How to solve green problems your way
July 2, 2009 by Jennifer
If you and your family are going green, it’s important to note that there may not be just one solution for all the green issues your family faces.
There are shades of green, and the point is to not only find the shade that suits your family but the shade you’ll stick with. For example, I don’t think anyone should use disposable grocery bags. There’s plenty of reasons why you shouldn’t that make sense to most people. However, where it gets sticky is when it comes to choosing the bags you’ll be shopping with. Should you choose recycled organic cotton bags from a well known eco company (my choice) or go with reusable heavy plastic bags (reusable but still a plastic, so not perfect) or those bags from the store that don’t last as long (reusable, but not for as long as say, hemp or cotton). One green decision turns into many.
The answer to the above question is going to depend on your family. I won’t use those store made reusable bags because I think it’s lame that they’re not made to last. I do however like them a lot more than totally disposable bags. Some people only use store reusable bags and that’s still a much smarter green choice than disposable.
Another example is the water bottle issue. We all know disposable water bottles are bad news. Plenty of us have reusable water bottles. On the flip side some folks use filters (of which very few are recyclable) or have water delivered which creates energy drains. IF you’ll only use a reusable water bottle if you can fill it with filtered water it’s not as green a choice as tap water, BUT it’s so much better than buying disposable water bottles.
You have to choose a shade of green you’ll actually use. If someone is bugging you because you’re not using the sort of bags they think are the greenest, ignore them. Your shade of green is better than none especially if it works for you.
Small choices your way is a good way to start getting green. To see some small changes you might be interested in making check out:
Baby green steps that any family can do…
The small steps series here at THF
[image via stock.xchng]