It's Friday: Mobile meadow captures truck's carbon emissions on the run
My friend Dennis in Washington decided one day to make his Mazda truck really green. But instead of installing a revolutionary and complex powertrain, he decided to go modest and install the simplest carbon capture device on the cargo bed: he grows plants on it. Literally. I believe this even adds some kind of poetry to the simple act of driving.
Let him tell us the story of this project: "I started with it in March of 2007. I installed a plastic liner, which I filled with a mixture of light potting soil and chicken manure, then seeded with a large packet of Short Meadow mix. Then I just waited for it to grow. All the flowers this year reseeded naturally from last year's crop. It always gets lots of attention! The neighbors love it, too. By the way, I can't really take the truck on the freeway with the flowers so high, so I'll take the car instead."
Gallery: Mobile flowerbed
Thanks to Dennis!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chad 9:14AM (6/20/2008)
How much extra gas does he burn carrying around the weight of all that dirt?
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m 10:31AM (6/20/2008)
thats so stupid, the added weight alone is probably killing his gas mileage.
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len simpson 9:26AM (6/20/2008)
pretty, but a 1/2 ton of dirt prolly hurts the mileage.
semi mobile planter?
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damian 9:29AM (6/20/2008)
Now, I don't want to be a pisser, but what is the need of having a truck if you don't use the cargo bed?
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Phil L. 9:37AM (6/20/2008)
I'm sure it's more than the carbon captured by the flowers, but it's still cool to look at.
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kballs 1:47PM (6/20/2008)
Those flowers would capture just as much carbon in a [stationary] flowerbed in the yard, and the truck wouldn't have to INCREASE its carbon footprint to do it.
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Dennis King 7:33PM (6/20/2008)
Hi, I'm Dennis, the guy with the truck. You are all absolutely right about the impact of weight on mileage and the loss of hauling capacity. It would ridiculous to drive from Seattle to Portland with it like I used to do, let alone make road trips to California the way I did when it was new (1999). In fact I now drive it about four or five miles every third or fourth day, and walk nearly everywhere else. As Xavi said, it's a poetic gesture, playing with the literal and metaphorical uses of the word "green". It gives a lot of people pleasure and I think it also gets them thinking about the ways we use our vehicles.
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Qugeist 5:31PM (6/24/2008)
Hi Dennis,
No matter what the other guys say, you came up with this unique idea. Don't scrap it!
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