Going Green?

Something strange is happening to me! I am suddenly feeling the need to “Go Green”! The problem is I can’t figure out what the Go Green people and the media think I should be doing. I have always done the “Green” thing. My philosophy has always been waste not, want not, I have always conserved.

I rode a bike back in the days when riding a bike was seen as a weird thing to do. The socially progressive people would honk and yell at me to get a car or to get off the road, the same people who today drive SUV’s with Go Green bumper stickers on them. I have always recycled, planted trees, had my own garden, turned off lights when I left a room, turn off running water and reused instead of discarded. Not because I was told to, because I was taught to waste not, want not. I was raised to be conservative with the resources I have and to value and appreciate what the earth has given. I have always conserved.

Lately, I can’t listen to the radio, read a news paper or watch television without some advertisement or someone telling me I have to Go Green. What is that? And why are we suddenly calling it Green? When it is really just conserving and taking care of what you have. I am happy to see people are starting to realize the importance of taking care of our natural resources. It is good to see people are taking more responsibility and being mindful of the amount of waste we produce. It is about time we as a species started to clean up after ourselves, after all we are the caretakers of this planet, no other species has the ability to do it. It is better to save, than waste!

For those of you who are new to the Go Green idea, the idea of taking care of our earth has been around for a long time. Being environmentally conscience has been a way of life for many individuals even before it became the social thing to do. We were green long before it was called Go Green, before the media and the Government told us; it is what we should do. We are the ones you thought of as boring, conservative and cheep. We were the tight wads, money misers and the ones concerned with the garbage littering our street and parks. We were the crazy people who walked around with garbage sacks picking up the garbage progressive minded people left behind after their peace, love and freedom parties. We were the ones those of you who were on the fast track to life mocked for riding our bikes. We are the ones you snubbed or for choosing to reusing instead of always having to buying new. 

Now that being mindful of our environment and using our resources wisely is no longer being referred to as conserving, a lot more than just the name has changed. Going Green is costing the American people a lot of Green.  It has become another way for our Government and big businesses to get into our pockets. We are now being told to buy “this” and trade in “that” so we can replace it with this new and “greener” item or product. If only we could lose the Go Green slogan and go back to calling it what it really is conserving. We would save our planet, live cleaner lives and we would all have a lot more “Green” in our pockets!