The green oil change

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Honestly, I never heard of a "green" oil change. But my pals over at Mike's Automotive in Somerville say they're offering one now, and I believe them.

Yes, I could be falling for a heinous act of greenwashing, but I've been relying on this business for 17 years, and if they're lyin', I'm a complete fool and you probably would have to question anything I say. Nevertheless, I trust them.

It's important to acknowledge that "green" is a scale, unavoidably. Lots of things can be greener than something else, but exist within a decidedly non-green framework. That's the case here, because anything that makes driving possible is doing harm to the planet. Each of us has to decide what we're willing to live with and to live without, and then make the best choices that follow.

What makes this oil change green is that the oil is re-refined — that is, cleaned after getting dirty, to the extent that performs better, the shop says, than "conventional" oil. The oil meets the standard the American Petroleum Institute sets for motor oils.

We have two cars in our family. One's a Prius, and Georgie commutes on public transportation most days, but still, we are doing our part to foul the air by driving personal motor transportation. Still, if I can reduce that stain by using old oil, that's a green action.

Or, at least, a greener one. 

If you've made the decision to drive, you can be "less bad" by keeping your autos in fit mechanical condition, and by helping to create a market for re-refined oil. I will.


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