Anybody doing anything "green" in the garage?

I've been watching so many of those green related shows on TV lately I think it's starting have an effect.

Mind you, I'm NOT about to start re-cylcing urine... Or spend $10,000 on solar collectors to shave $15 off my electric bill.... but I sure do wonder about the 200 pounds of sales catalogs and empty plastic bottles I toss out every month.

So, I'm trying to think about how I can do something that is along the lines of "fun in the shop" but perhaps has "green" overtones or a good end result. The answer for me is wind power. Making a wind generator from an old one-wire alternator. I found 4 useable batterys at the salvage yard (not good to start a car with but will release power good enough to light a bulb). I'm thinking of sourcing some elcheapo HID stuff that should help build awesome 12volt lighting with low watt useage. Gonna build little housings and run these 12volt HID setups to light the outside of my shop (rather than leave the lights on all night that are hooked to the grid). So far, everything I found I scrounged. I just took 4 batterys and an alternator outta the landfill.

The batterys was the hard part... It's easier to buy a $65 battery than scrounge through a few hundred trying to find one that may have been retired early from service. But that is kinda the idea, keep that stuff outta the landfill.

Am I worried about the environment, well, yes, I suppose we all should be. Am I gonna change a lot of my habits... probably not. But that doesn't mean I can't find a fun way to start or participate in my own little way.

I save all my used oil for a buddy that burns it, and left over and junk steel I take to the recycling yard, rather than just drop it off at the land fill. and we're getting $65 a ton. Bought me lunch the last time I dropped off a few engine blocks and some other crap.

<---Not a tree hugger. But I do wonder what's going on.

Anybody doing anything cool in the shop that's "green"?

 

Hippy

I pour my used oil in the dirt.

 

adding some more carbs. ohh that costs me green and ruins the enviroment at the same time !!!!

 

I take old alum wheel and cast them into stuff my dad makes molds for. recycleing...

 

Take my scrap pieces to the salvage place - isn't worth the gas, but I can stand to just toss it

 

Yes.... I'm recycling a 46 ford cpe. to perform much better than it originally did & in doing so am spending ALL the GREEN in my pockets!! Green it is.....

Paco

 

Today was trash day at my house - and there wasn't enough in the trash can to put out to the street. I'll wait till Thursday.

I have four recycling bins in my garage, plastic, paper, aluminum, and glass. I really don't throw anything in the regular trash anymore...just food scrap.

We only get one planet to live on - I'm 30 - a little younger than most of the "proud to pour used motor oil in the dirt" guys, so I guess I'm more interested in the issue.

 

I use one of those "green" bags when I go and buy stuff at OSH...

Sam

 

check out some of the LED stuff over the HID. You can get lots of light out of those deals these days.

 

I'm with you Brother, put it back in the ground where it came from. That's as green as it gets

 

My son and I ,when work is going slow on his 23 T-bucket and or my 28"A", we're racing in this green stuff,race car #85;
http://electrathonfl.homestead.com/
Great fun and fairly low buck,there are links on that site for your nearist local race to you,this goes on all over the USA.

 

the "green" issue is bs!!! global warming is made so you feel bad and go out and buy a smart for 2. all they got to do is say he cars are bad on the earth and through some usless "facts" around and dumb people go out and pay new cars that are "green" hell there is all sorts of new "green" products that probly arent that "green" enjoy the wool over your eyes i think everyone on the hamb recycles i do but because i just love old stuff i bet it takes so much more energy to make a new car or new green products then to just keep fixing and using the old ones

 

does the refrigearator count?...lots of green stuff there......

 

also from what i hear those batteries in the new electic cars hybids whatever go bad in like couple of years and then go sit in the landful just as bad as blowin a buncha gas

 

I take my oil to a recycle joint. Best I can do. Oh, by tha way, tree hugggers and/or extremist need to lighen tha FUCK up. Just my opinion.

 

I recycled my roadster from 2 different parts body. Helped the small business man that makes patch panels. Bought parts from small venders. Supported local sanderblasters. Saved all kinds of parts from being thrown away, and create and build and recycle. If that's not green---------

 

starting to think like wacko enviorometilast pretty soon you might want a electric toyota hor rod and want to eat healthy at the a&w cruise nite. stop watching tv and work on you rod

 

Can't we all just get along! I find these threads hard to take too seriously. I think some people just start these to rile everyone up!

 

when I shit in the woods I bag it n pack it out and then toss it over my neighbors fence

 

the air and water is cleaner now than it was 30 years ago...we are all ready green enough

this "green movement" is just a way for them to grab more of your money

i wonder what they do with used motor oil in China? do you think they recycle it , or dump it?

 

green?

yea- i'm green with envey over a lot of the rides posted here!

 

Bwah-hahahahahaha!

 

My cars are all "recycled".

 

does using the common fucking sense you should have been born with count?

if so... then yes

if your not... your an idiot

to those now offended... grow the fuck up

 

In my garage I have green tin snips, green lawn chairs, green welding sleeves, green trash can, green bag of fertilizer and multile cases of green mountain dew.

 

Put it in the dog food and sell it back to the U.S.

 

Pickn my nose

 

sometimes i smoke weed out there