Car Enthusiasm and the Environment

"Agrajag" (Agrajag) 09/02/2013 at 13:06 • Filed to: environment

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Do you ever feel, or have people try to make you feel guilty for being a car enthusiast?

I'm sure as fellow enthusiasts you take the occasional drive on a back road for no other reason than to take a nice ride. I always get a look of bemusement when I tell people this.

person: Man it is a nice day. I think I'll go to the park.

me: Yeah, it is. I'm going to go for a drive.

person: Why? That sounds like a waste of gas.

me: Because I find enjoyment in driving on the empty, windy back roads. It's only a waste if you're not enjoying it.

person: But what about the environment?

me: You son of a bitch.

person: Ha, got you. You don't care about the environment.

me: I love the Earth. I go to parks too, I go to state game lands(off season of course) and state preserves more often since there is less people, and it's not manufactured to be visually appealing, I just get there differently. Plus you were more concerned about spending the money on gas at first. Ass.

If you're a nature lover, how do you deal with knowing that what you love so much is hurting it?

Casper > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:10

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I just laugh at them and tell them my entire car is recycled where as their Prius is responsible for acid rain in Canada and China. I then point out that they are going to see "nature" in a place that had to be sterilized and paved for their enjoyment and is devoid of nearly all indigenous life. Usually by the end of it they look like they want to kill themselves, which I tell them would be a better net benefit for the world than me not driving. I then whistle a marry tune and go find some twisties, knowing I did something to help the planet.

MountainCommand > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:13

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Well, if you werent going to use that fuel, someone else was. So at least you used it in a fun way.

My opinion, we have the earth, there are resources available to us on this earth, and we are simply just using them to do things. Everything we've ever made has been made from things of this earth. So really, its all natural anyways....

I guess the same argument can be used for soda. "why do you drink soda, its horrible for you!" "same reason why you smoke weed"....

Dont feel guilty about automotive enthusiasm. Once we start feeling guilty, our niche society will become a 'bad name'. There is nothing wrong with enjoying what we do.

Speedmonkey > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:17

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My day job is as a renewables developer. I've built 3.5 MW of solar so far this year. No environmental conscience as I've a massive carbon offset.

I've a car with a V8, and no guilt

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:21

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Well, as a Car geek who's actually a nature lover I think I can answer this, sort of.

YES my love for cars could be seen as not that friendly to the flowers and trees, BUT I recycle everything, my car runs on E85 (yeah yeah, not really that good, but it pollutes less than gasoline), I never use plastic cups or any other disposable utensils. I drive OLD cars, who might pollute more in itself, but does less damage to the world as a whole since it does not require production of a new car. I also use my bike whenever possible.

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:21

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All of the performance cars I've had are HO 4-cylinders that average in the high 20s for MPGs. I do less damage to the environment aimlessly wandering about for hours than they do in their giant SUVs just in their normal commute.

Hoccy > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:22

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I'm more concerned about lack of other resources than the CO2 my car produces. Sorting your garbage instead of putting everything in one bin, recycling and using renewable resources is more important than saving a couple of litres of petrol. It's more environmentally friendly to keep an old car going than buying a new one each year. That goes for everything. Just ask them why they have a smartphone and everything else that is modern.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:24

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No.

nataku83 > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:26

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I enjoy the hobby while making an effort to be as ecologically responsible as I can. I don't think you need to beat yourself up over going for a pleasure drive now and then - it's your daily habits that really have the greatest effect.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:27

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Well, I know what you feel.
I mean..
My car is has a 6L V12. By hearing the sound of my car coming, all the trees runaway and hiding in the cave. Plus she drinks gas like there's a hole in the fuel tank.

But..
Somehow I help the enviroment as well.
My car is 17 years old. My father's car is even older at, 22. My grandpa's is even crazier at 63. Because we use our car longer than average, that means less waste from the rusted metal, right?

But maybe that's just me defending myself.

Cars will always be an enemy for the enviroment. But what can we do?
Stop driving?

No.

There's still a huge company with big smoke coming out of there. All in all, sooner or later the world will destroyed anyway.

Agrajag > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 09/02/2013 at 13:31

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I find I get better mileage on the back roads due to fewer stops even taking into account hills. My GTI gets between 31-35mpg on the back roads if driven gingerly. On the crowded traffic light strewn state road to the same destination 30 is the best I've gotten. Even when I drive in a spirited manner on back roads 23 or 24 is the lowest it gets.

Pitchblende > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:31

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I just save that gas up by not using my car on stupid short journeys I can walk, not burying my throttle when I know I'll just have to stop at the next lights, a spot of hypermiling, and so on. Then I can unleash it when I have the opportunity and still use fewer natural resources than many of these nay-sayers.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Hoccy 09/02/2013 at 13:32

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Haha, it's kinda spooky how similar we think Hoccy, but I guess that's part of being from Norway. Don't know how it is in your part of Norway, but here in Hamar vi have four different garbage bins; one for plastic, one for paper, one for food and other decomposable waste and a fourth for everything else (not metal though, that we deliver at small local, ehm, recycling units).

gomerkyle9 > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:34

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At least I'm not this guy...

505Turbeaux > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:35

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Without people enjoying the roads, well that would be a waste of asphalt or concrete...right?

Atomic Buffalo > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:36

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I am thankful that I don't know anyone so judgemental and classless as to ask me such questions.

Agrajag > gomerkyle9 09/02/2013 at 13:37

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Moments later the entire population of a newly found species of flying dodo's, discovered only hours before, fell to the ground dead.

Agrajag > 505Turbeaux 09/02/2013 at 13:37

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I like that one.

Agrajag > Atomic Buffalo 09/02/2013 at 13:41

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This isn't a verbatim conversation. Usually it is in discussion with co-workers or visiting family. There aren't that many like minded enthusiasts in my area.

Hoccy > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 09/02/2013 at 13:44

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It's the same system on the correct side of Mjøsa (hehe), and in Oslo we use different coloured bags for plastics, food and everything else, as well as sorting paper in it's own bin. I think almost every part of Norway, except the most rural areas (too expensive), sort their waste, must be a part of our culture.

Bandit > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:44

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I love the outdoors, most of the vacations I have been on were centered around hiking. I've been to many major national parks and I work at a state park. I also love to indulge myself in a "floor it + downshift" when I'm passing a prius. I also drive a 32 year old car, it has way exceeded its expected lifetime and thus is better for the environment than buying a new car every 5 years.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:51

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I too have to reconcile my love of nature with my love of cars. Basically I try to be eco-friendly in every other aspect of my life. Heavily insulated house, recycling etc.

Plus, driving primarily old cars (and ones near to the scrapyard a lot of the time) increases the amount of distance traveled for the resources used in their production.

It'd be interesting to find out the total cost of producing a car in tonnes of CO2 vs the total cost of running a car for 10,000 miles in tonnes of CO2.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Hoccy 09/02/2013 at 13:53

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Dude, you're from the WRONG side of Mjøsa? Kan verden være så liten? Yeah, I guess it's all part of our culture, we've got huge tracts of land (get the reference?) to take care of and I think we're rather proud of our nature.

YSI-what can brown do for you > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:56

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As a man who loves straight pipes, race cars, and V12s, I feel no remorse!

BullManUGA > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 13:59

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I just laugh at them and move on.

roflcopter > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 14:03

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I get this relatively often when I get the usual line of, "I wish I had a little car like that, it probably gets great MPG."

- Me: "Nah, I get about 15 on average"

-Them: "But it has a 4cyl in it right?"

-Me: "Nope, rotary."

At which point I crank it up and let it sit an idle while coming up to temp and their eyes start watering from the fuel/oil.

Although I do get a kick out of that, I do care for the environment and one of the biggest reasons I have found for not caring too much about my car outputs is the fact that in my entire life, I will not pollute as much as an off-shore tug does in one day to get all the outsourced goods across the oceans so we can get things a bit cheaper. All while burning unrefined crude, not gasoline, that is exhausted straight into the ocean. A bigger difference would be to buy local, not stop driving enjoyable cars.

What we do is only a drop in the bucket, and while every bucket couldn't exist without all the drops in it, there are bigger issues that are driven by more questionable motives than my car habit.

desertdog5051 > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 14:13

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Love nature and all the parks in the SW. But you gotta get there. Might as well make it an enjoyable time on the way.

Atomic Buffalo > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 14:18

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So is the guilt strictly self-generated by blameless questions, or does it seem like they're judging you? I got the impression from the above hypothetical that other people were guilt-tripping you a bit.

For my part, I try to make the miles count. And I try to share the joy with others, either directly like on a road trip or through enthusiastic description. Don't underestimate the extent to which the people you know can live vicariously and better appreciate both the marvel of their own mobility and the value of nature.

Agrajag > Atomic Buffalo 09/02/2013 at 14:24

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I should have made it clear I don't feel guilty at all, post was just inquiring to how other people felt. I don't even know if they were trying to guilt trip, more so they just don't understand how someone could find driving fun. I try to preach the good word as well, by taking people for drives, letting them drive my cars(on very rare occasions) or convincing them to go to an autocross.

Atomic Buffalo > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 14:29

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It is a shame how many people own cars and how few people enjoy them.

Agrajag > Atomic Buffalo 09/02/2013 at 14:32

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Agreed.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 14:49

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Yeah. I really have only one car loving friend. I live in seattle and all of my friends and family are hippies (ok not really, but they're leftie environmentalists for sure.)

All of this is fine. If anyone asks, I explain to them that i have inexplicably loved cars since the well before I could verbalize my passion. They're something I have always been into and they're something I'll love till the day I die.

I then explain that everyone has at least one superficial interest that does nothing the better the world. If they're honest (and most of my friends are) they'll realize they have some sort of superficial interest as well and leave it at that.

Decay buys too many beaters > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 17:52

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I live in Portland, and get this all the time. A city full of carless millenial hipsters and aging hippy prius/leaf drivers is not exactly a great place to be an enthusiast. Just outside the city is not so bad though.

Matt Urban > Agrajag 09/02/2013 at 18:19

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I just tell them to piss off, my shit's paid for!! Also I ask them who is regulating the emissions of the Rim wildfire?