I'm sure you noticed that last week was "Green Week" on many TV networks. From what I could tell this basically meant reminding us to recycle our cans before each commercial break. While watching an HGTV House Hunters episode that featured a couple billed as being very green who wanted to rip every surface out of each home they saw to replace it with bamboo or recycled glass I had to ask myself how much of living green is just about dealing with it and living with what is already in place?
I cringed every time the House Hunters walked in a home with bamboo flooring and without knowing anything about manufacturer or installation announced that it was an incredibly green surface. They loved to remark that there was plenty of room in the backyard for their garden but the interior square footage would need to be expanded, or that the perfectly functional kitchen would need to be ripped out immediately. Oh, and don't forget that they were going to paint the entire home that was recently painted and staged with new low VOC shades.
I feel that I'm constantly confronted with this short sighted view of what living green is all about. In fact I don't think it's about being green at all; it's about being sustainable. Living sustainably means living beautifully, living leaner, living smarter and conserving resources.
I can only hope that next year, when "Green Week" begins again there will be a show that demonstrates that living green means keeping those kitchen cabinets and just sprucing them up to match the homeowners' taste. And that adding new bamboo flooring over the gorgeous oak that is already there is nuts. "Green Week" should be about living with what you have and embracing the beauty of what exists.
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A big high-five on this one. I read Natural Home and I cannot believe how cost-prohibitive these designs are, plus how building homes on a once pristine island can be called "eco-friendly".
More to the point, many people mistake sustainabiltiy with protecting the planet. A sustainable material is simply one that can, to some extent, renew itself. But even FSC certified wood involves logging that depletes the forest of nutrients, removes vital biomass and creates logging roads that opens wildlife up to severe poaching.
Trade with your neighbors if you want new stuff, and buy a home that is already the way you want it with mininal renovations, and use reclaimed wood if you must build something. These are all good places to start.
I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!!
Have you seen the HGTV "Green Home" what a joke! It's huge, it's all new and it comes with a giant car.
Seriously!!
Fantastic post. This just illustrates how nothing will change until people realize what living green is actually about.
I agree...many people just act like they're green because it's trendy and they automatically believe what is coined as 'green' is really green. Being green also means being frugal. If they really wanted to be sustainable, they would just keep what they have and not replace it with 'green' items. Maybe in 30 more years when it's time for a new kitchen. By then, things will be totally different. A lot of it is just trendy right now.
I'm going to echo everyone else's sentiment on here. Especially the one on the green home. I really would love it if they had a green home that was super efficient, compact, spacious and that came with a Prius instead of supersizing everything just because its green.
I pondered this question when I moved into my condo. I contemplated ripping up my laminate flooring and replacing it with bamboo and ripping out my 30-year-old cabinet and replacing it with something from Ikea. After taking some time to think and turning off HGTV, I realize that it's not only financially stupid to rip out perfectly functional floors and cabinets, it was irresponsible for someone who claims to be living a green lifestyle. So the cabinets and floors stay in my home and out of a landfill.
The first paragraph refers to the HGTV green McMansion.
I agree that it doesn't seem particularly "green" to replace a bunch of perfectly serviceable things in the home with new stuff, even if something about the new stuff is greener or more sustainable. I feel like it's only really worth doing with things like appliances, where replacing a dinosaur fridge with an energy efficient model could lead to significant energy savings.
nice post..i share the same peeve about people who call themselves eco friendly only because they "choose" a very alternatives and dont mind throwing out recently bought non ecofriendly stuff...gross!
COuldn't agree more !!
Replacing what you have with "greener" options is totally ok if what you have is broken. In that case, yes. If it functions perfectly, spruce it up a bit !
Thank you for posting this! Every time I see a program or story about remodeling a home to make it more "green", I scream at the TV about how much better it would be to leave those 80's kitchen cabinets or those linoleum floors.
Amen. This is such an important part of living more conscientiously, and it seems to get lost in the fervor for "living green." It's crazymaking.
Great article.
AMEN!!!!
SO true. There are so many things I don't replace in our home because it's just better to stick with what we have. If something HAS to be replaced, then go with the green option.
Incidentally, I feel that next in line for 'greenness' is to buy USED. Using something that would otherwise be in a landfill is much more sustainable than buying an entirely new item that uses new resources, no matter now green the methods and sources are.
So I try to:
1 - Use what I have
2 - Find the item used, even if it needs elbow grease
3 - Do without
4 - Buy wisely what I do need to purchase
I completely agree with this post. My fiance and I try to live green, and a huge part of that is using items that we already have rather than buying new ones. For example, we could go out and purchase a great new eco-mattress, but that means that our current mattress goes to the landfill. I believe a big part of green living means not producing more garbage, which I feel a lot of these home shows and the like forget about. When time does come to replace items that get broken, that is when you need to seek out those green alternatives. Until then use what you have.
@Indigo Ellen I agree and I hope the word spreads, I don't see any reason to cut down any more forests when we have so much wood that can be reclaimed (I've seen at least 2 barns that were destroyed by storms this year)!
I agree. For my "green" remodel we bought a home that did actually need a remodel. What we have replaced we have replaced with greener items. The list of things that still need to be done is pretty huge, but you know it's a home... we have years. The ugly 1980s kitchen looks a lot better with paint - I only broke on appliance so far and I think the vent hood came broken.
We started with the essentials which was water damage and mold clean up. We try to make green choices in general: water filtration system, re-usable recycled aluminum bottles etc. Green design is pretty but basically worthless - you don't need to replace flooring unless your vinyl flooring is curling up like mine (which leads to more water damage from mopping...)
..well, it's one of the biggest impacts we can make (with very very very few exeptions). Trying not bringing new stuff into this world in the first place. Doesn't matter if it's recycable, recycled or whatever. No matter if it's a kitchen, a shirt or a 'consumable'.
'Don't worry, it's recyclable' No, that's no excuse to place that one apple into a paper produce bag!
You are not alone!
Upgrading is better than building a new house...but the best is to live with what you have unless it's a health hazard.
So Allison, does "living with what you have" include 'hideous' 1990's couches, or are they the exception? ;)
I agree that living with what you have is the "greenest," but I'm not counting on HGTV to ever admit it. I would love to watch a show devoted to sprucing up old things to fit your taste, but who will pay for the commercials during that time slot? Isn't the point of TV to sell us stuff we don't really need?