When we think of living green, we think of living clean; clean air, clean water, clean environment. But those who truly want to live green must be prepared to tolerate filth.
Saving energy means sacrificing some of the modern conveniences we take for granted. Dishwashers are notorious energy and water wasters. People use them because they are more convenient and supposedly more sanitary. Sanitation be damned! Do the dishes by hand. Vacuuming once a week is a no-no. Once a month is all you need (between times, just pick up the crumbs and lint by hand). Ditto washing your car; do it by hand and no more than once a month.
Small loads of laundry are also not allowable in a green lifestyle. Wait until you have a full load. Do laundry during off hours of peak energy use; in the middle of the day or night. And don’t just wear your clothes once and throw them in the laundry basket. You can change your socks and underwear every day, but wear the same shirt or pants two or three days a week. Don’t change your sheets every week, do it every other week. Don’t use a fresh towel every time you shower.
Here’s one that grosses out pretty much everyone I know; use a cloth handkerchief instead of paper. Carrying around a boogerfilled hanky in one’s purse or pocket was perfectly acceptable until Kleenex came along. Now it’s looked upon with disgust. My granddaughter calls my kerchief a “snot blankie.”
Here’s another gross idea; don’t flush your toilet every time you pee. Flush after the third or fourth pee. As the saying goes; “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down,” proving that even Greens have their limits on grossness.
That’s the dirty side of green, now here’s the dark part. When you walk from room to room in your house during the dimness of the morning or evening hours, don’t flick on the lights, just let your eyes adjust. You don’t need bright light for the few seconds it takes to retrieve your sweater from the bedroom closet. Living green isn’t just about replacing incandescent bulbs with energy efficient fluorescents; it’s about using them less.
The point is, if you really want to do your part to protect the environment and conserve resources, you must do more than recycle newspaper and drive a Prius. You must unapologetically allow your car and your carpet to remain dirty, your pee to remain in the toilet and your lights to remain off. Yeah it’s disgusting and inconvenient. It’s not clean, but it’s green!
Sue,
I really y respect your dedication. I’m personally not passionate about the environment, so I act more out of obligation then out of passion. This is what I keep talking about, personally acting on passion instead of forcing others too. Good job, and it’s inspiring.
Thanks. Everyone is called in different ways to different causes. That’s what makes the world go round.
Sue:
Very much encouraged after reading you blog (The Dark and Dirty Secrets of Living Green) where you allowed and admonished,
“You can change your socks and underwear every day…”, I saw a very transparent, majorly hot babe walking down the street in Aspen, and I personally thanked her for her for “green” awareness for not wearing socks or underwear.
I think I like this green thing.
No socks or underwear. Great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?
In fact, how about we forgo clothing altogether? That would really save energy!
Might get a little chilly around here in the winter though…
I believe it was singer Sheryl Crow who wrote:
I remember thinking at the time that I wasn’t sure limiting the number of toilet paper squares would achieve the effects Ms. Crow hoped for, but it certainly would curb the practice of shaking hands.
As for apparel… Some of us should and do consider clothing not only a courtesy, but a profoundly humane public service.
Cheers,
So clothing is sort of like hair dye and make-up: it disguises the truth?
That reminds me of something I forgot to include in my dark and dirty secrets. For the sake of the environment (and the truth) don’t dye your hair, and if you must use make-up, save it for special occasions and try to use products with natural ingredients that are not tested on animals.