I’ve been jumping on the green bandwagon lately, trying to do the little things that will make an impact. I’d like to say I’m looking to make an impact on the world, make it better place for my future great-grandchildren. But that’s not why I do it. I do it because our electricity and gas bills are out of hand and because I worry about my kids’ health with all those chemicals we inhale in our daily life.
And what I do are definitely baby steps. I’m not riding my bike everywhere. I still keep the AC on. I won’t be buying a hybrid till they come out with a minivan one. But I’m doing little things like phasing out all our Cascade and Windex for Seventh Generation and the like. I’m taking more books out of the library instead of just mindlessly buying them, as I’ve been wont to do. I’m trying to recycle every last thing I can. I’m trying to Freecycle instead of toss. I try to use more Tupperware and fewer plastic bags when making the kids’ camp lunches. I’ve eliminated most of our junk mail and catalogs by using GreenDimes (which has shown me, without junk mail, we get no mail). I’ve gotten to the point where nine out of ten times I actually remember to take my cloth bags with me to the store. I randomly yell things to the kids when they’re washing their hands, such as, “You guys! The environment!” (And I know it’s working when I hear Doodles say to Pie, “Pie! Turn off the water! You’re killing fish!” which may be a slight distortion of what I tried to teach them, but close enough for me.)
Of course, I have Mr. Whatever Man living in my house, and I’m constantly shutting the basement door behind him (no need to air condition the basement) and turning of basement lights that he leaves on overnight (good idea–make sure the bugs can see their way to your papers). He’ll go along with most things I propose–as long as they don’t require any actual thought on his part (meaning, when I put out a sponge for the counters, he’ll not wipe the counters with the sponge instead of not wiping them with a paper towel; but seriously, he humors me on almost all of it). We’re planning a few changes around the house (more on that another time), and I have some plans for that too (switching the family over to cloth napkins, using more efficient heating, considering a few solar shingles…)
My issue these days is in doing the research. Everyone is so holier than thou in their greenness, and it’s a total turn off. I read Deirdre Imus’s Green This: Greening Your Cleaning (checked out from the library), and she had me convinced until she wrote, “A word on Microwave Ovens. i don’t approve of them, but if you have one and insist on using it, wipe the interior down with a nontoxic all-purpose cleaner.” (p. 107) Hey, lady! We’re not all gazillionaires who can hire help for the home! Sometimes nuking out a meal is the only way my children are going to be fed lunch!
And then there’s my favorite, the Great God of Environmentalism himself, Al Gore. I know I’m way behind the times and that everyone knew about this a year ago, but how can anyone respect him as an environmentalist when his own house is such a sinkhole of energy. I just read in No Impact Man about Gore’s latest call for renewable electricity and I just can’t take him seriously anymore. I was fine with Gore–Global warming! World in crisis! I’m with you, Al! Yes, sirree!–but then Adam told me about how Gore’s home monthly electrical usage is twenty times greater than the national average. I chalked it up to Adam’s general Republican blather, but as it seems the whole world already knows, it’s true. I don’t buy the “We work from home. Our home is bigger.” Isn’t that half the point of it all? Have a smaller home! Maybe I’ve been watching too much Living with Ed, but Ed seems to walk the walk. Al Gore? Not so much.
I don’t know why I’m ranting about this now, except that as I contemplate house changes, I’m doing ever more reading, and as I do ever more reading, I just want to go around smacking people. Bite me, Greenies. Yes, I’ll go green. But in spite of you, not because of you.(Except for you, Ed. I definitely heart you, Ed.)
hey jenny,
knowledge can mean anger (and ranting). chris is a good example of that. just start the environmental conversation with him and you’ll see his face turn red and blood pressure go up…
Gore’s defense is that his huge house leaves absolutely no carbon footprint. With all the solar, wind generated and whatever, his house takes care of itself.