I love hearing about and talking about green products and issues, but I’m gonna look at myself with the ol’ critical eye and ask, “How green am I, really?”
We’ve never used washing machines and clothes dryers to do our laundry at home. I’m trying to help that along by encouraging the use of detergent that has been certified green by a local environmental body.
We’ve always used fluorescent bulbs.
We segregate our trash as much as possible. Unfortunately, the city, nay, the country doesn’t provide for proper recycling facilities, so there’s no doubt that they all end up in the landfill anyway.
I’ve been able to successfully cut back on shopping. Less items accumulated, less waste and trash. Yay!
I’ve turned to a small electronics recycler for the disposal of non-working electronics.
I refuse plastic bags as much as possible, and before I get a lecture on how I should just bring my own bag, let it be known that I’ve already inquired about doing so and was told that it’s not possible due to security reasons. Plastic bags are unfortunately THE packaging material of choice and some people even look at me strangely when I say I don’t want a plastic bag for my stuff.
I’m a child of takeout food, although I go for home-cooked meals whenever possible if I’m feeling too cheap to spend money. One demerit.
I use a hair dryer like crazy.
I’m an avid user of air conditioning. I don’t know how else to deal with searing summer temperatures in the high 90s, and please don’t say open all the windows and turn on a fan, because those don’t help either. Two demerits. On the upside, it’s a fairly new unit with energy-saving features, unlike the roaring monster of an A/C unit we used to have.
I still drive everywhere I go. Aargh. Although if you lived here, you would probably agree that this isn’t a bikeable or a walkable city. But yeah, I really should take public transportation more often, which I used to do in my college days.
A long, long, loooong way to go.
