In a previous post this week, why don’t people live green?, I asked if anyone had a clue about why so many people don’t live green, or greener. What’s stopping people from going green? After putting that question out as a general ponder and as a question to readers I also asked my best friend, my sister, my guy Dave, Cedar my son, and put it out as a question on Facebook as well.

Tomorrow we’ll look at what everyone else had to say (I got some excellent answers) but first we’re going to take a look back at what I’ve …read more

This weekend I decided to look at all the best reasons why you shouldn’t bother going green. In case you missed any of these anti-green excuses, now is your chance to catch up…

I don’t matter
Global warming is a crock
Going green is too expensive
I’m not a damn hippie
I don’t have time
I have no idea where to start

Can you think of any other good reasons not to go green?
[image via stock.xchng]

Getting started is the easy part of green, if you know where to look.
The best advice is to start small and incorporate green activities naturally into your world.
Basic ideas to get your brain pumping:

10 Super Tiny Baby Green Steps You Can Take
How Kids Can Make A Difference: Saving the Planet from A to Z
100 Ideas for Your Green Family
Five Great Green (and Easy) New Years Resolutions
Free Green Home Poster

A few good books that will help you:

Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home
It’s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living
Wake …read more

I’m going to make this short and sweet. Yeah you do.
Don’t believe me? It takes under five minutes to…

Unplug an appliance.
Hang your towel
Scrape a plate.
Recycle a toilet paper tube.
Whip up a kitchen face scrub.
Pass up toxic cleaners at the store – just keep on walking.
Switch to a LED light bulb.
Make an entire batch of homemade ice pops.
Choose organic milk over conventional.
Take your own bag to the store.
Grab a reusable cup.
Conserve water.

Even if you did all of this above today, your grand total of time spent would be well under an hour.
In my opinion, the bigger green steps don’t always …read more

Here’s the deal; just because you believe in green living doesn’t mean you need to move into a tree, co-op housing, or an off-grid home. You don’t have to wear peace buttons and amber oil, grow dreads, or smoke the green stuff.
I think there’s a collection of people who think that green means a specific fashion or lifestyle is required, or that if they live green, people will assume they’re into this kind of stuff. The truth is that anyone can or cannot live green. Trust me, I lived in hippie Humboldt land, and not everyone was all that green. …read more

All expenses in the world have leverage and many expenses are choice orientated. Not trying because you think it’ll be too expensive is not a great excuse to ignore green living. If you need help getting over this issue, we discuss it all the time here:

Organic Food Costs Rise – 11 Ways to Save Money on Organic Food
How Green Living Saves You Money: Napkin Example
Why Does Being Green Cost So Much?
Raising Green Kids In A Commercial Culture
Kids & Shopping – How Kids Can Be Smart Consumers
As a parent, do you understand the impact of the need for stuff?

If you’re …read more

So what if it is?
Frankly I’m tired of this excuse. Yeah it might be a crock, but it’s a lame excuse to use to avoid green living.
Green living is so much more than the global warming issue. True green living supports local economy, fair employment, resource and nature preservation, healthy bodies, and much more. Green living will ensure we don’t live in a concrete jungle void of trees and allows us to learn how to keep dangerous toxins out of our homes and kids.
To flip with global warming. Don’t believe, believe, do what you like, but it’s really a moot …read more

With the new year almost upon us, many folks are thinking, “Hey, this will be the year I try to live a little greener.” Others will say, “What a waste of time.” There are hundreds of excuse why someone can’t or won’t go green. That said, I’ve decided we’ll have an anti-green weekend before 2009 arrives. This weekend we’ll look at five reasons why you really shouldn’t bother with green living.
This weekend, I’ll post six of the most common excuses I’ve heard over the years. Starting with…
I’m just one person so it’s not like I’ll make that big a difference:
Actually, …read more

A recent slew of high-cost organic food articles have been making the rounds lately. There’s a good one at Newsweek; but many others of the same type all over.
I agree that organics are insanely high when compared to conventional, but we’ve talked about this before, and your family can eat organic; maybe not on the cheap, but organic foods can be surprisingly affordable using some basic tactics.
1. Don’t shop at Whole Foods. I wish I had a nickel for each “Whole Foods is too expensive” reference I see in organic food articles. Well then, don’t shop there. Currently, they’ve created …read more