posted on April 18, 2002 01:44:47 PM new
I've been thinking abut ways to cut down on my families dependency on oil.In doing so I realized that our direct oil use is fairly high even though we do not drive much.[no way for me to figure out the indirect uses such as the oil used in plastic production of items I use] We have oil heat and use approx. 400 gals a year. That is about 33 gals. a month. In my car I use about 10 gallons of gas every six to eight weeks, I don't drive much. My husband uses about 4 times that much. Of course we use oil in the engine and that is about a quart and a half a month I suppose if you average it out.We use electric lawn mower.
I find we use more than I thought. I'm thinking of switching to gas heat with a wood stove back up.
posted on April 18, 2002 02:00:13 PM new
How about your electricity use? That is probably at least partially oil produced.
It is one big grid but some of the generation is Hydro/Nuke/coal/nat. gas with trace of wind.
Tires are from oil as are the road pavements you use. All your food needed oil to grow and arrive at your market. Most carpet and some clothing is from oil. Furniture upholstery and foam cushioning in that and your mattress. Your detergents for laundry and dishwashing soap are all from oil. Shingles on the roof and vinyl siding or windows. The energy to make many of the metal items in the house or fire on enamels or ceramics.
posted on April 18, 2002 02:08:28 PM new
All my furniture is at least thrity years old. Most of it is from the 1920's or earlier so I'm not consuming much there. I've always liked used/old better than new so I am not a major consumer in that department. In Washington most of our electricity is hydro-electric. The only time it isn't is when they force us to buy some power from some other place~ like during the California debacle last year.
My carpets are hand woven wool chinese carpets so I don't think they have much oil . Just natural. I hate anything made of plastic in my home [unless it is for food storage or something]
Really, I try to not use much in the way of oil but there are places that it is used,as in food production, that are unavoidable. I'm just trying to think of ways that I can personaly cut down. If I switch to gas heat then that is at least 400 gals. I am not using. That is about seven barrels. Just a drop in the bucket I know. But my own dependency on oil would be reduced considerably.
[ edited by rawbunzel on Apr 18, 2002 02:10 PM ]
posted on April 20, 2002 08:26:01 AM new
Also, anything that is made with polyprophlene or polyethelene (commonly called polypro and polyester) is made from oil as well. So, anyone who wears clothing with PET tags, PP tage, or any combo of the 2 are using oil as well. See, these items come to the factory in the form of pellets that are then dried, melted down, and extruded through packs with hundreds of holes in them: these are the first steps in making fabric. The colors that are added to them in the process are also oil based: same with most dyes now used for wool and such. The factory I work at produces these things: this is how I know of it. So, pretty well anytime you buy clothing, carpet, yarn, thread, buttons and the like, you are using a petrolum based product. People who fish use lines that are in part oil based. Do you play a guitar, or use the bathroom? Then, most guitar's have plastic frets and such on them, and most toilet seats are made of a plastic as well. Use your computer? The keys are plastic. Pretty well anything that is plastic based has used some oil in it, and will use more when it is discarded. So, problem #1 is how do we replace these things? Or maybe it should be, how do we limit their usage? How do we prevent countries that are not as regulated as our own from overusing or oversupplying (remember: even the labor costs must be figured into this equation). What are we to do with the technology we have now? How can we better use solar, hydro and nuclear power for our benifits? And how can we, as a country, reduce our dependence on the Middle East oil reserves? We have plenty of oil available in our own country, but it has been declaired off limits for various reasons I would rather not get involved in. At least not in here.
As to how much my family "uses": we burn on avrage approximently 1400 gallons of heating oil a year. I carpool to work, so my wife drives our car where she needs to go: in the old beast we still get 14 m.p.g. (not bad for a Olds wagon made in 1977 with 350,000 on it). We are having a woodstove put in this year, I hope. But, overall, we use about the same amount as is used in general through out the US on an average basis, I would guess.
posted on April 20, 2002 11:45:19 PM new
The problem with polyester is that it is often blended with cotton to make clothing.
Trying to do away with oil is hard, because the oil industry over the century has pushed to find so many uses for it that even if we stop all oil for automobile fuel and lubricant, we'd still be using a hellava lot of oil.
Still, I if you want to join in on the anti-oil revolution, go buy an electric car.
You can also convert part of your home's electric to solar on your roofing if it faces the south.
Use less electricity. Go to bed earlier in the evening, get up earlier in the morning as God intended. Turn off the tv, the computer, and get a life. Invest in better insulated windows and doors and other insulators for winter to cut down on oil use. Turn off the heat in the late afternoon, let your dinner cooking heat the house after, go to bed early and let the house cool off overnight.
Support solar power and any alternative power.
Even if it costs MORE?
ESPECIALLY if it costs more!
They keep us oil dependant by providing it to us cheaply. If it was more expensive than Solar and Geothermal, then we'd already have made the switch.
They know that. That's why oil is so cheap.
But we can all do our part - go to bed early. Ever since I did that, I am more productive, more wide awake during the day, and I feel much better! Also, I cut my electric bill by one-third!
Walk more, weight less. If your grocery store is within two to three blocks - walk. Don't drive to the store when you could walk it in 10 minutes.
I could go on. You get the drift..
sp.
[ edited by Borillar on Apr 20, 2002 11:47 PM ]
posted on April 21, 2002 12:30:15 PM new
If you want to look at how oil can be used it is really a shame to BURN the stuff when it is so valuable as chemical feedstock and lub.
The new Honda civic hybrid gets 51/46 MPG and looks like the regular civic - no weird futuristic thing with no luggage space etc.
I will seriously consider one.
posted on April 21, 2002 06:03:57 PM new
The Honda hybrid could upset the apple cart and have an unintended effect. If enough of the hybrids are sold, it could actually reduce our oil consumption enough to drop the price of oil dramatically. If only 20-25% of the driving public drove the hybrids, pump prices may fall to 70-90 cents a gallon.
If the price drops enough, SUVs and other gas guzzlers will become even more popular.
Cheap fuel will also have an effect on emerging markets such as China. Cheap gasoline will offer no incentive for China to abandon an individual car-based transportation system.
High gas prices would likely cause China to invest instead in mass transit systems. Everything we may save in the US would be of no effect towards supply and prices if China developes our type of individual car transportation system.
China is already having traffic and smog problems in some cities. China would also have no incentive to use western technologies for pollution reduction. They may build their own backward auto production, like the Soviets did. They will be more worried about the cars running than pollution.
posted on April 21, 2002 08:11:08 PM new
That sounds plausable. But think of it: China can take OUR place in the Middle-East! Yes, let THEM get bambed, blown-up, spit-on, hated, jihads against, GREAT SATAN, never-ending wars, and all that! WE won't be there since we won't need to import the oil. Let them have the oil and the headaches that come with it all.
posted on April 21, 2002 09:52:34 PM new
That would be interesting. Instead of policing WMDs in the Midle East, we'd probably be supplying them to the anti-China Jihads.
posted on April 25, 2002 09:13:10 PM new
HAHAHAAHHAHA, MY FIRST THOUGHT WHEN SEEING THE HEADLINER,,,,,,,,,WHAT KIND OF OIL????????? JUST HAD TO POP IN ON THAT ONE. NOPE NOT THE OIL I WAS THINKING. HAHAHHA. PROPANE! THAT'S THE WAY TO GO. LIGHT AND HEAT. WORKS FOR ME. ALL PROPNE HERE. OUT. BUT THEN SOLAR PANELS AND MY WINDGENERATORS TOO OF COURSE.
face.