19 responses so far ↓

• 1 tom // May 21, 2009 at 9:49 am

  I am a little of all of those.

  I am green by choice in the fact that I pay extra for recycling, buy “green” products at the grocery store, bought cloth bags for groceries, etc., and bought a “lunch box” to bring to work. The biggest way I pay to be green is through my electric bill, I pay an extra 15% to use only renewable energy through the PurePower program.

  I am green by default because, like you, I use CFLs, bought energy star appliances when in the market, have low flow plumbing fixtures, programmable thermostat all to save money.

  So, I try to be green when I can afford it, but it’s mostly due to cost savings.

• 2 LAL // May 21, 2009 at 10:58 am

  I prefer not to pay extra just for being green. However, being green usually has benefits that lower the costs.

• 3 Ginger // May 21, 2009 at 11:21 am

  I’m green by default.

  When I was a kid, our family went through some hard times. The things we did to save money (turn off lights, reuse containers, etc.) just happened to be more environmentally friendly, too.

  These ways of being green and frugal have stuck with me as I now live on my own. They work together quite naturally, in my mind.

  I will occasionally pay a little more for something environmentally friendly, assuming that the ROI is decent in the long term and that it is something practical for me to do.

  But like you, I look down my nose at those people who jump on the bandwagon and superficially “try” to be green. All they’re doing is contributing to the greenwashing that is going on everywhere and not really helping at all.

  Hopefully once being green is more of a way of life for the majority versus a trend we will see these people making more efforts and being more effective.

• 4 amy // May 21, 2009 at 2:06 pm

  I am green by default and convenience to me. I grew without much money and paid my own expenses, and years later, many of those frugal ways have stuck, and you know, they just seem sensible: turn the lights off, keep the heat low and wear a big cozy fleece, prepare meals from scratch instead of eating processed crap, buy in bulk when you can, use the energy-saving bulbs, drive small cars with a good reputation for reliability, live in a small house, hang clothes to dry when possible, color my own hair, go hiking instead of mindless shopping, blah blah blah, you all know the drill. Some of this stuff makes me a tree-hugging greenie (which I am) but mostly it just lets us have lots of extra money for recreation and travel and sends DH’s daughter to college with all her education expenses paid so she isn’t saddled with years of student loans. So yeah, we’re green. Living small is enjoyable, and let’s us live large in other ways that are more important than having a lot of stuff.

• 5 Meg from FruWiki // May 21, 2009 at 4:18 pm

  I consider myself to be pretty green and I certainly want to be do my part to help the environment, both locally and globally. For me, it comes rather naturally since I’m also interested in frugality, simple living, minimalism, treating animals humanely, improving my health, etc. and I find those things lead to less waste and less interest in things like throwing pesticides all over the front yard. And just buying less crap is one of the greenest things a person can do.

  I guess you could say that I’m a passive greenie, just like I’m a passive frugalite. I’m mostly green because of what I *don’t* do. For example, I don’t turn on the air as much as I used to and when I drive I am careful about not wasting fuel. I do spend more to get some greener products, but mostly I try to avoid products I don’t really need and make easy substitutions like using vinegar as glass cleaner.

  There are definitely a lot of “green” hypocrites out there, but a lot of people have their hearts in the right place even if they aren’t doing enough (self included). I think we should encourage whatever baby steps they’re taking and gently show them ways to be greener. I think a lot of people believe that you can’t be green unless you have lots of money to buy “green” products and/or are willing to feel deprived, but that’s just not true. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of guidance from mainstream media and, in fact, the media may be doing more to confuse people about what it takes to be green. Hopefully, though, people will stay interested in being green long enough to figure out how easy it can be.

• 6 Kristy @ Master Your Card // May 21, 2009 at 11:31 pm

  I guess I’m green by default, but I don’t go out of my way. I don’t recycle at home, though I should and probably will one of these days when I have the time to sit down and figure out how to go about it in my city. I don’t use the canvas bags at the store, but that’s only because I have cats and I haven’t figured out a “green” way to do the litter box. The cats are super picky about the litter, little brats! Gotta love ‘em! I do use CFLs, though because they last longer, they save me money on the electricity bill, and in truth, I like the fact that they’re not super hot to the touch when I change them out. The last one is something that probably shouldn’t be such a factor, but hey. I never said I was green all the time.

  I do recycle at work, though. We have a girl who’s very passionate about it, so I do it to please her mostly. It’s probably not something I’d do if she didn’t take such an active interest in it. But, I’m with you LAL…those who say they’re green and really aren’t a ridiculous. Posers jumping on the newest bandwagon…

• 7 fengshui // May 22, 2009 at 10:14 am

  I’m “green” for the most part, and sometimes I do pay more to be green. For example, I buy biodegradable trashbags. They are more. I think I pay $12 for 100 of them. But they are worth it. I REFUSE to use plastic unless absolutely necessary. I buy compact fluorescent bulbs even though they are more, etc. I do not drive a hybrid or anything like that, although I would if I could afford one. I would consider a biodeisel but the cost of biodiesel here is $5 a gallon…. I grow my own tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer. I also pay more for non-toxic laundry detergent and cleaning products. I try not to use any type of petroleum based products. I’m still surprised how many people have no clue that “traditional “laundry soap, dish soap and cleaning products are derived from petroleum. I use Seventh Generation and Mrs Meyers products (and they smell “clean and herbally” instead of “synthetic perfumy”. I almost get hives just from smelling the perfumy “normal” stuff at Target…..

• 8 fengshui // May 22, 2009 at 10:19 am

  In my city, we have MANDATORY recycling, and we’re also considering a plastic bag ban here. When we have city events, there are recycling containers everywhere. I love it that our city is so proactive about being green. And I don’t get why people need “trash can liners”…. I also think it looks kinda ghetto. I don’t line my trashcans. I just dump the small ones into the big one in the kitchen and wash them out when I need to….. ??? On trash day, we have like 1 bag of garbage in there and a whole barrel full of recycling. We recycle everything we possibly can, and we don’t have to sort it out, it all goes in one container. But, I do have to spend time rinsing and cleaning things out. It will end up in the trash if it isn’t clean, because the recycling center says that a dirty container can contaminate a recycling load

• 9 fengshui // May 22, 2009 at 10:40 am

  “go hiking instead of mindless shopping”

  GOOD IDEA!!! I’m going to work on this

• 10 Meg // May 22, 2009 at 10:52 am

  Most people aren’t green, and most green products aren’t even green – it’s largely marketing. Even many products/purchases which TRY to be green turn out not to actually be green due to all the different variables like manufacturing, transporting components, etc.

  Purchasing a new “green” appliance, for instance, especially when your old one is still in good shape is usually not actually a “green” move – because it can often take decades to recoup in energy savings the pollution and emissions it took to produce and transport the new product.

  Besides, anybody who tries to claim to be green and still eats meat is essentially a hypocrite. I love a good steak now and then, but the livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions derived from human-related activities, as well as 37 percent of methane emissions (more than all the cars in the world, by the way).

  In addition, livestock now take up 30 percent of the earth’s ENTIRE land surface and are one of the most damaging sectors to water resources – not only by consuming so much fresh water but by polluting it with runoff from feces, hormones, and antibiotics the cows are fed.

  Eating one less hamburger a week will do more for the environment than recycling, limiting showers to 5 minutes, and not ever driving a car COMBINED.

• 11 Meg from FruWiki // May 22, 2009 at 11:41 am

  @Meg

  I agree with you that buying new green products to replace old ones that still work is often more marketing than green. However:

  “Besides, anybody who tries to claim to be green and still eats meat is essentially a hypocrite. ”

  That’s a pretty strong accusation, don’t you think? More than that, I think that attitude is more part of the problem than part of the solution. Tell people, “Sorry, so long as you eat any meat you can’t be green” and a good many of them are going to say, “Then why the heck am I even trying if I’m never going to be green enough.”

  To me, green is a path, not a destination. It’s about motivation — not being perfect. And we need to be pointing people in the right direction without saying that they can never get “there”, wherever “there” is.

  And yes, I consider myself green-minded and I do eat meat. Call me a hypocrite if you want, but I find that I feel better when I have some meat in my diet, I find it easier to have a nutritious diet, and I don’t see anything wrong with eating meat in moderation.

  Besides, there are a lot of vegetarians out there that are hardly eating sustainably when they eat bananas shipped across the world and potatoes doused in pesticides. Vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore, few of us have a perfect diet and should be casting stones. And we should also be sensitive to the fact that some people are on special diets for medical/health reasons and don’t have as many choices.

  And I’m not convinced that vegetarianism is all that much greener than a flexitarian diet with moderate meat consumption — or even that people can’t eat meat sustainably. I’m definitely against factory farming, but there are ways to raise animals much more sustainably as people have been doing for thousands of years, particularly in places where it’s easier — and yes, even greener — to raise animals than it is to grow vegetables.

• 12 paranoidasteroid // May 22, 2009 at 11:51 am

  Meg hit the nail on the head when she said that it’s mostly marketing. People buy something “green” so they can feel better about not actually doing anything for the environment. And really, most of the environmental benefits of these products are questionable at best.

  Usually I say live and let live, but people who “go green” are usually so self-righteous about it. “Oh, my t-shirt is sustainable and yours isn’t, you must not care about the environment as much as me.” Then you find out that they commute 90 miles a day and have a 6 bedroom house with the air conditioner constantly running. Way to be green, baby.

  I’m not green, although I guess if I wanted to brag, I could. I only commute 16 miles/day, we have no heater or air conditioner in our house, and we carpool. Of course, I buy new clothes like there’s no tomorrow and sometimes my produce comes in plastic packaging. And if I had heat/air conditioning, I’d probably use them. So, no bragging rights for me!

• 13 LAL // May 22, 2009 at 3:32 pm

  It sounds like green is the new bandwagon. Just like buying the prius for the looks rather than the mileage.

• 14 Stacey // May 25, 2009 at 8:45 am

  Sorry, I’m late to the discussion! I had to comment on the baby diapers. We went through the whole disposable vs. cloth diaper drama with my friend, only to realize that they are essentially in green-ness. Yes, you throw away disposables – but you’re using large amounts of water and detergent every time you wash the cloth diapers. Trash is bad, I agree, but water is a precious resource – especially for someone on a well. We also use electricity to run our washer and dryer.

  I can see how cloth would really come out ahead if you have multiple children… but with just one child, it might not make much of a difference. It’s really just another marketing gimmick.

• 15 FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com // May 25, 2009 at 3:01 pm

  Green by choice, and fortunately, it has saved me more money in the process!!!

  Am def. using cloth diapers. To Stacey’s point, having all of your kid’s NON-BIODEGRADABLE plastic diapers filled with human feces and urine festering for decades in their plastic prison is more than enough for me to do the cloth diaper thing.

  And it’s not just ONE set of parents with one child. Millions in America do the disposable thing and it adds up. Would rather do the electricity + hot water + detergent thing, and use cold + no detergent on the rest of my stuff.

  Besides, it feels better on their butt. I’d hate to have a plastic prison on my ass if I were a baby… with chemicals to make them feel dry and seep into their baby-soft skin…

• 16 FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com // May 25, 2009 at 3:03 pm

  And I’d definitely NOT buy the Prius, start counting plastic waste etc… I guess I’m semi-green

  I try, probably a bit more than most, but I don’t waste time on little green efforts, and I do the big, sustainable ones like using plastic bags for groceries, or being careful about what I buy etc..

  But I wouldn’t give up Cadbury chocolate just because it came in a plastic wrapper. Just can’t.

• 17 LAL // May 25, 2009 at 8:01 pm

  But then Stacy with low flow washing and if you hang dry the diapers it might be cheaper.

  FB, the real reason so many people in the US don’t use cloth is daycare. If you use any sort of daycare they won’t do cloth. So you will have to use disposables.

  And yep if you have more than 1 child I can definitely see how it gets pricey.

• 18 Happy Money Medium // May 28, 2009 at 12:32 pm

  I compost to save on fertilizer, I use CFL bulbs to save on electricity, I recycle bottles and cans and paper because Chicago finally gave me a blue cart next to my normal trash cans, and I try to conserve natural gas because it’s expensive.

• 19 LAL // May 28, 2009 at 8:48 pm

  I think that conserving saves money in more ways than one.

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