Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Staying Green in a Conservative World

I have to come clean. I have numerous conservative tendencies that fight to become dominant. I am conservative in nature; I like things to stay constant, I like to drive my gas-guzzling vehicle (28 mpg) around for hours on end (15 minutes each way to work, thank you), and I am in no way environmentally conscious. Really?

I am not supposed to care about the environment. I am an evil conservative who wishes to fill the air with smog and stuff the landfills until they overflow into your backyards. I love to litter. Except that I don’t. I die a little each time I throw a can in the regular bin. I cringe when I drop a paper towel in the garbage. I start screaming at my husband for daring to toss the rest of an apple in with the garbage.

I hate to waste anything. My thought is that if it can be used again, it does not belong in the garbage. To that end, I recycle anything I can. I am proudly storing bags upon bags of refuse on my deck, waiting for a sunny day before making my way through the soggy garden to the compost pile. I painstakingly wash out my bottles and cans to put with the recycling. I buy the smaller paper towels and tear off only as much as I need, sometimes a square inch for the little messes. I think about what I use in my daily life.

I have to admit, though, my striving to make mine a “green” world is not so much environmental as fiscal. I hate to spend money if I don’t have to. Buying a car that has higher gas mileage, composting, turning the lights off when not in use. All these things save me money and as an aside also end up being good for the environment since I am not using up so many resources. So call me cheap or call me green. In the end I think they are the same for me.