Has green living created a class system? Of sorts?
A world where we all take on different shades of green to reveal just how earth friendly we actually are?
Think about it.
Are there green snobs? Those who wear a darker, richer shade of green than others?
I'm just asking.
In our home we use the right light bulbs, recycle, attempt to compost in George's handmade composter, have replaced paper towels with microfiber cloths, have reuseable water bottles and won't buy bottled water, purchase recycled toilet paper, use green cleaners and rechargeable batteries, own one car, donate unneeded belongings and try to repurchase second-hand in order to cut down on waste, and are doing our best to make changes that better our lives and our environment.
And yet, we're not totally there.
Zane wears disposable pullups: although I am delighted to say that while wearing underwear in the house today he took the initiative to do the deed on the toilet. I like my skin care products: they are not all natural or organic or paraben free. Alot of paper doesn't get recycled: just check the trashcan under my desk. Food gets thrown away every day: I didn't polish off the entire box of macaroni and cheese today - the last remaining bits found a new home in the trash. I can't afford to go organic and shop exclusively with local farmers: Whole Foods is out of my league. And yes, sometimes, I throw away plastic bags.
Does this make me light green? I ask because sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, I feel sub par when in the presence of the kelly green's of our world.
Maybe it's just me, but I sense the lingering scent of an "us" and "them" mentality.
Is it just me?
So, what shade of green are you?
5 comments:
I think you're right about this. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I think the degree to which there are different shades depends on where you live. It's probably a lot worse where you live than it is here in DeLand! We don't even have some of the options here that you do (and that many times I wish we had!).
We're honestly pretty poor in a lot of ways. We don't recycle. (where do you do this, by the way? Is there a facility or do you guys have curbside pickup?) Our bulbs are mostly regular. My germophobe mom has indoctrinated me into paper towel use.
Food, though, is somewhere that we try pretty hard. First, because we're convinced that it's healthier, but mostly because we're convinced that industrial farming and the way it treats animals and, more importantly human workers is inacceptable. We rarely shop at Whole Paycheck (except for the Sicilian marinated olives--hello). We make frequent trips to Trader Joe's and The Fresh Market. We made a point to be at the Farmers' Market every Saturday this summer. We recently decided to eat less meat and try to stick with grass-fed beef.
My husband is pretty frugal and tracks these things. He says that our food bill has not increased by much at all. I'm guessing it's because the tradeoff is that we rarely buy processed or packaged foods.
As with most of my personal shortcomings, I just try and keep in mind that there are people doing worse than I am.
Tiffany,
We have curbside recycling in Skokie (based upon where we live we pay Skokie taxes and enjoy their public works facilities very much) every Monday morning and every other Thursday - which makes doing so a breeze. We actually have a huge green trash given to us by the city, so essentially there's no excuse for not recycling.
Man, I'm jealous. I'm also embarrassed by my typos in that first post. I need to learn to like coffee.
Curbside pickup would be great. Right now, we have a bag full of bottles from a get-together we had with out-of-town friends last weekend. I hate to throw them away. We kept them thinking that we'll find a recycling place, but I'm sure I'll get tired of having them in my kitchen before then and toss them.
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