I Blog to Assuage My Guilt

Posted by A. Caleb Hartley on January 28th, 2008 filed in about

I don’t want to wax poetic here or anything, but I blog for catharsis.  Sometimes it’s unbelievable to me that most people know nothing about what is happening to the environment – and what’s worse, of the people who do, many don’t care!  They think it is too difficult to change or to make a difference.  Blogging helps me spread the word and feel like I’m doing something to help this situation.

Also, I need the catharsis for another reason.  I can’t do everything I know I should to reduce my impact on the environment. 

That’s right – I’m not perfect! I know this is hard to believe, based on what you’ve seen here.  

I can’t afford to use all green products while I restore my 100+ year-old victorian home, or grocery shop, or drive around town and commute to work (which is about 20 miles from my house).

There.  I said it.

I do what I can, how I can.  My wife and I carpool to work 4 of 5 days per week.  When we do that, we drive the 4-cylinder because it gets better gas mileage.  My car (a 6-cylinder) sites most days.  If Columbus, Ohio had better mass transit options, I would use them – but it doesn’t, so I don’t.  I love Whole Foods, but can’t spend my Whole Paycheck there (as much as I am tempted to do so when I shop there).  Lowes hasn’t exactly dived into the green pool yet (eww – maybe a little more chlorine is needed for that green pool), so my remodel/restore is not as eco-conscious as I’d like – and I couldn’t afford to make it as green as some of the high-profile, celebrity remodels you may have seen anyway.  And yes, you may have guessed that my turn-of-the-century victorian home is not exactly small.  3,500 sqare feet, ballpark.  But we have insulated it as much as we can and put in some new windows – AND we keep it pretty cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

So we do what we can.  And the fact of the matter is – no one can do everything that they are told is necessary to “save the Earth.”  And really – here’s the thing:  do what’s easy first – replace your incandescent lights with compact flourescent (this I have done), keep your furnace filters clean (oops – need to do this ASAP), install low-flow faucets and showerheads.  The little things DO add up, no matter what it seems.  Then, move on to the harder things (or the things that occur less often) like replacing your appliances with more energy-efficient ones. No one advocates replacing a perfectly fine, working refrigerator with a new one if you would have to go into debt to do so – we need to be sensible.  However, if you have an appliance that is really old, it actually MAY make sense to replace it before it dies.  Most (if not all) states’ PUCO or EPA or DOE will do a free energy audit of your home so you can see whether this might sense for you.

The point is – it’s up to you!  Do what you think you’re capable of, then stretch a little to try something new.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised, I think, by the outcome!

Namaste,
A. Caleb Hartley

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Leave a comment to tell us how you started greening you life – or how you will start greening your life! Encourage others by setting an example… I’ll be the first to thank you!

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