I got a kick out of this photo:

fail-owned-go-green-fail

This is the new green revolution in the US.  I get a kick out of people who claim to be concerned about our planet but who clearly don’t understand how we ended up in our current predicament.  These are the folks who buy the re-usable shopping bags every time they come in the store because they could not be bothered to remember to actually RE-USE the one they purchased yesterday.  These are the folks who buy an electric lawn mower and then 20 bags of in-organic chemical fertilizer in the same transaction as if the green purchase might cancel out the bags of cancer causing, water polluting pellets they will feed into the earth after they finish mowing.  These are the folks who buy the plastic cups made of recycled plastic not knowing that it’s STILL plastic and if you don’t recycle it AGAIN it will sit in a landfill thousands of years longer than the wax coated paper cups that cost a little more.  Going green takes a little more thought and a LOT more effort and I’ve learned that a huge number of Americans are just lazy.

The idea that we all need to be more conscious of our planet is not at all a bad one however we are stuck in an age of sound bytes and incomplete information.  You simply can’t be an outspoken steward of the earth while driving a gas guzzling Hummer…sorry folks, the newer transmission makes NO difference, it is ONLY more fuel efficient because they are ONLY comparing it’s fuel efficiency with the PREVIOUS Model’s inefficiency!  You are still only getting 8 miles to the gallon (rather than 7), it STILL requires a large engine to pull a 6 ton tank over the road.  Your “green” hummer still screams FUCK THE EARTH – I HAVE MORE DISPOSABLE INCOME THAN YOU DO!  If you actually believe auto manufacturers don’t have the ability to produce greener cars RIGHT NOW, you are in a dream world and you believe the lies.  The FACT is they can produce green cars, you however are simply not willing to demand that they do OR pay a higher price for them.  Rather than spending $20K on an 8 cylinder Cadillac, why not spend $20K on a hybrid that gets twice the gas millage and uses that fuel more efficiently?  Do you REALLY need a muscle car or do you just have a badly damaged ego and you think a car with bigger balls might make up for your personal insecurities?

Now, I won’t call myself an outspoken green citizen by any stretch but I’m not hypocritical about my habits either.  I make changes in my consuming habits that I can afford when I can afford to make them.  I generate less than 1 bag of trash per week now and I recycle as much of the products I use that I can.  I use an electric lawn mower and I don’t use chemical fertilizers.  I water my lawn using a water saving sprinkler system and I’ve helped my parents install the same type of system at their home.  I drive a compact sedan that gets 27 miles per gallon and the next car I buy will do better than that.  There are MANY areas of my life where I am not at all green and I don’t necessarily apologize for that either (right now).  It is impossible for me to escape buying products with 50 times more packaging than is really needed BUT that does not mean that I can’t properly dispose of the cardboard, plastic, and Styrofoam that comes with them.  It is impossible for me to recycle everything because the city I live in has not found the political willpower to enact stricter recycling ordinances if they even offer the option at all.  Those of us who want to be green advocates must make bigger demands on not only our government bodies but also our neighbors and families.  I used to get irritated with the piles of recyclables Sarah and Brian would collect when they were living at the cottage several years ago, ONLY because the sorting bins happened to get in my way on a regular basis.  Their absolute insistence on recycling everything they could however changed my own perceptions over time about what we were really able to do to and WHY recycling matters.  Their good habits changed my bad habits and THAT is where everyone needs to start.  I recycle more frequently now BECAUSE of their example.  It’s not always convenient (or clean) but it’s still an earth friendly practice that needs to be done as often as possible.

Anyhow, practice what you preach.  If you are going to be a green advocate, I’d better not see you sucking down “spring water” out of a plastic sport cap water bottle you picked up at the 7-11.  How about you try filtered water from your tap in a re-usable container.  A container that will cost you more to buy at the onset but you can use several million times.

That’s my Earth Day post for the year.  Spring is just around the corner, it’s time for some renewal.