Truth: I have been reading up quite a bit lately on going more green, and I've learned a lot and applied some to life.
It's a quest I'm on, as my bloggy friend Agnes put it, to live my life more green. As I've shared what I've learned, a few of my friends and my husband have encouraged me to start a green blog. It's a great idea, but I'm not going/ready to do it.
Sure it's nice to know that changes I've made have made others consider doing the same, so why not a green blog?
1) I still have so much to learn.
2) To write as if I'm a green expert would mean I would have to live a life beyond reproach from a reduce/reuse/recycle standpoint, and I'm so not there.
What do I mean?
My husband has been so incredibly flexible in the lovely almost 2.5 years we've been married. He has taken off with recycling, and he has been open to some of the more eco-friendly things I have sprung on him. I've even caught him browsing through some of my reference books.
But because he thinks our cloth napkins are so pretty, he often sneaks a paper napkin--albeit one he uses for more than one meal--to the table so our napkins don't get ruined from washing.
So, and I write this lovingly, how influential am I if I can't totally sway the man of my dreams to the fabric side?
(By the way, I think this is so cute, I cannot lecture him, only scold him and then kiss the top of his head. He likes our pretty napkins!)
Experts say we should all go meatless a few times a week. It's been proven that the resources meat animals use up whilst being raised are disproportionate to the food they provide. So I have pondered meatless choices, but whenever I do I find myself powerfully hankering for a cheeseburger.
Funny yes, but also quite true.
Though I'm far from being a fashionista, I'm still learning about green chic. I have to confess, I don't own even one piece of organic clothing. But I will admit to toying with the idea of second-time-around shopping. This will hardly render me stylishly cutting-edge, but since I never have been, I'm okay with that.
I have looked on-line for some cool handbags that are earth friendly. Oh my gosh, I have found some gorgeously eye-catching, conversation starting styles that I've coveted (love this summer tote made from juice boxes). But this Marshall's maven can't cotton to the pricey price tags for such bags, and I find I'm still longing for a "designer inspired" number I saw at the flea market last month. NOT the green market I should be shopping.
Confessed before, I will continue to wear nail polish, don make-up, and color my hair. But I hope to hit the cosmetics aisle at Whole Foods next time I'm running low. Perhaps I'll even try the Body Shop. Wait, does the Body Shop even exist any more? See? A true greenie would know that without having to Google it.
I'd like to give composting a try. Actually, I long to compost. But our homeowners' association wouldn't allow, it is forbidden (unsightly they would say). So I am working on Brad to start a "worm hotel" in our garage. I'm so subtle with him on this one, he doesn't even know I'm laying the groundwork. Stealth like.
Speaking of our garage, what we drive would not get a thumbs up from the eco-police.
My ol' Honda Civic, aka my Redbird,
gets fine mileage. However, Brad's Denali, The Moose, does not. But with his back issues, it's hard for him to get into my little coupe. So someday we'll have a happy-hybrid-medium. That's a while off.
The whole animal rights thing is a toughie. Recently I got in trouble for making some very public, on facebook, jokes in effort to cheer up my friend Rick. You see, deer are doing even worse damage than this to plants and flowers in his Michigan yard, and he longs to "take care" of them. So we jokingly planned ways to kill deer, and since that would be illegal within city limits we imagined how to make it look like deer suicide. Did I mention we were kidding? Oh we were cracking each other up. Until his friends who are animal advocates got upset with us,
'cause , you know, "The deer were here first."
Can one be green and maintain a sense of humor?
Please?
And while I believe life is held in the balance, and we must find a way to balance with the life around us, I will not sign up for every cause that states they are environmentally based. Greenpeace is a great example of an organization I will not support.
They are militant; they have a violent history. I have friends who work at Brookfield Zoo, and Greenpeace has taken a stand against zoos. They are a frightening group of people who claim to save wildlife, a noble and necessary endeavor, but like any fundamentalist group, they should be watched carefully and not latched onto blindly.
I can't be a green one who joins their mission.
Anyway, this is me. On a quest to be green that I'll write about here as often as the blue and yellow mix together within me. But a separate blog for my inner Kermit? Nope. The true reason? I'm blessed that people read this blog, I can't imagine I'd find even more readers.
Thank you for sticking with me here. Have I told you I love you for that?
*UPDATE: No paper napkins at dinner tonight. I love my hubs!
It's a quest I'm on, as my bloggy friend Agnes put it, to live my life more green. As I've shared what I've learned, a few of my friends and my husband have encouraged me to start a green blog. It's a great idea, but I'm not going/ready to do it.
Sure it's nice to know that changes I've made have made others consider doing the same, so why not a green blog?
1) I still have so much to learn.
2) To write as if I'm a green expert would mean I would have to live a life beyond reproach from a reduce/reuse/recycle standpoint, and I'm so not there.
What do I mean?
My husband has been so incredibly flexible in the lovely almost 2.5 years we've been married. He has taken off with recycling, and he has been open to some of the more eco-friendly things I have sprung on him. I've even caught him browsing through some of my reference books.
But because he thinks our cloth napkins are so pretty, he often sneaks a paper napkin--albeit one he uses for more than one meal--to the table so our napkins don't get ruined from washing.
So, and I write this lovingly, how influential am I if I can't totally sway the man of my dreams to the fabric side?
(By the way, I think this is so cute, I cannot lecture him, only scold him and then kiss the top of his head. He likes our pretty napkins!)
Experts say we should all go meatless a few times a week. It's been proven that the resources meat animals use up whilst being raised are disproportionate to the food they provide. So I have pondered meatless choices, but whenever I do I find myself powerfully hankering for a cheeseburger.
Funny yes, but also quite true.
Though I'm far from being a fashionista, I'm still learning about green chic. I have to confess, I don't own even one piece of organic clothing. But I will admit to toying with the idea of second-time-around shopping. This will hardly render me stylishly cutting-edge, but since I never have been, I'm okay with that.
I have looked on-line for some cool handbags that are earth friendly. Oh my gosh, I have found some gorgeously eye-catching, conversation starting styles that I've coveted (love this summer tote made from juice boxes). But this Marshall's maven can't cotton to the pricey price tags for such bags, and I find I'm still longing for a "designer inspired" number I saw at the flea market last month. NOT the green market I should be shopping.
Confessed before, I will continue to wear nail polish, don make-up, and color my hair. But I hope to hit the cosmetics aisle at Whole Foods next time I'm running low. Perhaps I'll even try the Body Shop. Wait, does the Body Shop even exist any more? See? A true greenie would know that without having to Google it.
I'd like to give composting a try. Actually, I long to compost. But our homeowners' association wouldn't allow, it is forbidden (unsightly they would say). So I am working on Brad to start a "worm hotel" in our garage. I'm so subtle with him on this one, he doesn't even know I'm laying the groundwork. Stealth like.
Speaking of our garage, what we drive would not get a thumbs up from the eco-police.
My ol' Honda Civic, aka my Redbird,
gets fine mileage. However, Brad's Denali, The Moose, does not. But with his back issues, it's hard for him to get into my little coupe. So someday we'll have a happy-hybrid-medium. That's a while off.
The whole animal rights thing is a toughie. Recently I got in trouble for making some very public, on facebook, jokes in effort to cheer up my friend Rick. You see, deer are doing even worse damage than this to plants and flowers in his Michigan yard, and he longs to "take care" of them. So we jokingly planned ways to kill deer, and since that would be illegal within city limits we imagined how to make it look like deer suicide. Did I mention we were kidding? Oh we were cracking each other up. Until his friends who are animal advocates got upset with us,
'cause , you know, "The deer were here first."
Can one be green and maintain a sense of humor?
Please?
And while I believe life is held in the balance, and we must find a way to balance with the life around us, I will not sign up for every cause that states they are environmentally based. Greenpeace is a great example of an organization I will not support.
They are militant; they have a violent history. I have friends who work at Brookfield Zoo, and Greenpeace has taken a stand against zoos. They are a frightening group of people who claim to save wildlife, a noble and necessary endeavor, but like any fundamentalist group, they should be watched carefully and not latched onto blindly.
I can't be a green one who joins their mission.
Anyway, this is me. On a quest to be green that I'll write about here as often as the blue and yellow mix together within me. But a separate blog for my inner Kermit? Nope. The true reason? I'm blessed that people read this blog, I can't imagine I'd find even more readers.
Thank you for sticking with me here. Have I told you I love you for that?
*UPDATE: No paper napkins at dinner tonight. I love my hubs!
6 comments:
too bad i missed out on the deer jokes. i love animals too, but i love to laugh more. inappropriate?? pfffsh. like the deer care!
as for your napkins, you can do what we do. . .
i have wrought iron napkin rings, and i've attached a different colored crystal bead to each one. we each have our own color. so we can tell whose napkin is whose, and we wash them when it's time (i don't have to overexplain this, right?).
my best friend in high school used to do the same thing with the really small hand towels you can get. it's great for the environment!
It's just me and Brad, and we have our places, so we would use the same napkins (I use mine) over and over. He just likes them for show!
oh that's funny. and i can't believe this is the post that disappeared!! i would have just said: i'm trying to go green and leave it at that. that post was alot of work!!
you're not going to believe this...but i actually have one of those handbags made from recycled boxes/wrappers, etc. ...given to me by my sil...
and that's very cute about your husband and the cloth napkins
Well said, my friend. We can encourage each other in our quests to be green. Sometimes I feel yellow-green, or chartreuse, but I would really like to be a dark forst green. Sometimes I feel like my little changes don't do much. I guess all I can hope for is that my encouragement of others and my example will make a difference. I did get 2 friends to switch to cloth diapers, so I guess that is a start! I will look forward to reading more about your green efforts.
i appauld you for trying to 'green' you life. you don't need to start a new blog, but reading all your efforts are really encouraging for me and i'm sure for others. :)
the napkin thing is really cute!
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