8 May 2009
Going Green
Going green… I am not.
Hopefully I don’t offend any of my readers with this post. If I lose one of you, then I’ll be down to two left and that’s just not good for business.
Inspiration for this post came from a post that I read on another site this morning and my response in the comments section. I regularly read a blog by a realtor who works with a lot of investors in my area and in a recent post (”Going Green Sounds So Much Better Than Cutting Expenses“) he discusses companies who use “going green” as a marketing gimmick when they’re really just cutting costs at the expense of their customers.
This post is not a direct response to that article, but more of my own opinion on “going green” in general. As if you care what I think.
Let’s start off on a good foot. First of all, I believe in being a good steward of the earth. I believe in not being wasteful. I also believe in being a good steward of money. There, I am a good person.
Now, I also do NOT believe that I am killing Mother Earth. I also do not believe that driving my car to work each day is causing the earth to warm up (or is it cool down? I can never keep up). I believe that avoiding waste and inefficiencies in general would minimize our impact on the earth. By impact, mean things such as polluting the oceans, depleting natural resources, overflowing landfills, destroying forests, etc. If we could minimize some of these things, that would be great.
Here’s the thing though. If I do something that is considered “green”, then it is because I feel that it is a benefit to me or my children or to those around me. Since I don’t buy into man-made climate change, then I also don’t buy into most of the reasons that I’m being told that I have to be green. That being the case, if an action is much of an inconvenience to me, I’m just not going to do it. If it saves me money, that’s another story.
I was happy to put a programmable thermostat in my house. That saved me money and reduced waste. I’m happy to adjust my driving methods or buy a fuel-efficient car. I’d be happy to compost lawn clippings and food waste. There are many things that I would be willing to do because they have direct benefits to me. I would even recycle more if I didn’t have to go through the trouble of sorting through my trash and then paying someone extra for the privilege of having them take it away for me. When I recycle aluminum cans, they pay me for the cans. If I were to recycle cardboard, I would have to pay them.
I have been in a friend’s house that recycled religiously (sorry if you’re reading friend). In their dining room, they had three large plastic tubs for recycling labeled plastic, metal, and paper. That’s just not something I’m willing to do. I can find a better use for that space in my house. In my garage…maybe.
Me and a pastor from our church recently went down to a local mission for the homeless in our downtown to go on a tour. They just built a brand new shelter that was actually quite amazing. The tour guide pointed out at least 10 “green” features of the new building. Although he used the term “green”, he was very clear that these features were implemented to save money so they could feed one more homeless person. For example, they used rain gardens to collect water runoff so the city wouldn’t charge as much for wastewater. They had windows strategically placed so they didn’t have to use lights much. They use geothermal heating. They have a reflective roof, etc. This is the kind of green that I can get on board with.
Not that I want to give the government this kind of advice, but if you want to get people onboard with going green, you have to hit them where it hurts. In the wallet. A local city has the policy of only allowing each household to put two bags of trash out each week. Any bags more than this will cost you an extra $1.00 per bag. Of course, they also offer free recycling. With the amount of trash that my family goes through, I would be recycling like a madman if this was where I lived.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like, or can at least stand to read what I write,
make sure you add my RSS Feed to your list so you don't miss a single post.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Comments currently posted.
Ken Lanning says:
philly5113 says:
very good info. We have to make every day earth day in all that we do for our preservation.
Mehul says:
I agree with you. If we actually want to find sustainable ways of striving for a greener environment, we’ll have to come up with ways that are beneficial for us and the environment.
I am all up for steps that help my pocket as well! ( like programmable thermostat etc..that u mentioned). But so many times, companies just use ‘going green’ as a marketing gimmick!
I completely agree with you. The slogan should be “Save Green,” not “Go Green.” My opinion is that environmentalism is really just a way to control our lifestyles. At some point the government will legislate how warm or cool we can keep our homes. That’s not so far fetched. They already tell car companies how efficient their vehicles have to be.