Am I just a grumpy old man? At 33 I’m not sure what is giving me a case of the grumpy’s today, but the distinct lack of understanding that being a consumer inherently means that you are probably not green, and lists of ways to be greener that tell you to stop using staples are truly annoying.
Remember: Even if you take small steps to living a greener life, all steps count!
Most of the products mentioned in the quoted post are neat, and might fill a void in someone’s consumer driven life for more gadgets, but the bottom line sustainability of suggestions like these has to be questioned. They just give Green a bad name by eroding the real value of promoting sustainable concepts like permaculture and building houses that require no external heating or cooling.
A better way top “go green” is to write down everything that you buy or do that is superfluous and commit to cutting away one thing a week. Then write down everything you buy or do that has a greener alternative and if you haven’t already – choose the greener option. For some things, this simply may not be practical at this point, (such as selling your car if you have a 45 minute commute and live in Canada), but acknowledging that – given the right circumstances – you would change how you do things to be more green.
Just don’t fall into the trap of putting a green label on everything – green or otherwise.
If you enjoyed this post, why not try these ones:
- Greening an Existing Home – Part 3
- Greening an Existing Home – Part 2
- Compact Fluorescent Globes in Legislation
- Green
- The Unburdening of Sustainability
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
My computer monitor will certainly get an interesting look if I follow the rules and stop using post-it notes… Can see how I’d have to start writing notes directly on the monitor *lol*
I’m not a fan of dissing people who are trying to go “green”, but there is a point where we descend to the ridiculous – and you’ve made that point clearly, please don’t write on your monitor