By Trevor Reichman
In Wa$ted, fraternity brothers were feeding themselves almost exclusively with fast food. Not only were the leftover containers creating most of their trash, we can also assume that these brothers were not cycling to McDonalds. Once factoring in the separate car trips and the unnecessary idling in drive through lines, these eco-criminals have room for improvement.
One thing at a time...
Drive-through lines are the product of cheap gasoline, sprawl, and just plain laziness. That's all changing, except for the laziness part. Idling in a long drive-through line is not good for anything except the oil companies. Turning off the vehicle and back on again every time the line inches forward a car-length is even worse. Some hybrids are an exception, turning to electric power while idling and slowly moving forward. However, other hybrid models still keep the engine running on gasoline while idling. Going inside to get your food, beer, or prescriptions is almost always faster than the drive through line and is a good way to stretch the legs.
Going inside also gives you the opportunity to bring your own container.
Another way to make a statement is to pedal through, or even walk through! If you can tolerate the surrounding fumes, it is a fun way to turn heads. At the order window, you may want to make your best engine revving sounds, otherwise the counter person may not know you are there waiting, as is increasingly the case with silent hybrids. When you cycle through the bank line to make a deposit, the teller will surely know where the savings are coming from.
Please note that some franchises may refuse servicing you on a bicycle claiming liability reasons.
