Living a sustainable lifestyle isn't just about recycling, wearing organic cotton and eating a vegetarian diet. It's a whole point of view on life. It's not about making huge one time life changes like putting in a grey water system, it's about changing the way you see and think about the world. Simple Organic has developed a list of lifestyle characteristics that define many green people.
Read through and tell us what you think about their list!
Be thrifty "How do the greenest among us afford all that fancy organic produce and those swanky tankless water heaters? Easy -they don't spend their money on much else! Nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever green you up faster than using less of whatever it is that you use -borrow, scale back, repair, reuse, repurpose, barter, find it used, or just skip it entirely. Get thrifty, seriously thrifty. Watch the money pile up and tread a little lighter on the earth at the same time."
Be patient "We tend to create emergencies in our lives which justify a quick fix or urgent purchase: the plastic snow shovel in a March squall, the parka during the downpour, the gas station coffee every other morning. Not only are some of these quick fixes overly expensive, but often they are shoddy, disposable products. The green tend to wait it out or to get by with what's on hand.
That being said, not all 'emergencies' are so frivolous. Many times frustration or a need for escape can push us into a panic over something a little more substantial. If you are thinking about a larger purchase or radical lifestyle change, give yourself time to consciously attempt living without it before you make your final decision. Cooler heads make for greener people."
Be confident "Face it, there are untold billions of dollars spent every year in order to convince each and every one of us to center our lives around consumption --and it is working. Being the one that has a problem with it all can be an isolating experience. Marketers have begun to play on our fears of alienation by stamping 'green' on the side of just about anything. Opt out, scrutinize, and ignore the claims of anything that has a price tag on it."
Check out the other 4 at Simple Organic. What do you think?
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They left out "lecturing others about what it means to be green".
Actually f's l I think it's more about living thoughtfully than it is about being green. I think this makes this point nicely.
What do I think? I think I'm going to be visiting Simply Organic's website more often! I've become weary hearing people say, want to be green? Just stop buying this or that, and buy this or that instead. It's a way of life, not a product you can buy. Right on about being social - we can spread trends like container growing and clothes swaps. And have a tag sale - then save your money for travel. Experiences are better than things.
Fantastic article. just fantastic. plus I love kermit
Great article..... I've been trying to make some changes in my life, some small... some big but the following are some of my goals (1) consume less (2) discard thoughtfully, don't just get rid of what you don't need, give to someone you truly feel will appreciate the item and use often (3) travel less via car/plane (4) reduce packaging (5) waste less groceries (6) look around at home/thrift stores/family before running out and buying something new.
I appreciate the emphasis on not buying your way to being more "green". It really is about reducing consumption and being conscious about consumption choices. I've been asked at times to "be reasonable" but it's hard when you become aware of the consequences of the status quo. I'm glad more people are becoming aware. :-)
A lot of our non-green habits actually make our lives more complicated and difficult. It's easier to carry groceries with resuable bags, easier to clean with dishtowels and rags instead of paper towels that fall apart, easier to eat lunches if you swap out flimsy dispoable cutlery for stainless steel, and easier to repair beloved shoes than spend hours in some horrid stores trying on new ones. If you approach a green lifestyle with the mindset that you don't need to make sacrifices it's much easier.
Also, probably the #1 habit (whether intentional or not) of green people is a tendency to live in cities.
As Megan says in the comment on Simple Organic, sadly, most of this has very little real impact. Top two that do: don't have kids, and don't fly. engineergirl's should be right up there also.
Kudos to you, m'elizabeth, for saying what I was thinking! When shopping for friends' baby showers, I'm always blown away by the amount of single-use or uni-tasker junk that's marketed to parents under the guise that it's "safer", "better" or "greener" for their children. I grew up perfectly fine and capable without my parents having a bottle warmer OR cooler for the car, 4 distinctly different diaper bags, a bottle dryer and separate sanitizer, pacifier holders, grocery cart covers (isn't it just a blanket w/ feet holes?), etc. etc.
I've taken the Alton Brown approach to shopping (when applicable): does this item serve more than a single purpose? Could something else I own already do the job?
I don't consider myself to be living "green", I just think of it as common sense, frugality and rejecting the force-fed notion that consumerism/spendingmoney/newstuff=good! I re-use, re-purpose, compost or recycle most of my trash (my neighbors are amazed that I only have to put out my small trash bin every 3-4 weeks) and can't justify the cost buying many things brand new.
I just wish we could get more cosmetics and toiletries manufacturers in America to sell refills instead of forcing me to buy a new plastic bottle every time. And I'd like to see milk in a bag too! :)
My favorite way of becoming greener? Not bringing another human being into this world to leave even more footprints.
Is committing suicide also a good way to recude your footprint?
@mariasolci- I agree.
@mariasolci, point well made.
On my side of the pond' I used to hear the 'over-population' arguments a lot more than I do now. It seems when one has an ageing population and a low or falling birthrate (France, Germany, Italy), that usually stops being an issue that's brought up.
I think that becomes as socio-economic issue as opposed to Green one when 'reality bites'. This concern tends to be very middle class. Check out some posts from a few years ago...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1498797/Middle-class-French-mothers-will-be-paid-to-start-le-baby-boom.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1048580/Why-middle-classes-bigger-families-says-TV-News-reporter-Colin-Brazier.html
Just some food for thought. I hope it doesn't take things too far off the point, but think about it, larger families means, shared toys, hand me down clothes and someone to play a game with instead of watching tv for entertainment (many extra-curricular cost a fortune and half of it is glorified babysitting, I should know, I'm a coach!
Instead of debating the merits of whether or not to have children, as this may be one of the most highly personal decisions one makes in a lifetime, the spotlight could be placed on the larger culprits that have created the most widespread pollution: large-scale corporate manufacturing and agribusiness. I do all I can as an individual to reduce my "footprint", but unless/until public policy catches up with the rest of us, we may be out of time to even consider how many children we should or should not have.
I rather give up paper towels than my kids.
Oh boy. I think I'll flag my own comment for typing recude not reduce.
JudiAU - I gave up paper towels a long time ago, but have had a hard time doing away with paper napkins. Any tips?
I'd rather give up kids than paper towels.
Just kidding. I don't have either.
@mariasolci--We just did away with paper napkins in our home. I bought a couple packages of white cotton napkins from Target. I have them stacked right next to our papertowels (which multi-tasked as our napkins), so it's easy to remember to grab a couple of them instead of napkins on the way to the dinner table. After each use they're thrown in the laundry room to be washed each week with our dish towels.
Ha ha, my cloth napkins were hand-me-downs! I win!
But yeah, we have a basket of mismatched cotton napkins on the kitchen counter/dining table so they're easy to grab. I think it helps to have a lot of them so you use them as wantonly as you would paper - it makes little difference in the washload.