bought already filtered (I pay $1.25 per gallon).

The GreaseCar kit for my car cost $1,170 including shipping, and I had a diesel mechanic (GreaseCar experienced) in Lowell, MA install the kit for $840. My total expense for converting my car was about $2,000. My monthly savings (buying filtered veggy oil) is around $100 month. It will take about 20 months of driving the car on vegetable oil to pay for the conversion. Now that the car is converted, it’s cheaper to drive than any hybrid electric gasoline car.

How do I like my GreaseCar? I’ve had some minor problems, but overall it’s been a great experience. I save money, and I’m recycling at the same time.

Is this for everyone? No. I spent months researching the topic reading everything I could find, researching the right car/kit, install mechanic, and a local source of filtered fuel. For people that filter their own veggy oil for their converted cars, there is more work and more savings. I buy filtered oil, so now I only spent a few extra minutes per week (compared to someone who drive a gasoline car).

Grease is the word.

Here are some pictures:

1. 13.5 gallon aluminum tank for the veggy oil (tanks fits in the wheel well)

2. 4.5 gallon “cubies” of oil (weight is 35 pounds each)

3.2004 Passat TDI

4. Modified engine

We would like to hear from you about your journey with going green and your experiences with green products.

You can either post a reply to an existing post, or submit a comment on this page that we will create as a new blog post once approved.

How to register, log in and post your comment or story:

1. Please go to LOG IN and click on “Register” to create an online name and password for all your posts.

2. Once logged in, choose a post to reply to, or visit the Tell Everyone Your Story page, to submit your green story.

3. Press “submit comment” and our editor will approve your blog entry for posting, and will include your first name unless you tell us otherwise. Our editor is very liberal and does not wish to stifle you, but we do wish to remove offensive language and the like.

If you do not want to join the blog yourself, please enjoy reading and learning from our existing bloggers.

Greenly Yours,
The GreenMusings.com Editorial Staff

I love to go camping and my favorite thing is to roast marshmallows.