Friday, May 9, 2008

What's the Big Deal About Going Green?

Little Guy asked me the other day to explain "Going Green". He has heard that term everywhere and he wasn't quite sure what it meant. For those of you whose cars are plastered with "Go Green" stickers and are a part of the Al Gore fan club, you may not be very satisfied with my answer.

Frankly, I told him it wasn't a big deal. I told him that going green basically meant not wasting. I also told him that his Nana and Papa had been doing the green thing since way before Al Gore invented the internet or became vice president, but somehow I think that went over his six year old head.

I'm serious. My parents and most of my friend's parents were big greenies!

"Close that door! Do you think we are trying to air condition the entire neighborhood!!"

"Turn off those lights. Electricity is expensive."

"If you are cold, put on a sweater."

"Ride your bike."

"Money does not grow on trees."

They grew their own garden. Mom made her own jellies and canned her own vegetables.

They were just living their lives.

Amazingly when I was young a lot of the same things that are happening now were happening then. President Carter was fighting the fears of America with rising gas prices, gas shortages, and the implementation of a tax to subsidize mass transit.

"Going Green" isn't new. God said to "Go Green" when he told Adam: "Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Genesis 1:28b)

3 comments:

From the Doghouse said...

Sometimes, it seems "going green" is more about the color of money rather than the color of nature.

cassie said...

WOW! Greenie is definitely the new term for people like me who choose to go green. And I remember my mom yelling the SAME THINGS to me when I was younger. Then when I got to college and had to start paying for stuff on my own, I feel like I'm the old hag because I'm constantly yelling the same things to my room mates.

I just recently went green and I’m sure it’s rubbing off on my room mates. I got them with the bioheat. It's the hottest thing in the green community right now, and if they love it then it MUST be awesome. They didn't believe me when I told them that it was made of fun stuff like soybean oil. They appreciated it especially in the winter because it kept us warm and cozy.

Working for NORA is what got me to go green in the first place. I got a lot of really good tips from:
http://oilheatamerica.com/index.mv?screen=bioheat.

Check it out and see what kind of info you can use.

HEATHER said...

Yeah, I've been green my entire life. Chalk it up to growing up with my grandparents who survived the depression, and going to Catholic school where the nuns could could sqeeze a nickel till it popped!