|
|
 INNOVATION, EFFICIENCY & SOLUTIONS
Our mechanized society cannot function without lubricants. The dilemma is oil is both necessary for our life-style and potentially destructive to nature. Quite simply, we must select innovative, efficient products that will help solve our pollution problems.
The introduction of AMSOIL synthetic motor oil in 1972 set all new standards for motor oil quality. AMSOIL lubricants are 100% synthetic. They are specially designed to protect engine components, reduce emissions, last longer, reduce fuel consumption and prevent environmental pollution. From the beginning, AMSOIL synthetic motor oils have out-performed conventional petroleum motor oils on all counts.
AMSOIL synthetic motor oils resist chemical breakdown and sludging which keeps engines cleaner. They have been specifically designed not to oxidize, volatilize or shear back, resulting in a motor oil that lasts longer than conventional petroleum motor oils. While petroleum motor oil manufacturers recommend oil changes every 3,000 miles, AMSOIL synthetic motor oils protect engine components up to 35,000 miles or 1 year, dramatically extending oil change intervals.
AMSOIL PRESCRIPTION FOR PREVENTION:
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pollution Prevention Requirements, the first step in revitalizing a cleaner nation is pollutant source reduction.
AMSOIL accomplishes this by extending the interval between motor oil changes which can reduce the source of motor oil pollution more than eleven times.
Consider this: in 1993 an estimated 189.5 million motorized vehicles were on the road in the United States alone, and an estimated 700 million motorized vehicles were in operation throughout the world. If, by petroleum oil manufacturer’s recommendations, these vehicles have their oil changed every 3,000 miles on an average five-quart system, almost 1 billion quarts of used oil will be generated each month.
So are we drowning in oil? It is estimated at present that over 240 million gallons of oil are improperly discarded annually. Dumping 240 million gallons of oil is nearly the same as two Exxon Valdez spills each month.
How dangerous is used oil? Just one quart can produce a two acre oil slick. One gallon of oil can make one million gallons of water too foul to drink and 35 ppm of oil will kill fish. Improperly disposed used oil is dangerous.
Improperly dumped used oil seeps through landfills into ground water, disrupts bacterial digestion in sewer treatment plants and washes into lakes and harbors. At present, used motor oil is the largest single source of oil pollution in our nation’s waterways.
Certainly the first thing we can do is not create so much used oil to begin with, and we can recycle the used oil we have. Both synthetic and conventional motor oils can be recycled at any used oil recycling center.
Where Does All the Used Oil Go?
40% is dumped on the ground or down the sewer.
21% is thrown out with the trash, ending up in landfills.
6% is burned.
19% is reused for miscellaneous purposes.
14% is recycled.
PREVENT BILLIONS OF QUARTS FROM BEING DUMPED
Most automobile manufacturers recommend oil drain intervals of 3,000 to 6,000 miles for petroleum motor oils. AMSOIL recommends up to a 35,000-mile oil change which is 5 to 11 times fewer oil changes. Just think about the savings on the environment if, for example, the 135 million cars (excluding trucks, buses and taxis) in the United States were equipped with AMSOIL motor oil. Assuming an average service life of 100,000 miles and a sump capacity of 5 quarts per car, an oil change every 3,000 miles will generate 170 quarts of waste oil per year. That same car using AMSOIL and changing the oil every 25,000 miles will only generate 20 quarts of used oil per year. That is a difference of 150 quarts of used oil per car per year that can be saved. If we multiply the 150 quart savings out for all 135 million cars, the United States could see a reduction in waste oil of some 20.3 Billion quarts of oil. If you put 20.3 billion quarts of used oil into 55-gallon barrels and loaded them onto semi-trucks, a line of trucks would stretch end-to-end from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. and back to Los Angeles.
AMSOIL SOLUTIONS
For nearly three decades, AMSOIL INC. has been recognized as the leader in synthetic lubrication technology. AMSOIL was the first to introduce a synthetic motor oil qualified by the American Petroleum Institute, the first to recommend 25,000-mile/1-year drain intervals, the first to recommend 35,000-mile/1-year drain interals, and the first to implement a system for dramatically increasing drain intervals with oil analysis. Decades of research, laboratory analysis and millions of engine miles have kept AMSOIL the leader in automotive applications for synthetic lubrication. Although the results have paid off in maximizing efficiency and minimizing waste, they are not conclusive. AMSOIL is the leader in synthetics and with continued research, analysis and product development will remain the industry’s leader.
LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
In 1983 AMSOIL created the TRI-GARD system. The life of a lubricant is dependent on the quality of oil and the filtration system’s ability to keep it clean. The AMSOIL TRI-GARD system incorporates AMSOIL Synthetic Motor Oil, the AMSOIL Foam Air Filter, the AMSOIL By-Pass Filter and oil analysis to dramatically extend the oil change interval. Less oil changed means less oil disposal and less oil pollution.
With regards to the environment, the AMSOIL TRI-GARD System is the most technologically sound, environmentally friendly motor oil program to reduce oil disposal.
ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMICAL BENEFIT REDUCES EMISSIONS, INCREASES ENGINE LIFE
Each year nearly 600 million gallons of motor oil are burned and exit through the tailpipes of cars and trucks, creating emissions pollution. Petroleum oils volatilize (burn off) more readily than AMSOIL synthetic oils and create more emissions pollution. The graph below shows the results of six oils that underwent the NOACK Volatility Test. Of all the oils tested, AMSOIL shows dramatically less weight loss . . . less than half the weight loss of its closest counterpart. Some oils tested lost almost 20 percent of their weight. That means almost one fifth of the oil boils away and is released into the environment. For most cars, that’s approximately a quart of oil being burned and expelled into nature. The thicker oil left behind after volatization contributes to damaging deposits, sticky piston rings and oil blow-by, all of which cause reduced engine life, reduced fuel economy and increased air pollution.
GREATER FUEL ECONOMY
The advanced lubricity (slipperiness) of AMSOIL synthetic lubricants has been proven to increase fuel economy by 2-5%. AMSOIL reduces friction and allows your engine to use its heat-energy more efficiently.
HOW MUCH IS 5%?
If a person averages more than 15,000 miles each year, and spends an average of $3.10 per gallon of gas, a 5% savings would be more than $88 per year (assuming an average of 25 mpg). INTERESTING FACTS
• Recycling just two gallons of used oil can generate enough electricity to run the average household for nearly 24 hours.
• Three states in the U.S. have classified used motor oil as a hazardous waste: California, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
• The used oil from one oil change can contaminate 1 million gallons of fresh water – a year’s supply for 50 people.
• If all Americans who changed their own oil recycled their used oil, it would provide enough motor oil for more than 50 million cars a year. Imagine how much foreign oil that would eliminate.
Are synthetic motor oils safer for the environment than conventional petroleum motor oils? By Ed Newman, Marketing Manager for AMSOIL Inc.
Environmental issues are far more complex than any brief overview can present. We can begin, however, by recognizing that the Green Movement is not a fad. Environment has grown in importance as a contemporary business issue and will continue growing for a long time.
Jacquelyn Ottman, in her book Green Marketing, states that used motor oil is the largest single source of pollution in our nation's waterways.
A website for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection notes that Pennsylvania Do-It-Yourselfers dispose of 11 million gallons of used oil a year. The authors of this website state that only 14 percent is re-cycled and the rest, 9.5 million gallons, is dumped, either into sewers, on the ground or into the trash. Extrapolate this out and you are looking at some awesomly large numbers nationally.
This is all the more startling when you consider that one quart of oil can create a two-acre sized oil slick, and a gallon of oil can foul a million gallons of freshwater, a year's supply for fifty people.
I'll be the first to admit that I don't always trust statistics. Unless they make sense to me somehow, I tend to be a skeptic. Even so, it is not likely that the figures are arbitrarily pulled from thin air. Yet even if nationally less than half of all D-I-Yers improperly dispose, that is still a huge volume of used motor oil being slopped around.
GREEN MARKETING
Let's combine these two ideas. Premise one: Quick lubes handle used motor oil more responsibly than D-I-Yers. Premise two: The general public is increasingly concerned about environmental issues.
From where I sit, the logical combination of these two premises is this: Quick lube operators are in a position to market themselves as heroes in the battle to preserve our environment. As re-cyclers of used motor oil, we are part of the solution rather than the problem.
In point of fact, Green Consumers may well be your best customers. They are educated, affluent and influential.... and devoted, once they know you are committed to their values.
A recent Gallup survey discovered that 94 percent of all consumers prefer to do business with companies that demonstrate that they care about the environment. Almost 80 percent said they would pay more for environmentally friendly products. In other words it would appear that going Green, and promoting this commitment, can be a profitable marketing strategy.
YES, BUT...
From an environmental point of view, quick lubes have a PR problem. Quick lubes are part of the oil industry, which has a negative perception in many people's minds. The oil and gas industries are perceived by 70 percent of all consumers as environmentally careless. Only the chemical industry has a worse rating, by one percent.
For this reason, it is imperative that we develop an environmental perspective and make a commitment in the direction of Green. The perception is wrong, but we need to find ways to let our local public know it.
Environmental marketing is a market segment poised for growth, says Dave Newport, publisher of Environment 21, a small business marketing magazine. "In a good economy, consumers are making more values-based buying decisions."
ARE SYNLUBES GREENER?
Well, no and yes. It depends.
There are really two ways to reduce pollution. One is called recycling. A second means is source reduction.
When it comes to recycling, synthetics are pretty much the same as petroleum. You can't dump used synthetic motor oil in the ground any more than you can petroleum. About a year ago I read an article that indicated synthetics are less polluting than petroleum by a small degree, but it was marginal. Both classes of used motor oil must be taken to re-cycle centers for re-processing.
Source reduction is where synthetics demonstrate their clearest advantage... if you believe in extended drain intervals. If you do not accept the notion of extended drain intervals, then source reduction is likewise a non-issue.
Companies promoting extended drain intervals are quick to point out that the amount of used motor oil can be reduced significantly. There is also an immense reduction in the amount of discarded packaging material.
There is another environmentally friendly feature offered by synthetics. Due to their lower volatility, synthetics do not boil off or vaporize as much as petroleum motor oils, which can lose up to 20 percent of their mass in the high heat conditions of the internal combustion engine. Synthetics lose from four to ten percent. The benefit is clear in the reduction of make-up oil required because vehicles use less oil, however, the emissions factor may be marginal due to the nature of catalytic converters and other components in the dispersion of these vapors.
MISCELLANEOUS ACTION ITEMS
Due to space considerations I'll close with a number of miscellaneous actions for your consideration.
1. Use your local library to find good books on environmental marketing. Jacquelyn Ottman's Green Marketing is one of many excellent volumes on this topic.
2. Make signage that says, "We Re-Cycle 100% of our Oil and Filters." or a sign that says "Bring Your Used Oil and Filters Here." When D-I-Yers bring their used oil and filters, ask, "Have you greased your fittings lately?" or "Would you like a free 10-point check-up?"
3. Consider carrying an extended drain synthetic motor oil for that niche consumer who is wholly dedicated to environmentally friendly lifestyle choices.
4. Use propylene glycol based antifreeze instead of the ethylene glycol antifreeze. Highly toxic, less than one-half cup of ethylene glycol antifreeze is a lethal dose for the average-sized human. Lesser amounts can cause serious kidney damage and central nervous system depression. What's worse, when spilled on driveways and roadsides its sweet smell and taste attracts wildlife and makes it more likely to be consumed.
5. Perform an Enviro-Audit. Examine every facet of your operation for ways to improve the environmental impact of your business.
SUMMARY
Government regulations and rising consumer awareness continue to drive the push for environmental improvements in the auto industry. Quick lube operators do not need to wait for government intervention in order to perform earth friendly car care.
To quote Dave Newport again, "In most sectors of the economy, there are market opportunities for smart businesses that seek to make a good living in a better world."
While the environmental issue is not a hot button motivator for many Americans, there is a growing percentage of consumers who make Green a pre-eminent factor in their decision making. Some are so Green, in fact, that they won't use cars at all because they pollute. Most own vehicles and show favor to businesses that share their values. These may well become your most loyal customers.
Call Today for Information & Ordering! Ask For Allan Magee Dealer Opportunities Available Superior Synthetics Online - Independent AMSOIL Dealer 1321 E. Albacore Ln. Kuna, Idaho 83634 Local: (208) 922-1616 Toll Free 1-877-274-9802 We ship to all 50 states and Canada from 11 convenient warehouse locations. |
|