What does it mean to be green?

Making sense of green

I have been inundated with “green” product advertisements, “green” living articles and “green” blogs. Each ad, article and blog seems to point me in a different direction. At first I’m told to buy a green cleaner and then I’m told that I should make my own. Instead of turning down my thermostat (or up, as the case may be in the summer), I should by a programmable thermostat. All of this “green” advice has left me feeling a little blue.

Why? Too many articles are simply promotional copy to buy product; it doesn’t give me the background I need to make substantive changes. In other words, “green” can sometime just mean greenbacks. It’s a loaded vocabulary word that can mean recycling, carbon credits, veganism, stainless steel water bottles, water conservation and bamboo clothing.

In my bid to do better for myself and the environment, I made a conscious decision to limit the amount of cleansers I bought…a multi-purpose cleaner is a multi-purpose cleaner. In other words, my “green” efforts seem to center on conservation more than any other principal. Instead of buying plastic containers for food storage, I use sturdy ones from previous restaurant take-outs; old t-shirts become dust rags; electronic appliances are on surge protectors and are cut off when not used; canvas bags are used while shopping and containers that can be recycled are recycled.

As I find products that make my life easier, I will buy them. But, what trips me up is that usually it’s not buying something that helps; it’s deciding that when something breaks if it truly needs to be replaced. (Yes, I truly needed the chest of drawers.) I won’t buy another washer until this one breaks or is no longer efficient and then I may invest in a high efficiency washer. The same goes for the hot water heater. When that is no longer efficient and a new one is needed, I will probably get a tankless water heater.

I also use some alternatives to store bought animal and insect repellants. For the raccoons who visited my porch at night, I put out cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil. It seems to do the trick and they have not returned. For skunks, I play music, preferably rock or rap (something, even I don’t want to listen to at 2 a.m.) in order to make my yard less inviting.

I have found the following resources to be most helpful in sorting through the glut of “green”.

• http://www.thedailygreen.com/

The Daily Green is “the consumers guide to the green revolution”, a website with good concise information on environmental living. They seem to pull from other “green” websites so you don’t have to look far for information. Their standard sections are Home, News, Tips & Advice, Green Homes, New Green Cuisine, Living Green and Weird Weather Watch.

• http://www.ewg.org/

The Environmental Working Group is the standard bearer for ensure that the things we come into contact with daily (fresh fruits and vegetables, water, cosmetics, plastic containers, and other items ) are free from contaminants that can cause us harm. They are routinely mentioned in the media as a source of research on environmental health issues. You can sign up to get information emailed to you.

So, if green has you blue, take a deep breath before committing yourself to something new.

This blog was originally published on 7/27/10. A photo was deleted; the photo above was added and taken by the author.

The Target Chest of Drawers

About three weeks ago (it could have been four, but I can’t find the receipt) I bought a chest of drawers from Target. Technically, it's called a "4 drawer chest" from their Room Essentials brand.

Yes, that meant that I would have to put it together. Yes, it meant that I would have to take everything out of the package myself and later dispose of/or recycle all of the packaging contents. Yes, it meant a lot of things; including having a place to put clothes that were currently stacked on shelves.

So, impulsively, I bought the chest. I should have known it was going to be trouble…it weighed 72 pounds and I had to have a Target team member put it in my tiny car. Once home, I unpacked it in the garage and carefully carried the pieces inside. I stacked them in my den, looked over the instructions and knew…knew that this was going to be problematic.

I let the pieces of the chest rest in the room for two weeks, while my mind wrestled with putting it together and when I couldn’t stand it any longer I got down to business. It took me a total of four days to physically put the chest together. Why did it take so long? Well, out of the hundred pieces (okay...approximately 35-not counting the hardware) of this project only four were labeled. Four! The others were supposed to be labeled; according to the 31 page booklet of instructions. And they were labeled. With totally different numbers from what was listed in the instruction booklet.

Maybe I should have taken it back to Target then, but all I could think about was lugging 72 pounds of particle board back to the garage, somehow packing it all in the same box and driving that back to Target.

And that is the reason I will never get furniture that I have to put together again. It’s a headache; a pain and a reason to go to garage sales or any place else first.

I was stuck…so for those two weeks I had to tell myself that I could in fact put this chest together. Oh, by the way, I checked the furniture website for the chest (they don’t want you to take it back to Target either) and the pieces were numbered the same as the instruction booklet. No Help.

Four Days and 35 Plus Pieces

The first day I concentrated on putting together the four drawers. That went well enough that I believed I could go on.

The second day I concentrated on the frame and then the temperature rose to over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It was hot, even though I had the fan on. So, I stopped.

The third day the frame was stable and I corrected some mistakes…it was not clear where I was to attach the panel clips. Do not take the picture literally!! Oops. They need to go in the edge of the panel and drawer front and back.

The fourth day the drawers were inserted and the dresser was moved into place.

Done and done.

Finally a place to put my clothes.

On a scary note: The wall mount attachment strips are absolutely necessary! If I had kids or pets, I wouldn’t buy this thing at all. It is not very stable.