Being “green” has become mainstream.
It’s cool to be green. I love the green movement. I think people should be rallying around the cause. After all, we’ve got only one earth. Yet, with so many people revealing their greener sides, it makes me wonder whether some are green because they care, or for its newfound social status.
I can remember being in grade school and getting excited for Earth Day and making T-shirts and planting trees to commemorate the occasion. Then somewhere along the line, maybe in the late 90s or so, we got greedy and caught up in Hollywood and gigantic SUVs and “bling.” Being conscious was still present, but it quieted for a time.
Now being green is all the rage. Don’t get me wrong if you do it because it makes you a little more respected or a little more part of the pack far be it from me to tell you to stop. This is a case where joining the bandwagon is AOK. Unfortunately, some people have a hard time putting their conservation practices where their mouths are.
I’ve always considered myself eco-minded. After moving to Aspen, I became even more so. I recycle the numbered plastics I’m allowed to and I try to use cloth shopping bags and reuse plastic bags whenever I can. I’ve had roommates who thought I was nuts when I washed my zip-lock baggies. I try to go green whenever I can, but I certainly don’t claim to be perfect.
I drive a small car that happens to be pretty good on gas. I try to walk, but sometimes the lazy, instant-gratification-wanting me gets the better of the situation and I drive 2.5 miles to my boyfriend’s place. I know I could and should take the bus, but then I’d have to plan ahead to coordinate my walking time with the bus time, and, let’s face it, I usually run a “little” late. I do the best I can.
No preaching
It’s safe to say that although I try to be green and encourage others to do the same, I don’t preach too much without first taking a look in the mirror.
I do, however, find it interesting that some people call themselves green, but when given the opportunity to make an easy, everyday adjustment that would contribute to a greener society, they choose not to. What’s worse is that they don’t even know it. Or do they?
Sure, some have spent millions of dollars constructing a green home, but why are the lights on throughout the house when no one is around? Doesn’t that sort of defeat the purpose of being green? Just because you can wipe your butt with $100 bills doesn’t mean you should. It doesn’t make you green, either. Well, maybe just your butt.
I get frustrated with those who act high and mighty and donate large sums of money to environmental causes that the common person can’t afford, but, when dropping off their donation checks arrive in full-size SUVs. The everyday green practices somehow don’t apply to them. Are they just buying their guilt?
We’re lucky
I definitely know folks around here, within walking distance to everything, who choose drive a block for the convenience. We are incredibly lucky to be so close to grocery stores, hardware stores, the post office, etc. Why live here if you aren’t going to take advantage of all the “green-veniences”?
OK, now I sound like I’m preaching. But maybe I should keep on harping. If you’re going to claim yourself as a “carbon credit,” why use exorbitant amounts of paper towel to wipe your mouth after a meal? Or drive to the gym when it’s a block away? Or let the water run as you tell me about the right kind of plastic to use?
We are reliant on conveniences. Consumption and disposal have become habitual to all of us. However, being green is making an effort. We have to change our everyday habits. This might come easier to some than others. I think that growing up without a lot of money has helped my green cause. When a light is left on in another room, I can still hear my mom asking me if I want to pay for it.
Like it or not, Aspen is a town of excess. I guess I shouldn’t complain if people spend thousands of dollars on a showy green effort, but don’t exactly practice what they preach in everyday life. On second thought, I can complain all I want. I just hope that, someday, being green will have more effort behind it than merely a clean social conscience.
