glmtblog

I am relieved as we leave another Earth Day behind.  I get very irritated when I see the messages all around, calling me a criminal for throwing my recyclable goods in the trash.  Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially rebellious, I like to throw my junk mail and empty cans in the garbage can.  Is it apparent yet that I like to live on the wild side?

So why do we need a special day for this?  A day to remind people not to throw their recyclables in the trash, to put those newspapers in the bin, to buy organic, or to say, down with pesticides.  Does it make people feel good to focus on how responsible they are being for just that day?  How about just that week?  Really, does it last through the month?  I think overall the being green is a trend that makes people feel good about their actions that day.  I think a lot of people suffer from the “herd mentality” and follow what they are told to do to be environmentally conscious.

We are told to buy organic everything because it doesn’t pollute the earth and leave that nasty human footprint.  Does it?  I mean, if it’s organic it has to be good, right?  I saw an ad a few days ago telling people to buy the company’s 100% organic products.  These products are great.  Shipped directly to your front door from your friendly overseas neighbors.  Sure, the materials were grown naturally in a field somewhere, using no pesticides, and were handpicked before being processed and turned into your feel-good green product.  But what about the energy required to get it to your front door?  How was it packaged?  Does it use lots of plastic or paper made from an endangered tree?  How much raw material was discarded before gathering enough material to create your green product?  How much were those children paid to pick the materials for your green product?

We are told to buy a hybrid car by people sipping water out of plastic bottles.  Get rid of your incandescent light bulbs and put in the energy-efficient cfl [mercury] ones, brought to you by the people who have their furnace set to 75 degrees and their air conditioner to 65 degrees.  Or how about the people who look down their nose at others for buying things at Walmart yet they stuff their garbage full of things that can be composted?

Being green begins at home.  Shop local.  If it comes from India chances are the trip over here outweighs any good done by being organic. Turn off your lights.  Do you need that light on in the other room so your furniture can see?  Read the fine print.  If it’s recyclable, great.  Can you toss it on your compost pile?  Even better, buy it!  Live through real sustainability, not by following popular trends, and certainly not just for one Earth Day.