The Far Side of Perfect: It's not easy being green

While I’m a little late to the party, it’s time to finally go green.  I tried this once back in the early 1990s.  But, I never truly fulfilled my potential as an environmental attorney. I never hugged any trees.  Instead, trapped in a recession, it was either kill more trees by sending out hundreds of resumes that would generate hundreds of rejections (we didn’t apply online back in the dark ages), or take the only job available in the field of environmental law.  And, that’s how I ended up representing clients who really did want to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.  I hit the low point when one of them even tried to pin a superfund site cleanup on the Girls Scouts of America. 

Whatever the reason: environmental repentance, Girl Scout guilt, or the need to fulfill my end of the generational contract, I’m going to at least try to eradicate my carbon footprint.  Unfortunately, I’m discovering that it’s not so easy being green.

First, I tried to unsubscribe from all those catalogs that mysteriously multiply in my mailbox, starting with those menopause ones that began appearing on my 40th birthday.  I collected a stack and made some calls.  Some had easy options to do this. Others (e.g., a certain “hardware” store that doesn’t sell hardware – restored or otherwise) kept disconnecting me whenever I pressed the option for “removal from mailing list.”  Argh. Then, when I was just about halfway through the stack, a very nice man at another catalog that sells neither crates nor barrels, informed me that at many companies, I not only had to ask to get off their own mailing list, but also the mailing list they sell to others.  Well, that was news to me and explains why some of my initial efforts didn’t have that much of an effect.  Back to the stacks.

Next, I went through all the newspapers and magazines that I never get around to reading.  I had no qualms about unsubscribing from many of them or simply letting subscriptions lapse, as I get most of my news online anyhow.  But, there was an internal struggle with the handful for which I occasionally write.   If I unsubscribe and everyone else does the same, aren’t I sort of shooting myself in the foot? Yet, I opted to put the earth first (Papa Gore did say that it was going to be inconvenient) and hoped that no one in subscriptions was talking to the editorial staff. 

After the paper purge, my focus was bottles.  Thought I had this one solved by finally using all those water bottles I’d picked up at conferences where I’d spoken or attended.  So, the other week as we were running out to baseball, I grabbed a bottle to fill it.  My son took one look at it, saw it was pink and said “no way!”  Then I found a red one, but it said “Girls Inc.” on it (a fabulous charity, but clearly that wasn’t going to fly either).  Fortunately, I found a football booster club one.  Still not sure where I picked it up, but it certainly did the trick. 

Now, I’m struggling to remember to print on two sides of every piece of paper, bring my own bags to the supermarket, take shorter showers, and turn off the heated drying option on my dishwasher.  We’re also tracking green points, which can be earned by anyone in the house who turns off lights and appliances or comes up with other eco-friendly improvements.  (Five green points can be cashed in at any time for an actual “greenback dollar.”)  I know this is all good for the environment, but it’s still a bit more difficult than I expected.

Nevertheless, there are some rewards to looking at your life through lime-colored lenses.  Like the fact that my 9-year old VW and the 25 miles per gallon it gets is looking better and better every day.  Sure, my SUV-driving neighbors could all still run me right over like a speed bump and barely notice; but, I can go three times as far on $50.00.  Maybe when gas hits $5.00/gallon, I’ll actually be cool.  Although according to my son, it’s going to take a whole lot more than that.

Diane K. Danielson
CEO, www.DowntownWomensclub.com
http://twitter.com/downtownwoman

 

Comments

[Dani Nordin]

The catalogs are really an odious industry... what amazes me is that the ones I always get are for "eco-friendly" companies! And I get them at least every other month!

If you're looking for a relatively easy way to remember your own bag, Greenfeet (http://www.greenfeet.com/search.asp?from=&FrmSearchWords=&SearchWord=chicobags&x=0&y=0) has these great reusable bags called "Chicobags" that fold up into themselves and take up no more room in your purse than a pair of ankle socks. I just keep a couple of them in my purse in case I have to run out for something.

[Lindsey Pollak]

Great post! Especially love the Kermit image and the last line.

[Lara M]

The next big area to tackle in your new "green life" is something we've started doing while living in Australia. (Ok, maybe we were bullied into it by our Aussie friends, but its been for the best...) We now only use our laundry dryer when it's rainy. Otherwise we are drying our clothes out on the line ALL of the time. Definitely requires a bit more time and effort, but the clothese smell great and if it's sunny, they dry pretty quickly.

[Diane K. Danielson]

Lara - It's so funny you mentioned that. I was planning to earn all my "green points" this summer by hanging out the towels and sheets, etc. And, I remember that smell from my grandmother's house (not to mention, how white all the whites can be when bleached by the sun). My other goal is to eventually get solar panels on the house and live off the grid by retirement!

Diane