This is terrible... but for every "Green" thing I do... I can think of a Green Guilt. I'm not alone, right?
#1 BIGGIE!! I have two homes. I've got about 2,500 square feet total which is kind of crazy for 3 people… AND 900 sq ft is 4-5 hours away. I feel guilty enough that I can even afford to own two… and then one of them is empty 9 months out of the year. We use it about 2 months… and family use it another month. One good thing… utilities are only $10 a month during the summer (small fridge). And much of our retirement $$$$ are invested in the property.
2. Downhill skiing isn’t the most green hobby/sport. Lots of driving. (But I do try to car pool with my sister a lot, AND we try to go so that we are up there for 4-5 days. I’ve never done an “up and back” in the same day with 8 hours of driving for 4 hours of skiing.) And Mt Rose creates energy with wind power and makes more energy than they use…
3. Could have a “better” car. I’m guessing by the time I buy another… hybrids will be 4 wheel drive and more affordable. On the plus side, it is a sedan and an appropriate size for our family size.
4. I wish I had our hardwood floors refinished instead of buying carpet… but didn’t realize that the floors weren’t that bad…until the carpet was being installed. On the plus side… the old carpet/pad was 20 or 25 years old so it was used until it was used up.
I think that is it… I have a few more… like I don’t use cloth bags EVERY single time… but these are the big ones.
We don't have a car, but that's it on the plus side.
I buy exotic produce that's been flown in from who knows where (and choosing FairTrade bananas over Chiquita isn't quite the path to sainthood). I eat chicken (and red meat) despite what I know about their living conditions (food allergies, sorry, no vegan lifestyle for me). Our electrical bill has been climbing steadily due to a lot of appliances. I use plastic bags AND chemical cleaning agents. Etc.
Even when the individual makes an effort, sometimes those efforts are thwarted by the system. Years ago, our city announced it was entering a new era in waste management: composting. Apartment buildings were supplied with the requisite equipment and we happily started to separate our household waste. The compost waste was supposed to be transported to a special processing unit and end up as soil in the city parks or whatever. Lo and behold, a year or so ago there was an item in the paper saying the unit they built for that purpose was too small to begin with and couldn't handle all the waste, and so they had had to dump it with the regular garbage!
We recycle bottles, milk cartons, newspapers, biodegradables, cardboard. We separate hazardous waste. At the same time some idiot dumped a trashed tv set in the bushes behind the gas station on the next block, some other idiot still doesn't get that you don't dump regular plastic bags in the compost bin, and we still don't know whether the city will be able to handle our composting in the near future or not.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nbox,
****************** “The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.”
Long showers. Leaving the TV on when I leave a room. Eating beef. Getting three magazines delivered to the house (I read them all!).
There are things I sometimes feel guilty about, but no so guilty I'll stop. Like driving to the grocery store (3 miles)...but there aren't sidewalks the whole way, it's hot and it rains, and did I mention there aren't sidewalks the whole way? And that it's HOT outside? There is one that's closer, but it's not always clean, their prices are higher, and I just don't like it. So there.
And sometimes I feel a little guilty that we run the AC so much. Then the AC goes out in our building at work, and I realize how sticky and stinky the alternative is, and I don't feel so bad anymore. We get it serviced, keep it clean, and it's only a couple of years old. We had all the ductwork replaced when we got the new AC, too, so it's not leaking into the attic. And this time of year, it rains so much, I don't think you could leave the windows open for any length of time (not that it would help when it's 95 and humid out until 9pm, when it becomes a balmy 85 and humid...with rain).
I really am not liking how much the new TV affects things, either. We saw our electric bill climb--both from the power it sucks AND because it's a few feet from the thermostat...and plasma TVs generate a fair amount of heat, so the thermostat thinks it's 83 in the house and kicks on, when it's really 79 in the house but the TV is warming up the area around it. Bleh. (My hope is that when we move, we get an LCD instead...plasmas aren't recommended at higher altitudes, apparently.)
And I have one area of tropical plants that needs watering when it's dry. I really, really love them, though--three of them came back from Hawaii and are "souvenirs" from our trip.
Challenge Goals: *10 minutes of unplanned exercise five times a week *Gym time twice a week *Socialize at least once every two weeks.
