Mercedes Benz Will Road Trip On Vegetable Oil

Drivers Spread The Word About Alternative Fuels

POSTED: 9:57 pm CST March 5, 2007

UPDATED: 10:29 pm CST March 5, 2007

MONROE, Wis. -- A Madison duo is hoping to spread the word about being eco-nomical with a road trip in their modified car.Sacha Deangeli and Mary Pawlek are going coast to coast in their 1982 Mercedes Benz to talk to the public about alternative fuels.Their car runs on vegetable oil."It's is less shaky and actually a little quieter with the vegetable oil," said Pawlak.On Monday they visited a classroom in Monroe."It's going to be long, long trip," said Deangeli. "We are going to be really tired of driving.""The kids don't have the chance to learn about alternative fuels or things like that at a young age," said parent Cathy Keckuk.Keckuk organized the school visit."It will be fun," said Deangeli. "We're going to teach people about environmentalism."The students were most intrigued with the car's exhaust, which smelled like fried food."I didn't really think it would smell like French fries at all, cause that's just really unusual," said student Madeline Keckuk.But Deangeli and Pawlek hope their french-fry smelling car inspires kids to go green when they're old enough."One thing I want them to remember is that there are other ways of fueling your car," said Deangeli.Some students already understood the global issue."It won't put pollution into the air," said Keckuk. "Before I came to this school, when I lived in Green Bay, I had asthma."Deangeli and Pawlek said they'd be picking up leftover oils from restaurants along the way. That will cover 90 percent of the fuel cost.To follow the trip, viewers can check out their blog at www.vegetableoilroadtrip.com.