On Topic: it's illegal to wash my 914, you guys will get a kick out of this... Options

[nebreitling]

i just recieved a "warning" from the university (i live in uni-owned grad housing) because i was caught... get this.... WASHING MY CAR. well, SHIT....

Apparently, it is now ILLEGAL to wash your own car in Palo Alto, under the assumption that trace amounts of oil and heavy metals will be carried into drains and gutters, and on into the bay. Palo Alto Sewer Ordinance 16.09.106

i bet i'm the only stanford phd who came in a liberal, and will come out a conservative.

[Mockmaw]

Well, here's the 30-second version.

Infrastructure sucks in California, that's how it is. The ecosystems of the Bay Area are heavily dependant on the maintance of the wetlands in and around the bay. In places like Palo Alto, which are located very near crucial remaining wetland locations, it takes little effort for contaminants to get into the wetland systems. This causes damage to the very fragile wetland systems.. and the bay area environment (the bay itself and the inland regions) rely heavily on these wetlands for numerous reasons. Bottomline, disrupting the wetlands disrupts the entire region.

I know this stuff; I've spent the last four years of my education studying it.

And here's a link to a USGS general review/introduction to the wetland contamination issue. Of course, it's a report released by a government agency.. so that means at least half of you are bound not to trust it...

Summary: I'm not saying that washing your car is going to break the back of the ecosystem, but every little bit helps. Enough of the people of Palo Alto (or the local government comprised of individuals that the local people elected) thought that that little bit would help.