Going Green: How Practical Can It Be?

Next is what do we buy? Where do we buy it? One of the current catch-phrases is “food miles”, which refers to the distance food must travel before we can purchase it. The farther an item has to travel, the more transportation costs must be associated with it. For example, if you buy a quart of milk from a grocery store in the U.S., it has probably been picked up from the farm in a tanker truck, transported to the processing plant where it is pasteurized, then the bottled product may be taken to a warehouse, from which it will be then dispatched to a grocery store, purchased by you and taken home in your personal choice of transportation. If you are fortunate enough to live near a dairy that does its own processing, you may be able to cut down on the number of miles your glass of milk travels before you can drink it. When I was a child, my milk traveled from the barn to the house. It is hard to keep a cow in your back yard if you live in the city, however.

Gardening is a little more possible for city dwellers. Food plants can be grown in window boxes, flower beds or a little lawn space can be given up for gardening. Lettuce, snow peas, and tomatoes are excellent home-garden choices. A shady canopy of beans can be as lovely as a bower of ivy—and a lot tastier. If you have a brown thumb, or just no time for growing your own, shop as local as you possibly can.

A lot has been said about alternative heating fuels; many folks recommend a return to good, old wood heat. For the modern working person, a wood burning heater isn’t real practical. Most homes these days have running water. That plumbing needs to be kept at a reasonable temperature, or sure as frost in autumn, you are going to have repair bills. I lived for seven years in a house heated by wood. The place had no plumbing, and we hauled our water from town. I tell you for real and for true, it is a hard thing to come home after a long day at work, pack tanks of water down the hill, start a fire and shiver while the house warms up. Call me effete if you will, but I like a house that stays a reasonable temperature.

Having said that, a wood burner that supplements a thermostatically controlled heater of some sort can be a real blessing in savings on the old fuel bill—and cut down on your fossil fuel consumption. Under that same heading, good insulation will save dollars, fuel, and emissions.

Solar heat, solar electricity and wind power have gotten a lot of attention recently. Producing your own go-juice for your home isn’t a bad idea; but it isn’t as easy as calling up the local utility company, and getting hooked into the grid. It means messing around with batteries, diodes and control panels. It also means a sizable up-front investment in equipment that can be a real stumper for most people.

Living frugally ecologically and economically isn’t a bad plan. But before you go jumping onto this particular band wagon, it’s a good idea to do a lot of reading and research—and stick a good amount of cash into savings before you start trying it out in the real world.