Going Green - Better for the environment or for someone's pocketbook

I don’t know if it is because I am reading Walden (Henry David Thoreau) to my son at night or if is the Cash for Clunkers or the 10,000 other “Green” messages that we are inundated with, but I am really beginning to be suspicious of this entire marketing message. I am not being kind here I know, but I am beginning to feel it is exactly that “a marketing message”. Please understand, I do believe that we need to be good stewards of the earth and I do believe that we have strayed away from that. I do believe that many of us have our hearts in the right place as we attempt to “green” our lives. But . . .I would be interested to see how much we waste as attempt to do better.

I have been watching decorating shows that rip out entire kitchens or houses because the homeowners want to go green. I have watched congress convince us all to rid ourselves of old vehicles so that we move to cleaner vehicles. I have watched women toss makeup, purses, and clothes to get greener fashions. Where are all these resources going?

I’ve been watching products tout “green” just to entice the consumer: Nothing has been modified, no recipe changed. It is as if two “green” camps have arisen: one, which is really interested in helping our planet, and another, who is trying to reap a benefit from this mindset. The consumer is caught in the middle, trying to decipher which is real.

I think we could take a lesson from our grandparents during the Great Depression, everything that exists has value. Have you ever noticed how people of that generation hoard things? They have button boxes, nails and screws in small containers, extra pieces of wood, etc. etc. Cooking became an art of not just planning one meal, but figuring out how to use the leftovers - - -every last one of them. Isn’t this more green than scrapping everything and starting again? Shouldn’t we bring ourselves back to the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle concept? Use less, reuse what you can, recycle what you can’t and then, only then, go buy a new greener item.