Tuesday, July 27, 2010

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.

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