Andrew’s Sustainapedia

As I recently reported, I’m getting great fuel economy with my New Beetle TDI. Since starting my commute between Waterloo and Stratford late last year I’ve managed to improve my fuel economy from 8.0L/100km down to 6.5L/100km through driving style changes, and then down to 4.9L/100km by switching to a more fuel-efficient vehicle. It certainly seems like I’m heading in the right direction, but I’m not entirely convinced that’s correct. My fuel economy numbers are great right now - but is fuel economy the right metric to use?
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I’ve now had my New Beetle TDI long enough to fill it with fuel twice. The first fill, after finally burning through the 3/4 of a tank that the vehicle came with, gave me a baseline to start measuring from. The second fill finally gave me my first glimpse into how efficient this particular vehicle is under my control.
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The first shot has been fired across the bow of the bottled water industry. Ann Arbor, Michigan, has banned the sale of bottled water at municipally-sponsored events. While the water bottling industry is getting riled up about this, I applaud Ann Arbor’s initiative, and hope that it cascades through to other municipalities, and even states and provinces.

Why am I so anti-bottled water? It has nothing to do with the quality of the water (although it is the subject of much debate and many tests). The simple fact is that by bottling and distributing water, you are using plastic, cardboard, and energy to package and distribute a commodity that already has an unparalleled distribution infrastructure already in place; your municipal water supply system. If you don’t think tap water is clean enough for you to drink (for whatever reason), add a point-of-use filter. Even with purchasing a $40 point-of-use filter and a $20 reusable stainless steel water bottle, they will pay for themselves after roughly 150L of water, and generate nothing for either the landfill or recycling.
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An acquaintance of mine read my bemoaning our loss of being able to repair products and clued me in to what looks like a gem of a little company, Layton’s Small Appliance Repair in Kitchener. (Thanks, Rachael!) The first paragraph on their website is music to my ears:

“Don’t throw away quality small appliances, when you can repair them or buy that broken part for the price on the tax on a new one!”

When I get a chance I fully intend on checking out this shop myself. If you need something repaired, check them out and let me know how it goes!

A long while back I was pondering rebuilding a cordless drill battery pack to revive the powerless, yet otherwise entirely functional, tool. I took one pack in to The Source to inquire about their price to rebuild the battery, to which they replied $80 for a single 12V battery pack. That is equivalent to purchasing a new one, and I know that there is plenty of profit built in to that figure. So I figured I’d give rebuilding the battery a crack at it myself. To that end, I’ve even acquired another drill with dead batteries for twice the fun.

Tonight, however, it dawned on me that I am once again just being more sustainable; even if I rebuild the battery packs myself instead of purchasing entirely new batteries (or an entirely new drill for that matter), I’m still going to be using batteries which will eventually die. Yes, I’m reducing the amount of garbage I’m producing, but could I do better? I think I can.
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I knew better. I honestly knew better, but one piece of well-intentioned but contrary advice lured me in to not doing what I should have done. I really, honestly knew better, but got a case of the stupids.

I’ve been running my new-to-me Beetle on a biodiesel blend (approximately B45) for the past week. Up until last night I’d had no problems with the bio-Bug, when I had an unfortunate (but ultimately HIGHLY enlightening) experience. I was driving at highway speeds when I noticed a blip in engine power. It went away briefly, but returned, with the power fading quickly and speed dropping. I managed to get off the highway on to a side street, where it stopped and would not start. The culprit? Exactly what I suspected the instant power first dropped off: a clogged fuel filter.
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Over the past two weeks I have been riding an emotional roller coast thanks to my KitchenAid blender. My blender is a wonderful device - it’s been faithfully serving my family for nearly 8 years, making everything from my proprietary fruit-and-yogurt “purple drink” for the kids to my uncle’s strawberry daiquiries for the adults. One recent day when attempting to make a drink for the kids, it would make noise but not actually blend. Somehow, the blades and the star-shaped wheel that is driven by the base started spinning independently. My blender was broken!

Obviously, with only one part malfunctioning and everything else in perfect working order, it only made sense to try and get a new blade assembly so we could have a working blender again. I called up Whirlpool Canada, who oversees the line of KitchenAid appliances, endured the 25 minutes on hold, and ordered a new part for $40. I was happy to have managed to save the blender… almost.
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