Eco-guilt

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Yup, green is important these days. You can't read anything without learning more about how screwed we are environmentally. It's starting to freak me out. I tried reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded, and the anger and fear it engendered made me put it down only a quarter of the way through. I just can't be that unhappy, that disappointed in the human race. It was wrecking me.

My workplace has a battery recycling bin. I've been very diligent about it, and it makes me feel a bit better. However, we don't have a normal recycling program at my condo complex. People in apts/condos are not recycling, at least in CA. All of our stuff goes into the trash bin. Or rather, all of our stuff goes into the landfills.

It's bugging me. We have one of those coin dispensing recycling things at the local market but I know I'm not going to make an effort if it's just select items. It's not about refund value. I don't think there's anywhere to drop off mixed recyclables.

My impulse is to find out about what I can do to get recycling into complexes. It's ridiculous that so many homes don't have this service. I've called our HOA before and they said it would cost more money, so we don't have it. I suppose I could go make a case with the HOA.

These are just my recycling worries. My power-using, gas-guzzling, buy-local worries are just as pressing. Is anyone else as worried as I am? Bringing my own bags to the market only does so much to make me feel better.

[Nephythys]

no- because I firmly believe that nothing is as bad as we are told and most fear mongering is designed to change our life styles out of a desire to control- not conserve.

We can be good stewards of our enviornment without fear and worry and guilt.

[BarTopDancer]

Waste disposal companies seperate and recycle at their facilities - at least Rainbow and WM do. We have a recycle dumpster in my complex but people put regular trash in it and I've watched them dump it in the same trash truck as the regular dumpsters.

I save my bottles and cans and bring them back. The recycle place right by my office and it takes about 5 minutes. I've made back $40 over the last year (I also take my friends bottles and cans). I also use a washable water cup and sturdy picnic plasticwear I picked up awhile back for lunches at work. 5 forks and knives a week * 52 weeks a year = 520 plastic utensils being put in the trash a year, per person. That's not counting spoons or plastic cups.

Fearmongering or not, we only have finite space on this planet.

[Strangler Lewis]

If the conservation movement can reduce the number of moms rolling up to school in a Hummer or monster SUV with their one child and swaggering out carrying a handgun, it will be a cultural positive.

Speaking of fear mongering.

[alphabassettgrrl]

SL- I'm with you there.

I won't buy into the propeganda, but I do recognize that some of the green stuff is valid. I try to reduce how much stuff we buy (and throw away), I bring my own waterbottle instead of buying disposable bottles, we try to reduce the number of miles driven and to make our car trips as efficient as possible. Many of our miles here in town during good weather are done by bike, instead of driving. That hits both the paying-for-gas thing, and the going-to-the-gym thing.

I try to live the efficient, frugal life that I wish more people would do. I don't need to keep up with Beverly Hills. Talking to other people is the next thing; if people see us passing up buying things, maybe they'll do the same.

Our economy is built on BUY BUY BUY and it's ultimately unsustainable- that leads to high debt, low wealth, and lots of trash in landfills. I'm not sure what the overall solution is, but I know that I just can't fall in line with mindless consumerism. Our society and economy are probably going to have to change, honestly.

[Alex]

I will admit that I haven't made any huge sacrifices but we try to make the obvious relatively easy choices.

We use CFLs. We live in the space we need rather than the space we can afford (we need a 700 sq. ft. apartment, we don't need a 3,000 sq. ft. house). We bought the most fuel efficient car that fills 90% of our driving needs rather than a car that can accommodate the other 10% (when those 10% arise most of the time we can manage -- you'd be amazed how much Ikea furniture we once crammed into a Festiva and still managed to get us both in the car to drive home -- and if we can't then we rent something for the specific use). We moved so that it is not necessary for either one of to commute to car by work (Lani can walk to work in three minutes; I can get there with public transit in a way that isn't horribly slower than driving). Temperatures have to reach significant extremes before we use heat or AC (our internal apartment temperature is generally well into the 90s before we turn on AC and we haven't yet used the heater since moving into our current place). We don't use fireplaces even when we have them.

But we do other things that we really shouldn't. We could do a lot more to shorten the transportation chain on our foods with just a little bit more effort. We eat too much pre-packaged manufactured food. We pretty much have three computers running 24/7. I buy three 20 oz. bottles of soda (diet) a day because that actually reduces my consumption over buying aluminum cans in bulk (or not drinking it in the first place). We've been told the garbage company that collects at our apartment handles recycling on their end so we made no real recycling efforts.

[tracilicious]

I don't think it's fearmongering. I actually think things are much worse than we think they are. But all I can do at this point is live as green a life as possible. Our condo doesn't recycle either. And I use our plastic bags for dog poop, so I'm not using green bags either. But we try to buy less and buy local, reusable bottles, etc.

One thing we're doing this year is giving extended family experiences instead of objects. My sis's family is getting zoo tickets. I think my little bro will get a massage certificate, etc.

[JWBear]

700 sqft?! I think Bill and I would end up killing each other if we had to cram into a space that small! Our current place is 1550 sqft, and it's just perfect for us.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by JWBear

700 sqft?! I think Bill and I would end up killing each other if we had to cram into a space that small! Our current place is 1550 sqft, and it's just perfect for us.

I think the biggest place we've ever lived was a 980 sq. ft. two bedroom apartment. Our last move was actually a smaller place than we had before.

Oh, one other change, since I got my Kindle in May I have read exactly one book printed on paper (The Watchmen which is entirely Kindle unfriendly). So I'm no longer contributing to paper use for books. I must admit that in the second Twilight book, where there are four pages that are essentially left blank (I'm assuming since I was reading it electronically) my first thought was "how many millions of pages of paper were wasted for a bit of artistic flair." Having converted, I look forward to the day that paper printing is akin to the lingering vinyl LP market. That is, an artifact channel rather than a distribution channel.

[Nephythys]

controlling behavior through fear is mental and emotional terrorism-

modifying our behavior through responsible behavior and conscientious (sp) choices is appropriate