After two weeks of disgust at the ongoing spill of oil into the Gulf of Mexico by the BP Deepwater Horizon leak, a friend of mine on facebook sold her car.
I congratulated her for her leadership, moral courage, and willingness to do her part.
Giving up your sole automobile as a political statement is a courageous act.
In her honor, here is a partial list of a few of the other things we would have to give up if we were to try, as she did, to eliminate petroleum and petroleum products from our lives.
You see, one 42 gallon barrel of oil yields about 19.4 gallons of gasoline for our cars. Fuel for our cars is not even one half of the barrel!
Among the other 22.6 gallons are thousands of items:
Shop Goods:
Metalworking fluids including oil, various solvent s and mineral spirits, grease; synthetic rubber, detergents/ cleaners, epoxy, safety glasses, tool boxes and racks, water pipes, trash bags, electrical tape, cable ties, paint, dyes, fan belts, even the roofing materials above our heads and insulation on our wiring.
Home Health and Sanitary:
Heart valves, artificial limbs, soft contact lenses, combs, toothbrushes, toilet seats, shampoo, pharmaceuticals (including vitamin capsules, antihistamines, anesthetics, aspirin, cortisone) toothpaste, deodorant, perfumes, cosmetics, and lipstick.
Everyday Living:
Telephones, computer cases, television cabinets, speakers, cameras, refrigerators, dishwasher parts, car battery cases, golf balls and bags, purses, basketballs, football helmets, cd’s and dvd’s, ice chests, sunglasses,watch bands, sweaters, yarns, and fabrics.
Americans consume petroleum products at the rate of three-and-a-half gallons a day and more than 250 cubic feet of natural gas per day each!
Not just as fuel…
List of petroleum based products original source. (Ranken Energy lists just 144 of the over 6000 products made from petroleum.)
Photo credit for Deepwater Horizon response equipment: why quality is job one in all our shops.
Tag: Petroleum