April 25, 2008
When Green Isn’t Green
Written by Shirley Karr in Jaunty PostThe new buzzword is green, as in earth-friendly. I’m all for it. For curbside recycling we separate our paper, metal, plastic, glass, and the yard debris that can’t go on our compost pile. Daniel wears cloth diapers instead of disposables, we try to remember to take canvas tote bags to the grocery store, and recycle and/or re-use the plastic and paper bags when we forget. We combine errands, plan our route to minimize backtracking, and try to go at off-peak hours when we’re less likely to add to traffic congestion. Most of our light bulbs are compact fluorescents (even though they don’t last anywhere near as long as the packaging claims). We went to the Rebuilding Center and bought an old bathroom cabinet for $5 in order to use its hardware and solid oak doors for the cabinet we were building, instead of buying all new material.
To get more ideas on how we can do more or do better, I recently watched a show on HGTV about making your house more green. Color me perplexed.
For example, the homeowners had the ubiquitous plastic vertical blinds on their patio slider, as do we. I looked forward to seeing the decorator’s idea, which turned out to be blinds made of bamboo and sea grass. Very cool. (And if you know where to buy them, please let me know - we need better window coverings in the baby’s room.) Up went the natural material that looks good and is made from renewable, earth-friendly material, and the plastic blinds … went in the trash.
Um… exactly how is this good for the planet? Yes, vertical blinds are not especially attractive, but resources had already been expended to produce and transport them, and they were still functioning well in the purpose for which they were intended. Maybe the HGTV people had a recycling solution for them and they just didn’t tell us about it.
There are several other examples where they changed something that was already doing its job –- and not using any more resources to do so — to replace it with something “green” for the sake of being green. How is that good for the planet?
I read a disturbing article about how huge swaths of the rain forest are being cut down – where the trees had been doing their part to clean Earth’s air, not to mention being habitat for untold numbers of species of flora and fauna – in order to grow crops used in bio-fuels. Doesn’t this seem like cutting off your nose to spite your face? Or some such metaphor.
My husband and I are perplexed by people we know who bought a hybrid with the thought they’re going to save money on transportation. Okay, let’s do the math. They spent $22,000 for a new Prius so they could get 45 mpg and pay $120 a month for gas instead of $240 per month for gas for a traditional Camry they owned free and clear or nearly so, that only gets 22 mpg. It will take 183 months to make back their investment, or more than 15 years to recoup their expenditure and reach the point where they are actually saving money. Most people don’t keep the same vehicle even half that long.
And that’s without even discussing the resources that were expended to produce the special vehicle, which are way above and beyond what it requires to manufacture an old-fashioned car. Some research even suggests a hybrid may never make back it’s investment in the resources it took to build it vs. what it saves on fossil fuels. (I know, that’s not a popular statement — please don’t throw tomatoes.)
My point is, if you’re in the market to buy a new vehicle or window blinds or whatever because you don’t have what you need or what you have is no longer doing what you need, then yes, it certainly makes sense to buy green and take advantage of new technology. Go for it! Do your part! But if you already have something that’s doing its job and you replace it just to be “green” I think that’s whacked.
Or do you think I’m off base here?
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Shana Says:
You make some really interesting points, Shirley, and opened my eyes to a few things. I don’t think you’re off-base at all.
Just curious, how do you like using the cloth diapers? Any drawbacks? I have friends who swear by them and friends who say never. And I’m with you on the compact flourescent bulbs. They do not last, and isn’t there an issue with disposal? I use them, but I don’t know how to dispose of them.
Margo Maguire Says:
We’ve got a lot to learn about being truly green. My husband is a scientist and he just shakes his head at some of the things we’re focusing our attention on. Like bio-fuel. The studies show that even if we used ALL of our arable land for growing fuel-plants, it would provide about one-TENTH of the fuel we consume. (While raising food prices, of course).
RobynDeHart Says:
Recycling is frustrating where we live, especially moving here from Austin which is soooo green. But we have to pay to recyle stuff here so mostly we just try not to buy too many things that require recycling - like Coke cans/bottles and whatnot and then we try to reuse the stuff we do buy. We do the fluorescent bulbs and we replaced all the appliances in the house when we moved in with energy efficient ones - but I suppose it’s hard to find appliances not billed that way these days. We’d love a Prius, but while we’re a 1 car family we’ll keep driving our fuel efficient Matrix. My CP swears by cloth diapers and after seeing them they’re such an improvement from the diapers our parents had to use on us, way easier so we plan to use those someday. All in all we don’t do enough, but we try to do the little bit that we can.
Margo Maguire Says:
oh yeah - diapers! We used cloth ones with our three kids, but the question is whether or not you use more energy and cause more contamination to wash them than you do to use disposables.
Amy Addison Says:
I don’t think you’re way off base, and it’s why I sit on my hands to stop my rants about the “e-books are greener” argument.
Though I did just calculate that if I traded in my minivan/suv (crossover) vehicle for a Prius, I could make the payment, insure it and fuel the Prius for LESS than my current car payment.
Of course, I’d have to give up what is essentially a rolling living room and my kids would REVOLT.
So there would need to be a little extra money for mommy-therapy.
Amy Addison Says:
Both of my kids were in cloth. Regardless of the environmental impact of washing, etc., we’re still using many of their diapers as cleaning cloths….13 years after they were purchased. They’re starting to shred, and cloth diapers will break down in a small fraction of the time it takes paper diapers to biodegrade.
Good for you, Shirley.
Virginia H. Says:
I will have to say I am not good at these kinds of things. We do recycle our Coke cans but thats about it. We crush the cans and save them for a while and take them off. You can’t knock that because we got 75 dollars for them the last time we took them off. Every little thing helps. As far as my car goes it is 10 years old and I will drive it until it dies. It serves my purpose.
Dorothy Says:
Here in NY we pay deposit on our soda bottles so I return them for the money! I try to recycle my newpapers and such. I have recently gotten the reusable bags for the grocery store. So I’m trying. But I gotta say some places make it truly difficult to recycle. Maybe changing to all of those plastic bottles from the glass bottles we used way back wasn’t such a good idea. I’m just saying.
And Shirley, I don’t think you’re off base at all. Why replace something that is still perfectly good? Doesn’t make sense.
Shirley Karr Says:
I found research that proves it takes far less water, energy, etc. to produce cloth diapers and wash them than to make disposables, which take centuries to decompose in landfills since they aren’t exposed to oxygen necessary to degrade.
But I’m lazy in that we hired the diaper fairy, aka Tidee Didee. Every Thursday I put a bag of dirty diapers on the porch and poof! a few hours later it’s replaced by a bag of clean diapers.
If we were planning to have more babies it would be more economical to buy and wash them ourselves, but we’re too old and decrepit to go through this again, our washing machine is 13 years old, and it was a miracle we conceived this time. The clincher for us is that babies in cloth tend to potty train 12 months earlier (!) than those in disposables and have far fewer rashes. Daniel hasn’t had any rashes. We do use disposables on trips and when he spends the day at Grandma’s — dh won’t lug a bag of dirty diapers. In the days before Pampers, my dad considered any poopy diaper disposable when they were out and about.
Btw, I work part time for a truck manufacturer, and old cloth diapers are the first choice for polishing the trucks for photo shoots and tradeshows.
In WA we saved cans and bottles and took them to the recycler when we needed extra cash. Here in OR we pay deposits so we return them in batches and then blow the money on fun stuff like DVDs.
Amy - mommy therapy —
Amy Addison Says:
Shirley, I used a diaper service for a few months when #1 was born, but after that I did it all myself. It’s really not hard. Bucket of cold water to collect diapers during the day. Dump it all in the washer at night. Run a spin cycle. Run a short wash cycle (and go watch a program or something). Run a second cycle. Put in dryer. Go to bed. Wake up, dump diapers into basket (no need to fold!)
Repeat as needed.
Sarah Says:
One of the guys that I work with told his wife to not use cloth diapers because he didn’t want to have his clothes washed in the same washer as the diapers. And he didn’t want to buy another washer.
Men…
Shana Says:
Okay, just have to ask. What do you do with what’s in the cloth diapers (asuming it’s not liquid)? Do you just throw that in the washing machine?
limecello Says:
Good points, Shirley. I’m all for going green… but you’re right about the waste. I’m going to continue using what I have [like blinds etc] - until they need to get replaced. I think things people need to do would be conserve energy and water. People leave the shower running when they don’t need to - or faucets, turn out lights then leave the room. I know unplugging things also helps too, right?
I’ve been reading about the tree razing for years. Sad - apparently the paper industry plants more than they cut down, but they’re not the biggest problem.
Biofuel also isn’t as efficient as people say when you consider the process it takes to make it. Yet another problem, is what is most viable, or the best option often isn’t used, because of politics, policies and the such. Sad.
Shirley Karr Says:
Shana, I don’t know what Tidee Didee does but a former coworker used to pull on a pair of Playtex gloves and rinse the diapers in the toilet.
When we run short (Daniel hates, hates, hates to be wet so sometimes we go through a dozen or more per day) we wash the wet ones and leave the poopy ones in the diaper pail (which is actually a tall kitchen garbage can with a lid that pops up). TD supplies the bags and deodorizer discs. Unless someone forgets to put the lid down (*he* shall remain nameless) you can’t even smell them.
RobynDeHart Says:
Shana, what my CP does is she keeps a small trash can right next to her changing table and with the wipey she sort of pulls off the non-wet stuff.
And then she washes them in the washer. It’s really not that bad, I’ve watched her deal with them. She has two in diapers now (Shirley, heads up that whole potty training thing isn’t necessarily true, her 3 year old is still in diapers…) and she still only washes diapers every other day. They’re really way more user friendly than they used to be. Check out the new cloth diapers. http://diaperjunction.com/store/pc/
Amy Addison Says:
Shanna: you shake it into the toilet and flush. Seriously, once you’re a mother, Poop Management becomes a way of life. :yes:
Fedora Says:
Amen, ladies! Shirley, you made excellent points in your post today–as much as I believe in going as green as you can, it shouldn’t be by dumping perfectly usable things into the already overloaded trash system!
And we did cloth diapering, too, although we did go the diaper-service route, too. Our youngest finally potty-trained (at least for the day), so we’ve finally stopped paying the diaper service company after nearly eight years… Woohoo!!! (As for speed of training, I think it truly depends on the child–I don’t think the cloth diapering hurt, but my eldest held out until nearly 3 and a half, while #2 was completely done with diapers by 26 months, and #3 at around 30 months… best wishes!!)