New Years Greenollutions

I was watching an episode of Thirty Rock the other day. Tina Fey's character had just purchased a pair of jeans from this high class hipster store, promoting fair trade and green-o-nomics. Her punch line about said pants, was that they would "make up for all the times I took a long hot shower because I was bored!" (As it turned out, the store was owned by Haliburton, and the 'hand made in usa' on the label meant that the jeans had been made by a community of people called the hands, in country who's name was pronounced 'oosa.')

This hits the funny bone of most people, I think, because most of us live a day to day give and take of conservationism. After all, we can't all live textbook minimalist lives, so we balance our green consciences sort of like our checkbooks. We ride our bike to work one day, to make up for leaving the lights on the night before, or we make sure we use reusable grocery bags, because we just can't go without our daily coffee in that hypnotically appealing and wasteful to-go cup. It's these little hypocrisies that make us human. (I'm currently eating a vegan sandwich out of a disposable plastic container. )

We are creatures of habit. I'm sure we all have a few good habits and a few destructive ones. With that in mind, I thought I would offer up on ongoing discussion to you bloggers out there.

Name three good green habits you have, and three you might be afraid to confess to the hippie nearest you. In the spirit of approaching New Year's Resolutions, perhaps we can exchange some ideas, and inspire each other to try, just a little bit more, to keep the world around longer. I'll kick it off, and expose my dirty laundry. (Which I am about to run through a water hogging washing machine, and energy sucking dryer.)


The Wicked:

1. Water Bottle Addicted- I have a problem, in plastic form.
   
2. Hot Showers- long ones. Can't get enough, sometimes twice a day.
3. Paper Towel Insanity- Haven't made that leap of buying cloth napkins and cleaning rags. It's silly, but I can't' make a decision on ones I like.
   

The Win:

1. Reusin': Taking old butter, peanut butter, Tahinni, and any other sturdy disposable plastic or glass container, and making in to my new Tupperware. It may be cheap, but it's also pretty good for the environment.
   
2. Buying locally grown, organic produce: Easy on the pocket book, fun, and environmentally friendly. You avoid putting more pesticides in the air, and create less of a need for large, polluting trucks to drive 300 miles to bring you a head of broccoli, if you walk down to your local farmer's market or co-op.
   
3. CAR-bon: Carpooling, biking, walking, and public transportation. It's good for you, your community, and the earth. (It's okay if the real reason for it, is that cars are really FREAKING expensive. No one has to know that. )
   

So, there's a starter. Hopefully, this topic inspires you (ehem) thousands of readers of ours out there to see the green light. Or maybe just pick one bad habit to get rid of. Who knows. I should mention that you can't say 'I recycle' as one of your green good deeds. We've all been recycling since the eighties. It's old news, guys.

If you find you come up short on your good deed list, come in to Bambu Batu for some green living ideas. We have everything from compost pales, to reusable sporks, to help you get to that next step. We can do it. Together. Oh, we have reusable water bottles on the way? Check.