» It’s Not Easy Being Green Mothers of Brothers: All about life with boys…and life in general

Posted by Emily

Today’s post comes to you courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer who was kind enough yesterday to publish a piece I wrote about my ongoing struggle with “going green.” I’ve received a number of emails criticizing my position but I’m not surprised. Green behavior is a polarizing issue and probably should be included in that list of topics not to bring up at social functions next to religion and politics.

I wrote the piece to express a point of view that I suspect is shared by others – but it’s a place that not many are willing to admit to standing. I WANT to go green but my ambivalence is holding me back. So maybe I should say that I WANT to WANT to go green. But I’m lacking, uh, inspiration? I realize it is the ambivalence that offends people – but I am asking for help. Isn’t that the first step in admitting you have a problem?

If you have another 2 minutes, take a read of the piece (link in the first sentence) and let me know what you think about going green. Are you light green like me? Or are you deep, deep, deep forest green? Tell us here – or better yet, comment over on The Inquirer site.

And as a somewhat random bonus aside: If you ever have the hiccups and can’t get rid of them – think about the color green. Stops them every time. Dead serious.

Share and Enjoy:

9 Responses received

kevinlar61 says:
July 26th, 2010 at 8:22 am

I too have the same problem forgetting my bags, usually in the front seat of the car, no less. I’ve heard about some California towns that charge fifty cents or so for each plastic bag, or ban them outright. CA generally leads the way in going green, so I think the rest of the country will soon follow suit.
As far as being green in general, I strive to be the best recycler I can, but don’t sweat it. We recycle 90% of our stuff, but I’m not about to rinse meat juice off of aluminum foil. I just chuck it in the trash.

Elizabeth@Life in Pencil says:
July 26th, 2010 at 10:17 am

Brave article, Emily (and congrats for getting published in the Inquirer again!). I do think communities needs to make it easy for people to “be green” if we’re ever going to be successful at this. I also think it’s how ingrained it is in the culture. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, where I would venture to say the green movement has been deeply embedded in the regional psyche for quite some time, recycling was a way of life, and they made it SO easy to do. In the City of Seattle, there are now major financial incentives if you weren’t already convinced in the form of steep fines if you are “caught” with recyclables in your nonrecyclable bins; the city even provides COMPOSTING bins! When I moved to the Midwest, I was appalled that there was no curbside recycling in my city. And living in Albuquerque, I still can’t believe how little we are allowed to recycle.

Mainly, I concentrate on doing the small stuff that doesn’t take much effort: recycling when I can, trying to remember to bring in my grocery bags, etc.

dianne says:
July 26th, 2010 at 11:30 am

this is hilarious! I do the same thing; I have a million reusable bags that I never have with me. I do reuse the plastic bags for dog ppop though.

lesliedr says:
July 26th, 2010 at 11:31 am

Em, I think a lot of this has to do with geography and momentum. My friends from northern California look at me as if I have two heads when I tell them I haven’t yet acquired a countertop composter. For me, being green is sort of like my approach to keeping kosher – a step at a time, meeting my own comfort level and dealing with the fact that I have spouse less interested than I am in either (in fact, the green thing goes over easier, I think!) It took me a while to get over bringing the Whole Foods bags into other grocery stores, but they hold up better than all of the others!

amarks555 says:
July 26th, 2010 at 11:46 am

I read your article in the Inquirer yesterday. It was well written and well thought out, and you certainly represent a great deal of average folks out there who are trying to “go green” but can’t seem to muster up the drive and fortitude to do it. But therein lies the problem. If normal, average mom’s such as yourself aren’t committed to this effort then we have no chance to make any sort of dent in the mindset of Americans when it comes to tackling global warming and providing a safe and healthy environment for our children and their children to live in. You can’t wait for your community to provide you with easier methods to recycle, you can’t just shrug and double bag it when you forget your reusable bags in the car and you can’t not make the extra effort to recycle your water bottle when you are walking in the city and can’t find a recycle bin. You have to do a little extra here, everyone does, but until you, the average person does go that little extra mile with these little everyday tasks that seem so mundane, we have no shot, and our businessmen and elected officials notice this type of behavior. What do you think would happen if, for instance, community recycling doubled over the next year in the U.S., or if half of all grocery shoppers started to use their reusable bags, or if “green” products were being purchased at a faster rate, or if trash was reduced by 25%, or if people started trading in their SUV’s for hybrids? You can’t tell me that that doesn’t make a difference, because it does, but it starts with you. And me. And my Mom. And my neighbors. And my children. And my children’s children. This is a serious crisis we are facing and people need to start caring beyond when it’s convenient for you or only when it effects your bottom line. I believe that the little things that you write about make a difference, and until we start paying attention to all of these little things, no one, our government included, is going to care about the big picture. And it starts with you.

MemeGRL says:
July 26th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

I saw you in the Inky–congratulations!
I love my bags–maybe that’s the difference. I also love getting the discounts (5 cents per bag at Target and at ShopRite). I keep them on the front seat of my car and as I empty them in the house, I hang them on a hook by the door (same as I’d have to put away plastic or paper bags). It took a little while to get the ball rolling–and some places (I’m looking at you, Swiss Farms) are not making it any easier to make the change.
I do compost but I am terrible at it and keep wondering–how can I fail at making food rot?! Yet I do.
I think the other reason I like bringing my own bags is because it is less STUFF in my house. Even with the shopping bags, I still always seem to have a bulging plastic bag holder. And I agree–the easier the better. We are recycling way more now that the town does it for us with single-stream. I just figure–every little bit helps! Good luck finding the motivation.

RuthWells says:
July 26th, 2010 at 12:10 pm

Having been raised in a boho/Quaker/hippy enclave, I’m a pretty rabid greenie, myself. I will keep empty bottles in my car until I remember to get them into the home recycling bin, rather than throw them in the convenient curb-side trashcans, and I’ve instituted a second-floor recycling container at home so more paper gets recycled, rather than trashed.

But being a frazzled working mom, I too forget my cloth shopping bags pretty regularly. My work-around is to grab a handful of (clean) pre-used plastic shopping bags out of the store’s recycling bin, and using them to bag up.

Congrats on the Inky article, and on having the guts to be honest! I agree that real change won’t occur without more sticks and fewer carrots.

Winnie says:
July 27th, 2010 at 9:08 am

Thought-provoking article. I am with you on the grocery bags: I mean well, but nine times out of ten they get left at home when I head to the grocery store. On the other hand, I am committed to composting my kitchen scraps, and the compost gets used in my garden. Perhaps we overwhelm ourselves by trying to take on too many green initiatives at the same time. What if we each commit to a small change every once in a while? That way we are making progress but not taking on more than we can handle. As each change becomes incorporated we take on a little more and after a while we are living a markedly different, greener life. I don’t think we can wait for a nudge from “someone in charge;” it is not in the economic interest of most corporations to make changes. The green movement must be grassroots (which kind of makes sense anyway), and as the movement grows pressure will build on those “in charge” to make changes as well.

Peggy says:
August 10th, 2010 at 11:58 am

Have to agree with “amarks” above. I looked forward to reading the article having mis-read in my enthusiasm “If green is to be ingrianed, we “need to be” better role models” No it’s not easy being green. I too forget my bags etc but we ARE the role models.

Alot of things aren’t easy but are worth the effort like being a parent, a teacher, doctor, nurse, caregiver, etc. If everyone would just make the effort to be green, informed and thoughtfull in their actions, without self rightousness, it would add up and might influence others to do the same. It’s not a bandwagon .It’s just being the change and being responsible for our actions. Nothing new.

Parents can make a hugh difference in just packing a kids lunch and water each day in reusable containers and less packaging. As a teacher who had lunch duty last year and having witnessed lunch bags,plastic water bottles (still filled with water) and food being thrown away it would be wonderful to have more help from the homefront in teaching students to reuse, recycle and care. What you do as a Mom or Dad makes a hugh difference when it’s multiplied by 1,000 each day, 180 days a year!

Look forward to another article on your new adventures in being green.

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