Where have we been? We’ve been going GREEN!!

O.K, not really. We’ve been going crazy though. The move was less than smooth, but finally on Monday we got into an apartment, just in time for me to go to a doctor’s appointment. On Tuesday Dan and I moved in everything-but the place is still in shambles. Dan has been busy applying for jobs and having job interviews. I had a second doctor’s appointment on Thursday, and then I started school on Friday.

And yes we have been going green. But this is not a new thing for us. We have been recycling for years, we shop at the local market (at least when we lived in Vegas), we have taken totes to carry our groceries in for over 2 years, we car pool or walk whenever we can, and we try to reduce our carbon footprint wherever we can. We haven’t jumped on the trendy-what’s cool-wagon like everybody else. We were going green before it was cool-and that’s what bugs me. I just read an article in the newspaper that stated “Save the environment, buy a tote.” Well I’m sorry but buying this stupid $30+ post-consumer waste “IT” bag will not save the environment.

I’m sure many of you are aware, or maybe even involved in Oprah’s save the environment campaign. Sure it’s great, and whatever we can do to save our planet should be smiled upon-but don’t do it just because Oprah says so. If we really cared about the environment we:

• Would stop eating corporate raised beef-even better stop eating beef. “Livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide, according to the U.N. -- more than all the planes, trains and automobiles on the planet. And it's going to get a lot worse. As living standards rise in the developing world, so does its fondness for meat and dairy. Annual per-capita meat consumption in developing countries doubled from 31 pounds in 1980 to 62 pounds in 2002, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, which expects global meat production to more than double by 2050. That means the environmental damage of ranching would have to be cut in half just to keep emissions at their current, dangerous level.Livestock manure also emits methane (especially when it's stored in lagoons) and nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas. There's nothing funny about this gas: It has 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide, and livestock are its leading anthropogenic (human-caused) source.” Cattle farm emissions leading environmental pollution, Global Warming Life.
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• Would not live in master-planned communities. “One in six Americans live where community homeowners’ associations have the power to place restrictions on residents’ landscaping options…even specifying the exact number and species of trees allowed to be planted on each lot.” Whose Garden is it, anyway? Williams, Organic Gardening. This not only limits the natural flora of the area, but dramatically decreases the wildlife that inhabits the land as well. Master-planned communities often plow down whole areas, taking with them trees, plants and animals-and replacing them with homes.
• Would grow a garden (if the HOA allows it). “Agriculture sold in the United States is one of the main consumers of fossil fuels. In the United States, the average food travels between 1,500 - 2,000 miles, and that doesn't even include the fossil fuels spent in pesticides, tractors, processing, cool storage, and packaging. Fossil fuels have many harmful environmental effects, such as global warming, air pollution, water and land pollution, and thermal pollution. The massive pesticide use also degrades the soil, water, air, and surrounding wildlife. Lastly, industrial farms and their use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have led to a 75% decrease in genetic diversity of agriculture over the last 100 years, which, in the event of an outbreak of a disease, could lead to widespread crop-loss.” Grow your own Vegetables, Greeniacs
• If your HOA doesn’t allow gardens, or if you don’t have a green thumb, shop at local farmer’s market and buy locally. It’s smartest to buy food, and items that have been produced no more than 100 miles from your home. You are supporting small businesses, reducing carbon emissions from transporting the crops, and you are more informed of where your food came from and how it was produced.
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• Of course there are hundreds of other ways to “GO GREEN.” Using filtered water and reusable water bottles instead of bottle water, or by using natural-dye free clothing and towels, or how about reducing your trash by NEVER using paper towels, paper plates, or cups. The list could go on and on and on.

There are two things I would like to mention about going green.

1. Don’t go green because it’s the trend. Going green doesn’t mean buying a tote, or a T-shirt made from recycled Coke bottles. Going green is actually the opposite, it’s conserving more and buying less and wasting less. Go green because you actually care about the earth, and God’s creation. Go green because you want to be more self aware of your impact on the world. Go green because we don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
2. I am not as “green” as I would like to be, in fact besides not eating beef, I don’t really do any of the things I listed. But I am trying, and I guess that’s all that matters.