Green Thoughts

I certainly consider myself environmentally conscious and would even go as far as saying that I am an environmentalist (as defined by Webster: : "an advocate of the preservation, restoration, or improvement of the natural environment").  I believe that we are experiencing global warming as the fate of our own choices and actions.  However, I'm not sure about the concept that this planet, which humans have inhabited for over two million years, is so rapidly approaching a level of destruction that will make it uninhabitable for relatively near-future generations. Some things about this theory don't sit completely right with me.  Regardless, I still try and do my part.  So below is a partial listing of things I am doing in favor of a greener planet and some things where I happen to draw the line at (though I remain open to rational discussion about change).  I encourage you to think about your own green efforts...where is your line?

For a greener planet, I ...

1. Drink tap water over bottled water whenever its an option
2. Reduce my trips in the car (combining shopping with work trips, etc)
3. Replace my light bulbs with CFLs and LEDs
4. Don't use paper plates or paper towels in my home
5. Reduce the use of phantom power by unplugging unused appliances and not leaving things like TVs and chargers in standby mode
6. Recycle as much as possible in the home and at work, including electronics, clothing, glass, paper, cardboard, etc.
7. Am in current negotiations with myself about building a patio composting system
8. Don't ever run heat in my house (lucky I live in a temperate climate for this one)
9. Plant CO2 absorbing plants on my patio
10. Eat lower on the food chain as much as possible

I don't, won't, etc ...

1. Take shorter showers.  5 minutes?  Really?  No thanks!
2. Stop eating meat. Uh, no!  While I agree that food production animals need to be raised under higher ethical standards, I don't really buy into the whole "highest producers of methane and nitrous oxide" theories.  Perhaps its from being raised in rural Nebraska where our livelihood was dependent on the meat eating of others.  And quite frankly I enjoy a good steak, hamburger, bacon, roast, etc.  Also, I don't drive an SUV...so I'll keep my 1lb of meat for each of your 40 SUV miles.
3. Use naturally biodegrading cat litter. I mean really. Do you understand what happens to corn fibers when they get wet?  And even knowing this (again from my rural Nebraska upbringing) I actually still tried this solution.  So, until there are other solutions to healthfully co-existing with my two cats in this area, I'll be sticking to the clay--sodium bentonite.  Yes, I understand that its strip-mined. However, I also understand that the biodegrading version doesn't actually biodegrade in our landfills when its inside of plastic bags or buried by tons of other garbage.  So what's to be done about it?

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Keeping It Real

Ok, I am a self-confessed “Reality” TV Junkie. And yes, I know that these shows have as much to do with reality as the GOP does with truth telling. Regardless, I can’t help myself. There are two DVRs in my home, which equals four hours of recorded television to every hour of the day. And my tastes run from the popular mainstream variety such as Amazing Race and Survivor to the significantly more obscure The Robert Verdi Show and Giuliana&Bill. My favorite must watch however, is Bravos’ Real Housewives series. Even the title of this series mockingly reinforces how the stars of these shows are anything but “real housewives.” Andy Cohen is smarter than that, he knows his business and gets that the last thing anyone wants to see is the reality of women schlepping around the house in sweat pants and a t-shirt with baby spit on it.

Like most of you, I grew up in middle-America. My mother was an actual housewife. She worked in the home raising three daughters until we were all old enough to get to and from school by ourselves. I, the youngest, was twelve before she began working outside of the home. Our house was clean, our clothes were washed, and dinner was on the table when my father walked in the door at night. She was the nanny, housekeeper, gardener, and chauffer. There were no day spas, limos, or Fred Segal’s in our neighborhood. So when I see Vicki (RH of OC) haranguing the other OC Housewives for not working outside of the home, I'm entertained and I laugh. Because even they don’t do the things ours and countless others’ mothers did and are doing to keep households functioning. And Vicki ‘s “real housewife at work” defense is about as slippery as the spray tanners and Botox injections she has done at her place of business (an insurance office). Yet, I’m obsessed. I watch them all, from the OC to NYC, NJ and the ATL. And I’ve dabbled in the viewing of their far inferior look-a-likes: Southern Belles, etc. I’m hooked, but for a reason far beyond pure entertainment value.

The absurdity of what is portrayed as their day-to-day life serves as a reminder of how happy I am in my life, to be living in this reality (egad, a lesson?). With the exception of one or two of these “stars,” who had irons in the limelight fire before being pulled into the “reality world,” these are just people. For some reason they feel a need to share a version of their life with us each week, which I and countless others eagerly anticipate and watch. Yes, they all tend to get carried away with what they believe is some new found level of importance, reaching a higher rung in some arbitrary hierarchy of popularity and significance. But that doesn’t bother me. We’ve all been known to “get a little big for our britches,” as my father would say. Instead, I draw from them a reminder that life is really all about being happy with who and where you are and striving each day to just keep it real.