Thanks everyone for the great advice! Here are some of the eco alternatives for standard car fluids for us all to know about!
Jonathan Graham sent us this reference to information about vegetable based motor-oil, which everyone with computer access is welcome to view on the web at http://www.agromgt.com/corporate_story.htm.
Anti-freeze alternative
Here's a great overview of a make-it-yourself approach supplied to us by 'buggn' ( buggn, we'd be happy to print another name for you if you let us know who you are!): "The solution for one of your two issues is to use a water-ethanol mixture as a substitute for commercial antifreezes. Ethanol freezes at -114.1ƒC and boils at 78.5ƒC. Its low freezing point has made it useful as the fluid in thermometers for temperatures below -40ƒC (the freezing point of mercury) and for other low-temperature purposes, such as for antifreeze in automobile radiators. Since ethanol is an organically derived product, you should be able to build a small scale fermenter to produce ethanol from feedstocks such as sugar beets, potatoes, corn, wheat, barley, Jerusalem artichokes, and sweet sorghum.
"Sugar crops such as sugar cane, sugar beets, or sweet sorghum are extracted to produce a sugar-containing solution that can be directly fermented by yeast. Starch feedstocks, however, must be carried through an additional conversion step.
"They must first be broken down into the simpler glucose units through a process of hydrolysis. In the hydrolysis step, starch feedstocks are ground and mixed with water to produce a mash typically containing 15 to 20 percent starch. The mash is then cooked at boiling point or above and treated in sequence with two enzyme preparations. The first enzyme hydrolyzes starch molecules to short chains; the second enzyme hydrolyzes the short chains to glucose. The mash is then cooled to 30ƒC, and yeast is added.
"Theoretically, the maximum conversion efficiency of glucose to ethanol is 51 percent on a weight basis. However, some glucose is used by the yeast for the production of cell mass and for metabolic products other than ethanol. In practice, between 40 and 48 percent of glucose is converted to ethanol. With a 45-percent fermentation efficiency, 1,000 kilograms of fermentable sugar produce about 570 liters of pure ethanol.
"Ethanol is easy to produce, and has been a traditional method of turning corn into a portable and stable cash crop for literally centuries. The more common name for this style of ethanol is "white-lightning", "corn sqeezin's" or "hooch". You might be able to find a local producer, or purchase it from a commercial supplier. It is made commercially throughout the Midwest as a gasoline additive. Or, you could produce it yourself at a very small scale, say the 10-20 gallon range. Purchase cane sugar, ferment it in a hobby style beer fermenter or a large tub, distill the ethanol out and mix it with water to produce antifreeze.
"One caution, using ethanol will also lower the boiling point in hot weather. You will have to experiment to find the correct water/ethanol ratio."
Used engine oil
And finally, Willow MorningSky gave us this great suggestion for what to do with the old engine oil that we'll still have plenty of even after switching to a new alternative: "The best I can offer is a sensible use for the recycling of the used product. Old engine oil is great for soaking tools and tool handles in. It really helps preserve the life of the metal and the wood on the tools."
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