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by Nancy Lupo

I’m not necessarily saying that you should go and fill up your tank at BP’s (Formerly British Petroleum now ‘Beyond Petroleum’) new Helios House located at the corner of Olympic and Robertson. I am simply saying that it is one of many things that exist in the world, and WOW! It’s funny I just was looking over my copy of Ed Rucha’s 1962 book Twentysix Gasoline Stations. What is more is that the attendant’s uniforms are in the style of mechanic’s jumpsuits updated by the fact that they are made out of hemp and carry the artful BP logo embroidered on the back. What is even more is that as you fill your tank, they come and talk to you about the fact that the gas stations is LEED CERTIFIED by the U.S. Green Building Council and give you postcards with tips on how to save energy. The cards are not only 100% recyclable, but they have also been impregnated with California wildflower seeds so that after you read them, you can go home and bury them.

The design of the station is in striking contrast to its location on a drab strip of Olympic Boulevard whose only relief as something far off on the other end of the horizon. The canopy, which is made out 100% recyclable uncoated stainless steel and equipped with 90 solar panels, has three main arches and looks like a hybrid between one of Bucky Fuller’s geodesic structures and the interior of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. At night, the pumps light up with colors that slowly fade from blue-green to gold and back again. In an effort to cut down on energy costs, the Helios House uses high efficiency LED bulbs because (according to information printed on their postcards) “The Department of Energy says that if the lights we use for holiday decoration alone were replaced with LED lights, it would save 2 billion kilowatt-hours of energy — enough to power the city of Richmond, Virginia for the whole year.”

The station goes by the tag line of “a little better” so at least BP isn’t overstating their case. After all it’s still gas that they’re dispensing and driving a car that runs on gasoline is still the single most polluting thing that most people do. It is in fact the restrooms that seem to be the biggest benefit for most of us in the event that the Helios House could begin to proliferate. They are trimmed with recycled aluminum shavings and farm-raised, rapidly renewable bamboo. What is very unfortunately even more obnoxious than the attempted public ‘greenwash’ is that for whatever reason Kruder and Dorfmister have become the official soundtrack for everything to do with cars – so if you stop, at least you know.

Posted by Nancy Lupo on 10/13/07