Jolly "Green" Giant

Not the green beans. I'm talking about the environmentalist movement that is going on. I guess I shouldn't call it the "Giant" though because it really isn't yet. Loud, yes. Giant, not so much. If it were there wouldn't be so much available that wasn't "green" friendly. I believe in being environmentally conscious. I think we need to be responsible and reuse or recycle things when we can. I believe we should try not to be wasteful. I am not conviced however of a human's impact on global warming. The Earth has followed a warming and cooling pattern for - well, forever! Did you know that cows give off much more methane gas than humans? Yet, we should protect those animals and not eat meat so where does that leave us? LOTS of cows and LOTS of methane gas. So I guess next time I have that steak, I'm just doing my part to keep the greenhouse gases under control.

I guess I believe in doing my part as long as you don't ask too much of me. I recycle and reuse many things. As our lights burn out we switch to a better bulb because it lasts longer- now they are telling me those are bad for the environment if you forget to dispose of them properly and just toss them in the trash as well. You know what? If you want me to go green, keep it up. I probably will as soon as things get less expensive. I'll talk to you with my wallet and I expect you to do the same. One of the ways I talk with my wallet is not to spend money on things that are WAY overpriced. Maybe it's the Econ grad's wife in me but that is the way we show our support. If you want me to shop at your store- no prob, make it cost effective. I understand that one of the ways to make things cost effective is for people to show they want it and down the price will come. When I have more money, I'll show my support to those industries that are up and coming with the things that I believe in. In the meantime, I believe in living on an itty bitty budget and that means Wally world and "green" lightbulbs. We even bought E85 gasoline for our car for a while because it was about 20 cents cheaper but we noticed it wasn't lasting as long and found out you get about 5 gallons LESS per mile with E85. That isn't acceptable to our budget right now. Of course, I'm not perfect and I'm slightly lazy. I DO use paper plates which is NOT at all practicing frugality or environmentalism. I DO cloth diaper though (although that was more for cost reasons than environmental- see talk to my wallet!). So I contradict myself all the time but I'm human too and will never claim to be perfect in my own beliefs. It's a process that is ongoing and will change gradually. I think of it like weight loss. If it comes off gradually it will stay off. Bring on the changes of living "greener" gradually and it will be easier on people and their pocketbooks and they will be more likely to stick with it.