This week, the troops and I headed out to clear the streets surrounding our house of litter. We do this every few months as a nod to my years spent cleaning the roads of Newton as our token mutual service project. Our leaders tried sending us to Newton Dam one year to clean up the beaches, but that activity proved to be a little more R-rated than our leaders planned on, so we stuck to the roads with an occasional leaf raking to mix it up. The kids love cleaning up the roads. I don't know what this says about them. I am a little worried that Cole the pack rat will find some treasure he can't live without on one of these trips, but so far we've come home empty handed.
After we came home, I was feeling a little smug about doing a good job teaching them to care for our earth. And then I looked around and it hit me. I can never really call myself green.
Politics and science aside, I believe in taking care of our earth. I want it to be beautiful. I want it to be clean. I want it to last. I believe it was created by One in whom I have much love, respect, and admiration. I would never want to treat it in a way that would harm it. Compared to the majority of the state of Utah, I think I am fairly green. The recycling can is usually more full than the garbage can. My garden is organic. I almost never let my car idle. I use CFL bulbs. I try to buy eco-friendly paint whenever I have a painting project. I have lots of reusable grocery bags and sometimes even remember to use them. I even researched cloth diapers for Annie, but decided not to get them since she was close to potty training (I guess it's time to look into them for Ben...). The trouble is there are just a few things I can't quite let go of. So here, in no particular order, are the reasons why I will never be totally green.
1. My car can't really be considered gas friendly. And I probably won't be getting one that is anytime soon. This is the sad reality of having three kids and a gear-loving husband who requires extra space anywhere we go just in case we find a river he can fish.
2. I hate the new energy friendly Christmas lights. You know the ones with the blueish glow? They just seem dull and depressing to me and don't look Christmasy. Christmas is a time of cheer and depressing lights just don't seem to cheerful to me. much prefer the energy sucking versions of years past. I try to tell myself it doesn't matter too much since I only use them one month of the year.
3. My kids go through reams of paper per month. They are really into coloring and making notes and projects and such. We go through paper like crazy around here. And that doesn't even take into account the gobs of paper they come home from school with.
4. In my heart, I'm not really a thrifty person. For example, while doing a painting project that required oil-based paint, instead of washing the paintbrushes out after using them, I just used a new one for each coat. I tried to justify it by telling myself the fumes from the mineral spirits I would have used to clean the brush were just as damaging as disposing of the brushes. I guess it's a close call, but the point is that I'm not really very good at being thrifty if the cost is minimal. Keep an old booster seat hanging around my house waiting for the next child or just get a new one? I chose just get a new one. Same goes for all those plastic Easter eggs (although I did keep a stash this year because Annie loves to have Easter egg hunts) and all kinds of baby gear and toys that I don't feel like storing for the next baby.
5. But the top reason why I will never really be green is my love affair with paper towels. I love them oh so very much. I can't stand dish rags. They make me gag. I know Martha Stewart says to keep a drawer full of microfiber cloths in the kitchen, but I do not like the feel of microfiber cloths. They are like nails-on-the-chalkboard for me. So I am afraid that Martha and I will have to agree to disagree on this point. Also on whether keeping pets in the house is a good idea.
Here's to hoping you all have a happy earth day. We are celebrating with a field trip Friday excursion to watch "African Cats" and hoping we can plant a tree when this forty days worth of rain dries up. In October.
2 comments:
You sound a lot like me, and I too have a love affair with paper towels. I do have a recycle bin, just so I don't feel too guilty about everything else that I do that isn't green.
HAHA! I remember that R-rated trip mutual activity at the Newton Dam. I also remember the road cleaning at the Bear Lake Youth Conference when somebody picked up a large piece of trash and found a snake underneath. (Oh wait, I think you may have been in the "service project" group with my sister that ended up riding mini bulls at the fairground while we were picking up trash on the beach.) Good times, good times.
I agree with you--I do my best to recycle and cut back on a few things, but I will never be totally green. And I also can not stand the feel of microfiber cloths!
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