How much do you think the long lines at drive thrus are contributing to global warming?

Question

And do you think that a law should be passed to abolish them for those physically able to walk into the establishment?

Answer 1

Drive-thrus allow establishments to have smaller dining areas (or to eliminate them altogether.) This saves much more energy than what would be saved by eliminating the drive-thru.

What I would like to see incorporated in ALL cars, not just hybrids, would be the ability for the engine to shut down when stopped instead of idling. The "auto stop" feature on my hybrid shuts down the engine when you have your foot on the brake and the car slows down to under 10 mph - it automatically starts the engine as soon as you take the foot off the brake. The first car I think I remember to utilize this feature was the Porsche 911 Turbo - it was back in the 80s to help the sports car meet tightening CAFE standards. The point is that you don't have to put these features on "economy" cars - any car would benefit, and you can easily argue that putting this on gas guzzlers would cut down on fuel waste and pollution the MOST.

So, not only would you decrease needless idling at drive-thrus, but you would save MANY, MANY times more at stop lights and traffic jams, picking up or dropping off friends and family members, etc. Think how much more breathable the air could be in urban areas.

Answer 2

Drive thrus are an important part of our society, unfortunately. People who are trying to get places fast need to get food fast. That's why it's called fast food. The actual CO2 tonnage is probably a lot, but insignificant compared to cars on the road and traffic jams. It is definitely a serious problem, but no one would vote for a law to make people who were physically able to walk into the establishment not go through the drive thru. A better idea would be that people would have to turn off their cars in drive thrus. It produces as much CO2 starting a car as it does idling it for 15 seconds. Since people spend more time at drive thrus than 15 seconds, this would help.

Answer 3

Gas wasted in those lines is negligible compared to the massive amount of fuel wasted by being stuck in traffic during rush hour. Only a few cars are waiting in the drive through, but all cars are stuck in traffic.

Answer 4

I can "one up" that 5 for fighting

Lets abolish everything and hang out on the lawn and eat grass

Answer 5

Or better yet, how about we just abolish restaurants? If there were no restaurants, imagine how much the environment could be saved if people had to stay home and cook?

Answer 6

Not at all.