Being environmentally sensitive for most of us might be having a vegetable garden and recycling the trash. It is quite another thing to actually make your own fuel — with your bare hands. A group of Islanders do more about their greenhouse gas emissions than just buying a car with higher gas mileage. A story in this issue describes the steps in creating a vehicle-worthy alternative fuel, which is actually being performed by your neighbors.

To make the fuel, co-op members find and collect the raw material by picking up and collecting waste products, primarily cooking oil from local restaurants. Another member processes it and disposes correctly of the byproducts. The result is dramatically cheaper fuel to operate their vehicles cutting noxious emissions to virtually nothing.

The process is not very efficient – nor at this point economically viable on such a small scale. But as gasoline prices continue to climb, it might be. No doubt some intrepid entrepreneur will streamline the process and make it workable on a larger scale. But for now, biodiesel works well for the individuals who do it and who work as a cooperative unit.

Such a laborious and time-intensive method is not for everyone. We are spoiled by convenience. But the biodiesel people offer a compelling example of how it could be. It is use/reuse in action. Cutting down on the most egregious pollutant on our planet – the burning of fossil fuels – is a worthy enterprise. But for most of us, simply driving less would be a good move toward protecting the environment.

Our thanks to the Mercer Island Community Fund for its generous and shrewd allocation of funds to good and meaningful uses. The fund gives to projects and activities that touch people’s lives across the board from IslandVision and its Farmers Market Initiative to Youth Theatre Northwest and Wooden O Theatre to the Boys and Girls Club. The Foundation Board is made up of thoughtful and committed citizens who strive to make every dollar donated to the fund by community members count. We thank them.

The Mercer Island Schools Foundation annual fund raising community business breakfast is set for Tuesday, March 25. As with the Community Fund – each and every dollar donated is carefully spent to maximize its value to Island students and the Island.