Being Green…
It Really Isn’t Easy Being Green – A Green Rant!
“We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they’re going to sit.” – David Suzuki
More of us are “Going Green” eh? We know we have to be green. But we also know that Kermit was right: It isn’t easy being green.
Here, from Sydney Green, is a guest blog that lays out an attainable plan…
“Is it Easy Being Green? A Nurse’s Opinion” a Guest Blog by Sydney Green, RN-C
I have been a nature girl since I was a little girl. I could live outdoors. Just give me a tarp and a warm beach!
I believe I was born green and not just by name. I always loved growing things and have planted and tended vegetable and flower gardens since I was able to lift a shovel. I once plowed under half my parents’ one acre property, by hand with a shovel and hoe, to plant a whopping vegetable garden.
My two year old son loved that and came to me at the end of the day with a pocket full of worms in his Osh Kosh overalls. I have embraced recycling, composting, organic gardening, shutting off lights, turning the thermostat up or down. I moved to a small town away from traffic and I am able to bike to the post office, pharmacy and grocery store. Now I plant to increase cover and attract birds, lizards, frogs, butterflies and other small creatures remaining in our development.
With this said, I have recently re-evaluated my always enthusiastic commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly practices.
There is a new housing development south of me. It was featured on the local television news as the “greenest development in the United States.” That got my attention. The homes are also smart, with the ability to control functions via your cell phone. Any new housing, especially in this economy, is anti green in that it destroys habitat.
The small town I live in is surrounded by natural lands full of deer, wild boar, cougars, raccoons, possums, armadillos and other wildlife. Oh yes, and there are alligators. I have frequent enough sightings of all these animals to know that their habitat is full and they are spilling over into developed areas, especially the alligators. There’s quite a community of gators, in the ponds of the golf course and dog park. I don’t begrudge any of these creatures their space. I just don’t know what green solution there is for destroyed habitat already covered with homes and stores.
Once you get over the destroyed habitat though, these new homes incorporate amazing solutions like a storm drain system that recycles water and returns it better than it was. The homes all come with tinted windows and have all energy efficient appliances.
That’s why being green is complicated. I was searching the web in my quest for a definitive answer on the progress that has been made, or setbacks, in the green movement. What I see makes green initiatives a murky area where it is not very clear what is ultimately good for our environment.
For example, I like salmon and it is healthy for me. I recently researched farm raised versus wild salmon and surprisingly I found more support, health and environment, for eating wild salmon:
*** David Suzuki Foundation: In January 2001, BBC News produced a program “Warnings from the Wild, The Price of Salmon”. The program cited a pilot study conducted by Dr Easton with David Suzuki Foundation. The study found that farm raised salmon and the feed they were fed appeared to have a much higher level of contamination with respect to PCBs, organo-chlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers than did wild salmon. It concluded that it seems that contamination in farm fish comes from the feed.
*** EWG Report: In July 2003, the Environmental Working Group EWG released a report stating that farm raised salmon purchased in the United States contain the highest level of PCBs in the food supply system. In the report, EWG reported that farm raised salmon have 16 times PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the levels in other seafood. EWG recommends that consumers choose wild salmon instead of farm raised salmon, and they should eat an 8 oz serving of farm raised salmon no more than once a month.
*** Science Journal: In January 2004, the journal Science warned that farm raised salmon contain 10 times more toxins (PCBs, dioxin, etc.) than wild salmon. The study recommends that farm raised salmon should be eaten once a month, perhaps every two months as they pose cancer risks to the human beings.
(Extracted from the internet on October 29, 2012)
Wild Alaskan salmon is caught in a managed, environmentally sound way, while farm raised salmon increase pollution. I have always preferred red Alaskan salmon, but now I know that it is also a greener choice. Not something that would be obvious when farm raised fish are supposedly saving us from overfishing wild fish.
There are a lot of choices we make each day that impact the re-greening of our planet, in theory, everything one does has an impact on someone and/or something, so you could drive yourself crazy trying to always stay green. I recommend several options to stay green and sane…
- Recycling, composting, planting to sustain wildlife and other age old practices are still good to go green.
- Choosing to use fewer chemicals in your life in almost always a good, green choice.
- Energy saving appliances and energy efficient houses use less energy and so is an obvious advantage over those old appliances.
- Walking or biking to your destination is good for your waistline and the planet.
- We all have to drive sometimes, but thinking about whether each trip is necessary helps our planet stay healthy. Carpooling and doing combining errands helps, so does driving a car with good gas mileage or one of the alternative automobiles.
- Stay informed and research choices that raise doubts.
I’m staying green and now I am committed to staying more aware of the environmental effects of my choices. The obvious choices are not always the best and not all Green initiatives are what they seem. Sometimes time makes it apparent that we went down the wrong path. Support for monitoring green projects to see if they have hidden problems is needed. We need to stop initiatives that time shows to be flawed.
Our children and grandchildren are the last and probably most important key to keeping our planet viable. Children should be exposed early to the wonders of nature, and not just by looking at monumental examples of what nature has to offer.
It’s wonderful to take children to see whales or the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone geysers. What is missing many times is immersion in the environment.
Kids need to get dirty, hold worms, lay in crunchy leaves, take a quiet walk in the woods, desert or on the beach and see what wildlife and plants are there, plant flowers and food plants and watch them grow, or sit quietly in their own back yard and just wait to see what happens. Our children should be given the experiences they need to love nature.
I live out in the sticks and I am amazed at all the stars I can see. I have never lived in a place that was this dark at night. I have seen stars in this way when camping, but now I go outside and get psyched every night. When I look out into space it is with gratitude and a gasp of amazement.
I mention this because of an incident with my dear sister. She was recently visiting us. She and her husband now live near Washington DC. I mentioned that she should check out the stars and she did, and then admitted that she has never noticed the night sky much.
I love my sis like crazy, but it was kind of sad to think she never looked at the stars with the feeling you get when a great piece of music is played.
You feel awe at the genius of the musician and the wonder of creation of the universe. You do not have to be a deist to appreciate the fact that all this was somehow created and unfolds according to natural laws.
My earnest plea to my fellow human beings is to take your children and grandchildren outside. Take some time away from the digital age and leave your smart phone inside. Lie on the ground, be quiet and look around you. Hold hands and share what you see.
Or go to the beach and cover yourself with sand, look up and think about what it is like to be a little crab buried in the sand. I bet that crab is not excited about cigarette butts, soda cans and plastic strewn in his environment.
I’ve tried as a mother to spend most of my time outdoors with my kids. Now they are grown and I can see the result of their love for nature in my grandchildren. I am committed to experience green with my grandchildren who are the future keepers of the gate.
“Thanks for listening!” – Sydney
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Sydney Green is an accomplished Registered Nurse who specializes in personal well being and has received special certification pertaining to self-help. Proper diet without being a calorie counter and organ health are her personal passions. You can find her on Facebook. Posted on Christmas Day, 2012.
