How Bad IS the Drive-Through?

Hey Mr. Green,
What is the global-warming impact of the omnipresent drive-through? Surely this has to be one of our biggest wastes of energy. --Robert in Biglerville, Pennsylvania

In drive-throughs or anyplace, idling is, to summon the old saying, the devil's workshop. Every hour you idle, you waste up to 0.7 gallons of gas (depending on your engine type) going nowhere. So it pays to turn your engine off if you're going to be still for more than 30 seconds.

In a given year, U.S. cars burn some 1.4 billion gallons of fuel just idling. Not to mention idling trucks, which waste another 1.5 billion gallons. Collectively, we emit about 58 million tons of carbon dioxide while we're essentially doing nothing.

Taking the fast-food industry as an example, and taking into account that the average McDonald's drive-through wait is 159 seconds, we can calculate that the company's consumers burn some 7.25 million gallons of gas each year. The figure for the entire U.S. fast-food industry? Roughly 50 million gallons.

Though Wendy's boasts that it zips you through in a mere 131 seconds, that's about the amount of time it would take to slap together your own sandwich, or dump some leftovers in Tupperware, and bypass the lines (and perhaps a bypass) entirely.

The spread of American idle may be an exciting prospect for companies seeking to expand this lazy food-getting method to the rest of the world--but it's a devastating one for the environment. Consider that McDonald's plans to open 25 drive-throughs in China, following KFC's lead. KFC installed its first drive-through there in 2002 and is working on 100 more. If China and India, which is also jumping aboard the drive-through bandwagon, get up to speed, they can idle away a truly staggering figure: 30 billion gallons of gas. Every year.

Comments

[Texas Electricity]

Wow! That's a stagering amount of wasted fuel and huge impact on our environment. Great read.

[Mini Greenhouses]

The drive through really is terrible, it makes our society lazy and useless. Not to mention a drain on fuel as well as our environment, nice post. I enjoyed this very much! Go Green!

[Roberto]

I've always wondered about this. No I wonder how much fuel is spent at stop lights.

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That's horrible. I have always gone in when purchasing fast food just because I thought it was easier. Now I no longer eat fast food at all.

[Pati Hays-Gutzat]

You forgot to mention drive-thru windows for banks and pharmacies. Fast food drive-thru aren't the only culprits... It's too easy for people to feel self-righteous about not eating fast food, but important to recognize that doing one's banking or picking up one's meds use just as much gas, not to mention the pollution an idling engine contributes into our atmostphere.

[Andy]

I'm not convinced, I don't think this has been thought through. Without the drive-thru, establishments would need a bigger building to accomodate larger lineups. They would also need more parking. Both impact the carbon footprint of the establishment.

There are also solutions....for example, making the drivethrough a downward incline so you can turn off the engine and coast your way through the line.

In my town they are begiinning to talk about drivethrough bans, meanwhile they are installing left turn signals all over town that force people to sit idling at a green light....duh!

Anyway, drive-thru's are but a tiny fraction of the fuel we waste. Save fuel by walking more often.

[Antifastfood]

Don't blame this on the establishments, it is strictly the fault of a population that is defined by their own laziness. If you are going to eat that slop, at least get out of your vehicle and walk the 50 feet to the order line.

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Why do you think The Netherlands is so clean. They only have a few drive through's in the entire country, all McD's. They also have thousands of Round-a-bouts instead of four-way intersections so there's no waiting for a light to turn green.

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The numbers are crazy! I just can't believe it! Good that we have all these great environmental changes coming up to save us from all this waste and pollution.

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Alright, let's fix it right now...no drive-thru's OR stop lights...or stop signs. Roadway anarchy!

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Fuel is being wasted and also a great chance of road littering - It's not a smart idea at all.

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I was riding my bike around a shopping center this morning and there was a Starbucks with a long line of cars(12) in the drive-through lane. I stopped and timed the line and it was taking 12 minutes for a car in the back to reach the window! What a waste!!!

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Don't like drive-through myself. Always thought it just as easy to stop the car, get out and walk in. Mainly because I also like to think about what I am going to buy, and not have to rush through it speaking into a speaker.

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Drive-through does have a long idle time, but it's probably not so considerable compared to being stuck in traffic. A better solution is public transportation, instead of so many personal vehicles.

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It's definitely a bit of a recipe for disaster (burning fuel, people getting zero exercise whilst they eat awful food etc etc) but let's face it; this is supply and demand! No consumers equals no drivethru...

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If China and India, which is also jumping aboard the drive-through bandwagon, get up to speed, they can idle away a truly staggering figure: 30 billion gallons of gas. Every year.

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