UK McDonald's parking fee

From the Guardian Unlimited in the UK, it appears that McDonald's restaurants are fining customers who stay in their parking lot too long.

And it is no small fine either: £125 (about $255). Cameras in the parking lot take photos of license plates and a bill is sent to the car's owner.

(The sign shown isn't an actual one. We made it at Ronald McHummer.)

"The question of just how long it should take to eat fast food is being answered by the burger giant McDonald's, which is making customers finish within 45 minutes or face a charge of £125.

"Motorists who care to linger over their McMeals for any longer at some drive-throughs are receiving demands from a private company that manages car parks for the burger chain."

from Guardian Unlimited via BoingBoing
custom McDonald's sign made at Ronald McHummer

Fast food speed & accuracy survey

QSR Magazine has published 2007 edition of their annual "Best in Drive-Thru" report. (I wrote about the 2006 report last year.)

There's a lot to read in the various sections of the report, so here's the meat. Three ranking lists (starting with the best performing fast food restaurant and going down) that I'll call "Accuracy," "Speed," and "Friendliness."

Speed (found here) is based on the how long it takes to get your fast food drive-thru order. The same 4 chains are in the top 4, but in a different order. Wendy's moved to #1.

Accuracy (found here) is based on how often the chain gets your order right. Chick-fil-a holds onto the #1 spot again this year and Burger King enters the top 5.

The friendliest drive-thrus, based on the use of "please" and "thank you" and smiles, eye contact and an overall pleasant demeanor, can be found here.

Fast food and keeping 'green'

The Green Piece Blog is "a reminder of the piece we often forget when traveling, eating, voting, and building; the green piece."

Yesterday, Green Piece wrote a list of 3 things you can do to make it easier on the Earth when your fast food cravings set in. Here it is:

1. Park and walk: While you're sitting in your car with the engine running and the A/C blasting, you are getting 0 Miles/Gallon. You are just burning fuel and polluting the air. Park your car, walk inside the restaurant, and reduce your carbon footprint.
2. Reject Excess Packaging: Fast food restaurants are famous for piling on the unnecessary packaging. There's the bag, the excess napkins, the extra ketchup packets, the lid, the straws, etc. All that stuff ends up in the landfill eventually. Order your food "for here" even if it is "to go." You'll get just what you need and nothing you don't. If you're getting a lot of food, just toss it in your cloth grocery bag. Avoid anything made of Styrofoam or plastic too.
3. Bring Your Own Utensils: If you're getting a salad, avoid taking the plastic utensils you're offered. You're just taking the salad with you back to work or home. Utilize re-usable utensils.

I've thought about the first one before. All those cars spewing all that pollution in all those drive-thru lanes all around the world...that's a lot of CO, CO2 and other nasty stuff that could be avoided by simply parking and turning off the car (or even just turning the car off while you're waiting in line.)