On Going Green
April 23rd, 2008 | by Ken Grandlund |What better day than Earth Day to talk about going green. It’s a concept that seems pretty simple, but in today’s world of unbridled consumerism, going green isn’t simple at all. No matter how much a person desires to reduce their energy consumption or eliminate waste or overuse, the simple truth is that our world today is fabricated and maintained on decidedly un-green principals. This is blatantly true in the good old U.S. of A., but also apparent in most of the world.
Consider that plastics, a product borne from the oil industry, is one of the world’s most used material. So even when you reduce your gasoline usage, you are still consuming tons of oil when you buy things made with plastic. Trying to eliminate plastics from your world is like trying to breathe inside a volcano- it’s pretty damn tough to do. I guess it’s NOT easy going green after all.
But there are ways in which a person who wants to go green can make steps towards that goal. The first, and maybe the biggest step is really a frame of mind. Simply put, being green means consuming less, reducing waste, and reusing what you can.
Of course, there are a plethora of companies who want you to think that you are being more environmentally friendly simply by purchasing their “green” products. But here’s a little secret…just because something is marketed as “green” or “better for the environment” doesn’t mean that it is helping the planet. Marketing is designed to make you spend money. The more we spend, the more they make. And we’re back to the cycle of over-production and over-consumption, which is antithetical to the concept of “going green.”
Last Sunday, Parade magazine had a nice short article about going green. Here are a few of their helpful and common sense tips…and they’ll even help you save a little green of your own. Money, that is…
SEEMS GREEN Recycling your disposable plastic water bottles.
TRUE GREEN Sipping tap water from a safely reusable metal bottle.
In the U.S., we dispose of about 70 million plastic water bottles daily. Fewer than 15% are recycled, and bottled water often isn’t any purer than what you can get from your faucet. Meanwhile, tap water is inexpensive and readily available. (My example: My wife doesn’t like our tap water, even though it is fine to me. For the last few years she’s been buying the bottled water and we recycle the empties. After months of my nagging, she has purchased a Brita water filtering pitcher and now uses tap water. Sure the Brita is made from plastic, but it’s one reusable plastic container, not dozens every week.)
SEEMS GREEN Paper shopping bags.
TRUE GREEN Sturdy reusable totes.
Sure, they’re biodegradable, but studies show that it takes four times more energy to manufacture paper bags than plastic. The result is even more air and water pollution. Glossy shopping bags offered at department stores are even worse—the shiny coating may make them impossible to recycle. So bring a cloth or mesh tote to carry purchases wherever you go. Bonus: Some stores offer a discount when you bring your own bag. (My example: We bought the reusable bags a while ago and use them every time we go grocery shopping. Sometimes they aren’t enough, so I do ask for paper bags sometimes. But I reuse my paper bags for months and months holding my recyclable glass, metal, and plastic until the bags start to fall apart, then I recycle them too. And when I do get the flimsy plastic bags, we use those for household trash as well.)
These are just two small ways to help reduce waste and cut back on energy use. Small ways to be sure, but simple to adopt for anyone. And there are many more small things each person can do. Sure, our world is built on oil and that’s going to take a while to change, but that is no reason to avoid change altogether.
Environmentalism today has gone too political in many ways, and the governmental solutions so far are just creating more problems than remedies. (Think ethanol, for example.) And for sure there is a whole arena of corporations more willing to squeeze every last dime out of the market while doing things the “old way” than they are to embrace new ideas and methods that could help. (Think bio-plastics, for example.) But at the heart of the movement are people like you and me, people who can do small things individually that become bigger things collectively. So go grow some vegetables and help cut back on all the “hidden” energy you are using. Put on a sweater or open a window before you blast the furnace or A/C. Buy second hand, or better yet, refurbish what you already have.
Going green takes some effort. Going green takes some thought. Going green means changing some of the things you do now. Going green isn’t a left or right issue. It’s a human issue. And really, the alternative (continued pollution and overconsumption) isn’t all that attractive if you really think about it for a minute or two.
Do your part. Start small. Yearn to be green.
3 Responses to “On Going Green”
By Alex on Apr 23, 2008 | Reply
Researchers have recently found that the cheeseburgers consumed in the U.S. alone - and just cheeseburgers - amounts to 200 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses, primarily due to animal agriculture and transportation, which is more of an environmental harm than all of the s.u.v.’s in the U.S. combined.
Yes, don’t use plastic bottles, but how about we have a real conversation about the ecological devastation that is animal agriculture.
By Jet Netwal on Apr 23, 2008 | Reply
We use totes and the kids are always winning reusable waterbottles from their school and activities, so while not metal, at least they do cut down on the disposables. We also donate a lot of stuff to goodwill and the women’s shelter. I don’t know how much that helps lessen a manufacturing impact, but it can’t hurt.
By manapp99 on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
“Back in 1991, before Al Gore first shouted that the Earth was in the balance, the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study using data that went back centuries that showed that global temperatures closely tracked solar cycles.
To many, those data were convincing. Now, Canadian scientists are seeking additional funding for more and better “eyes” with which to observe our sun, which has a bigger impact on Earth’s climate than all the tailpipes and smokestacks on our planet combined.
And they’re worried about global cooling, not warming.”…
“Solar activity fluctuates in an 11-year cycle. But so far in this cycle, the sun has been disturbingly quiet. The lack of increased activity could signal the beginning of what is known as a Maunder Minimum, an event which occurs every couple of centuries and can last as long as a century.
Such an event occurred in the 17th century. The observation of sunspots showed extraordinarily low levels of magnetism on the sun, with little or no 11-year cycle.
This solar hibernation corresponded with a period of bitter cold that began around 1650 and lasted, with intermittent spikes of warming, until 1715. Frigid winters and cold summers during that period led to massive crop failures, famine and death in Northern Europe.”
“As we have noted many times, perhaps the biggest impact on the Earth’s climate over time has been the sun.”
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=287279412587175
Instead on free health care the government should be giving us free Hummers and free gas. The coming ice age is going to be far more disasterous than warming would have been. Pretty soon scientist will be looking at ways to increase CO2 emmisions in an effort to hold in more warmth.