There are a lot of people who think that being green is difficult or time consuming. But I have news for them. Despite what Kermit the Frog may say, it is easy being green. Not only is being green easier, it is more practical as well.

There are plenty of things that people do that is an inconvenience for them and it is also bad for the environment. Buying plastic silverware and dishes is just one example. It costs you much more money to continue to buy more and more plastic dishes and silverware. And those dishes and such that you have used go straight to the landfill to pollute the earth.

There are plenty of other examples, such as using too much water when bathing or running the faucet too much when you are washing your hands or letting the hose just run water while washing your car. These things will increase your water bill. Also, leaving the lights on in rooms that no one is in can increase your electricity bill as well as burn coal that will harm the environment. Making note of these things is both good for you and good for the planet.

What shade of green are you? If you look at what living green really is then you know there are all kinds of shades depending on “how green” you go. If all you do is replace your light bulbs with the energy saving kind of bulb then you are a light shade of green. If you walk or bike everywhere you go and eat only locally grown plants and animals, save your rain water and take a bath with recycled water you are a very dark shade of green. If you live in one of Michael Reynolds Earth Ships that is self sustaining and incorporates grow houses to grow your own food then you are so dark green you are almost black!

Very few of us stop to think what color green we really are and even fewer stop to think how far we would like to go. However, our world and the world of our children and grandchildren depend on us making decisions and commitments as to how green we are willing to go. To do this we will have to put our attitudes of entitlement behind us and get to work because being green requires us to get involved with our transportation, energy and food supplies, not to mention our water use. So what shade of green are you and how green do you want to go?

I recently sat in on a conference of Realtors that were talking about the use of green technologies in homes and how many people label things “green” when they are not. It seems that the term green or sustainable gets tossed around like a badge of honor but the reality is that there are a lot of products on the market and are being labeled as good for the environment that really are nothing more than high dollar add-ons; especially to the uneducated homebuyer. Since I am not a Realtor and am just an interested bystander, it was very disheartening on one hand to see that this was such as issue, yet very encouraging on the other hand that there were those who were policing, if you will, builders who don’t know what they are talking about!

Green is not a religion, not a political party (though there is a Green Party) and it is not a phase that will be going away. Instead, it is a way of life that simply asks that we do what we can; our part to make our world a better place. If that means growing some or all of your own food, using less gasoline, hanging your clothes outside instead of using a dryer so be it. Whatever you can do, do it. Green is also not about a “look”. If you dress like a hippy or wear a three piece suit, you can and should educate yourself about what is and what isn’t considered energy efficient or energy star quality, or at the very least, hire a consultant who does know the difference.

In a recent conversation about what is in the processed food we eat the question of illnesses was brought up. While this conversation cannot be considered as scientific research, the perspectives offered does make for some interesting conversation. It seems like there are a lot of baby boomers that have illnesses such as different kinds of cancers and MS or Parkinson’s disease not to mention the rise in Alzheimer cases. If you look at processed foods there is a correlation with the baby boomers as they are the first generation to have access to a lot of processed food.

However, there are other factors that may come into play here as well like to fact that people are living longer than ever before because of improved healthcare and medications as well as the discovery of diseases that were once just labeled dementia. What is not clear is this; are these diseases exacerbated by processed food? My gut tells me yes if only because my body behaves totally differently when I eat natural, good whole foods instead of processed, packaged foods. It is only because of that experience that I feel I can say anything at all. However, it would be good to know if the scientific facts were there to back up that feeling.

Most of the time I am of the opinion that buying a storage shed means that you just buy too much stuff. But, thanks to a friend, I began to look at that judgement in a different light. My friend just downsized and moved into a new smaller home (for some very green reasons; less energy, less consumables needed, etc.) and in the process, she bought a large shed. I was a little dumbfounded, since this friend puts me to shame in living out her green ideals. Her answer was one I had never considered.

“The shed lets me store things that would usually be kept in closets and attic space in my larger house, but this way I don’t have to pay for heating or cooling the space that they occupy, and it keeps my carbon footprint smaller.”

Duh. It totally makes sense. Why do you need to heat or cool all your closets and spare bedrooms (read: junk rooms)? For the fist time in my adult life, I went and looked at sheds online tonight.

Every once in a while you hear something that is so profound, so thought worthy that you have to give it it’s due. I have just returned from dinner with friends and one of them, who is very conservative and can give you good, valid, well thought out arguments for why not to get caught up in the environmental conversation, said he was going green. Well I almost coughed up my organic baby spinach salad! Of course, we all waited to hear his reasoning, or at least his concession that the environment is in fact being overrun by chemicals, etc. when he said; “If people like me go green, maybe we can then just all shut up about it.”

So here’s my thought; we need a new ad campaign that says something like this; “If you’re tired of hearing about going green then just do it; it will go away faster and you won’t ever have to hear about it or deal with it again”. You may laugh or scoff at the notion but I believe there are a lot of people who just want to get on with it already! If we all get together and just get it done and make it happen, we will also either prove or disprove the environmental impacts of the way we live our life. If you’re one of the people who would like the conversation to stop, then go ahead and go green!

There is a growing movement to buy your food locally from local farmers and going to restaurants who also buy local. Most people think the reason behind this movement is the organic foods movement.  However, many locally grown food stuff is not organic so you will need to ask if you are looking for certified organic food. The main reasons buying locally is a great idea is to support your local economy as well as cut down on greenhouse gases from transportation of foods from outside sources.

Buying a tomato grown in your neighborhood means it doesn’t have to be trucked in and you can see, how over time, this is a great saver in emissions. It can also be a great saver on your pocketbook as well.  Consider the fact that the transportation has to be paid for and you can see how prices can go sky high to truck those items in. If it’s grown within a fifty mile radius, you are not paying to have it brought to you. Another benefit is the taste of the food! When you buy local you purchase the food when it’s ripe. Food that is trucked is picked way before it ripens and you can tell by the taste.  Bottom line is you will be well rewarded by buying food locally.

Organic gardening is not easy. Pests and underfertilization are just two of the many problems facing a gardener wanting to go it greener. But I have discovered that organic vegetable gardening is much easier with the help of a cedar raised bed. I am thrilled with the yield I’m getting this year already, and it’s only May. Pests, many of which have a natural aversion to cedar, seemed to miss my tender young seedlings altogether this year.

And the number of plants I was able to pack in to this raised bed is nothing short of crowded. But lest you think that I didn’t provide enough space, relax: that’s another known fact about container and raised bed gardening; you can plant your plants much closer together, and thus maximize your space usage.

I think this is the first year I will have been able to say that I went organic all the way, from planting to harvest, and I do not believe it has been any harder than the usual in-ground gardening I do. In fact, I think it’s been easier so far! Updates to follow.

You could say that saving energy is one way to go green but it’s not the only thing that you can do to live a green lifestyle.  It is obvious that it is in the best interest of the individual and the environment that we do all we can to save energy.  However, as we transition from one energy source to another it is important to have a long view and make sure we aren’t moving from one environmental hazard to another.  Case in point is going to electric cars.  While it is great for cutting back on greenhouse gases we must make sure we can either reuse the batteries or dispose them in a clean way so we don’t end up spewing toxins into ground water, oceans and soils through dumping these batteries in landfills, etc.

The best way to look at the energy situation as well as living green is through the eyes of sustainability.  This is looking for ways where we can accomplish what we need to accomplish with as little impact as possible on the environment or the pocketbook that can be sustained no matter what.  A very simple example is to trade your clothes dryer for a clothes line.  The dryer is traditionally one of the greatest energy drains in a household and throws all kinds of particles into the air.  Using a clothes line to dry your clothes takes that energy drain off the grid as well as improves your local air quality.  While it may take more work, the benefits are great.  This is the optimum of what to look for when looking for ways to live green.

It may sound like you are returning to the days of your great grand parents but I promise you that you aren’t.  What you are doing is saving some money on your electric bill since your clothes dryer is most likely the number one electricity burner in your home!

Another thing this will do for you is get you out of the house and in the sunshine for 10 to 15 minutes a day and allow your skin to absorb some much needed vitamin D, which is quickly becoming deficient in many Americans lives.  I promise you that it won’t take long until you are actually enjoying the process.  At our home, we just didn’t replace the dryer when it broke.  We went and spent less than $15.00 on a retractable clothes line and hung it from our shed out back to our back door.  I watch the weather and we do laundry year round and hang it outside.  Our electric bill at it’s highest is far below our neighbors and the only thing we can attribute it to is we no longer use a dryer and at me last doctor’s appointment I have a healthy vitamin D level!