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Mom's List of Things That Are NOT Green

Some ideas just don't help. Check this list to make sure you aren't doing something that is either not worth doing or possibly counterproductive. Some of these may seem a little 'tongue-in-cheek', but I'm just giving you something to think about. This is a list of things to not worry about! Does your Mom love you or what?

Cars:
Unless you drive a lot more than average, replacing your old gas guzzler with a nice shiny new high-mileage vehicle won't help the environment in the short term. Unless it's wrecked, someone else will start driving your old gas hog. Getting a more efficient car is a good idea, and it will help eventually down the line, but to do this "to help the environment" won't have an effect for years. Get the most efficient car you can and keep bugging your lawmakers to stop the 'bigger is better" mentality. Now, if you were to send your old car to the crusher...that would help!
Another myth from the mechanic is how much gasoline is saved with a new oil and air filter. I can't track any difference, and I can't find someone who can.

Doing "Just ONE Thing":
I have seen TV ads and web sites dedicated to doing "just one thing" to go Green. They tell us if 200 million people did just one thing we would save, bla, bla, bla. Well, that ain't gonna happen. Going Green involves changing our life styles with not just one step, but one step at a time. Some of these steps may take a generation to change, but "just one" isn't going to get us there unless there's a next step.

Electricity:
I hear much about "phantom power" which is the electricity used by all the little battery chargers, printers, scanners, TV's and those things that you think are "off" but are really still drawing a little power. I found that to be very little, especially when you have mostly Energy Star rated devices. After unplugging things to make sure they didn't use any power, I was disappointed that there was almost no savings. Instead, I was inconvenienced by remotes that wouldn't work and electronic gear that took too long to warm up.

Ethanol (Biofuels):
This is not yet the ideal replacement for high-priced oil. If producers make products like ethanol and take food production facilities off line, we're only hurting ourselves. We need to find larger sources of waste products to turn into biofuels. In Brazil they switched to ethanol-type fuels because of all the organic matter available, supposedly from deforestation. They didn't need to switch from food production. Corn squeezin's, No...corn stalks, Yes.

Light Bulbs:
There are a few light fixtures in your house where Compact Florescent Lights won't help. A room that you go in for just a few seconds, like a pantry or closet, is still a good place for a good old fashioned incandescent light bulb. The florescent may not fire up fast enough, and the short time the light is on isn't enough to gain the benefits of florescent savings. Actually, florescents require a short burst of energy to get started which means they are less efficient than incandescent when used for less than a minute. This is a good place to use up all those old bulbs that are piling up in the basement.

Manual Transmission:
Automatic transmissions in new cars are more efficient than before, and they now shift more efficiently than manually shifting. The only people who can do better with a manual transmission are those who always pay attention to the exact time to shift. They do save you money in the initial purchase, but I have replaced more clutches than automatic transmissions.
Switching to a Laptop:
I found a web site that recommends switching your computer to a laptop because it uses less energy than a desktop. I don't agree. Your desktop can be set to go to sleep and other options that use less energy. But even more important, laptops use rather large and potentially polluting batteries. Users typically buy a new battery every year or so and toss the old one in the trash. Desktops are more readily recycled and won't add as many toxic metals to the landfill.

Warehouse Stores:
The stores themselves, Costco, Sam's Club and the like, are fine. They have efficient lighting and stuff. It's what they encourage us to do. First, many of us actually end up buying larger quantities than we can really use, consuming more, and spending more money, not less. Second, larger quantities mean more waste. It's true you might buy one large box of items, but just as often, one box contains many more small boxes, forcing us to deal with almost twice as much packaging. And third, we forego shopping bags and take out our purchases in those large store boxes, which, along with the cartons that enclose the smaller boxes, are normally recycled by other retailers who have efficient cardboard recycling capabilities. It's harder for us to recycle those large boxes, so often those big boxes just end up in our trash. These stores can recycle their cardboard more efficiently than we can. We feel lucky these stores let us carry our stuff out in these boxes, when, in reality, we're disposing it for them.
Whining:
Until you get rid of your gas-guzzling SUV or stop using your air conditioning 24/7, you have NO right to complain! It isn't the Arabs, the oil companies or the government causing the high price of energy, it's those of us who refuse to admit we are the problem. If it's you, stop whining, and if it's your neighbors, take pity on them. As long as you try to do things right, there is room for an exchange of ideas. But if you're driving an oversize vehicle back and forth to work, you've lost your ticket to the debate. Of course, if you choose to get 12 mpg and it gives you pleasure, that's OK...you just can't complain about the price of gas.

Wooden Kitchenware:
Some people would have you believe having a rack of pricey wooden spoons and such, even if made from renewable resources, are a better use of natural materials. The problem is, you can't stick them in the dishwasher. Most of us use a lot more hot water, and time, washing these things in the sink.

Other Notions that are NOT Green:
  • Premium fuel
  • Gasoline additives
  • Filling your tank in the morning
  • Turning off your car's air conditioner and opening the windows while driving on the highway.
  • Doing anything with the tailgate on your pickup truck. Mythbusters found it's all the same: gate on, gate off, or replaced by a net.



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