Sustainable Life
with Bibi
In general, I'm a crunchy granola mom (sometimes read: hippie) with no specific philosophy on life. Our family makes it from month to month with my husband working full time as a teacher, and me staying home full time with our daughter, while taking in paid jobs as they come my way. The family budget is tight, but we try to do our part to clean up our lifestyle and our planet.
To learn more about Bibi, check out her profile on Work It, Mom! and her personal blog, Mamasense.
Please bear with me while I go on a little rant. I’m definitely down with this whole eco-friendly jive that everyone has going on. It makes a lot of sense to me to design household cleaners and products, that you use up, to be eco-friendly. Hey, if people are going to use them, why not make them sustainable for the environment?
The problem is, I wonder how sustainable some of this stuff really is. If you’re buying some type of eco-friendly face cleanser and it still comes in a one-time-use bottle and it gets shipped all over creation, how environmentally friendly is it, really? I see the logic in making products better, but it seems that the problem is the entire system of how we buy goods, not just the goods themselves. We are so far removed from where our goods and products come from, that it’s no wonder that we don’t see how the waste used in manufacturing affects all of us.
Then there is the whole new green market of multiple use products. I’m talking laptop bags, water bottles, purses, furniture. There are whole new lines of these things made out of renewable resources, and while I think that’s really admirable, I still worry about all the stuff that’s going to the landfill to make room for our new “green” stuff. And to be honest, I’m not so sure that the “green” stuff isn’t headed to the landfill after a while too. Okay seriously. I get that people need something to carry their laptops in, but wouldn’t it just be better to find something that worked from a thrift store than to use brand new materials? Even if those materials are things like bamboo? or recycled tires?
Another thing that I don’t get. People know that I have a green streak, and so they give me books about being green…sure they are printed on recycled paper, but it’s still a brand new book that was manufactured and printed and shipped. I happen to think that one really green thing that a person can do is use their local library (and preferably walk or bike there).
So yeah, not to be a total downer on the whole green revolution, but it just seems like if we don’t turn into something other than consumers (no matter how sustainable our choice of floor covering is) then we’ve really missed the whole point. I just feel like corporations are trying to coerce us into thinking that being eco-friendly means buying more schtuff, when what we need to remember is that none of that is necessary in order to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
What is your outlook on the “green” trend?
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wow that’s an interesting way to look at it. Most of the folks that are just starting to get into ‘being green’ and taking the environment seriously just dont know where to start. To me, having these products out there and available is at least a start in the right direction. It empowers people with better (not perfect) choices and opens their minds to healthier products for themselves and the earth.
I feel like being environmentally aware is a growth and learning process like anything else. You are just really advanced and can see beyond the simple steps that some of the newbies are taking! As somone who has a great wealth of knowldge on living environmentally friendly i would like to see you continue to share that knowlege with those of us for whom it isnt second knowledge.
Your laptop and book examples are great - neither of which would even have occured to me! How about some more suggestions about ways we can learn to better choices?
I understand the frustraition of trying to move the masses… try to have some patience with us newbies! we are just trying to catchup!
kate | January 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
“Going green,” a phrase which I loathe, is now a popular catch-phrase as well as the newest trend. I have been conserving resources long before it was popular to do it. I’ve been doing it since I was in elementary school.
We should be happy that more people are being conscious about protecting the environment. It’s what people like me have always hoped to happen. It’s tough being in the minority concerning the environment; for the longest time, no one cared about saving gas or saving water or saving paper or recycling or etc.. It’s great when people in masses are finally doing it too. Who knows how long this trend will last though, but however long this trend lasts, at least it’s helped the environment that much.
As for companies who now make things with renewable materials, I think they’re just capitalizing on this newest trend. They hope that consumers will buy their stuff just because it’s now the current trend to be environmental.
Bibi, you are quite the sustainable gal. I personally wouldn’t shop at thrift stores or find a store that sells recycled tires. I’d rather just to go the mall or Target and buy the new stuff like clothes/electronics/books and donate/e-recycle them later.
I think people protect the environment in their own way and some are more hardcore than others.
Linda | February 1st, 2009 at 2:15 am