Being a green reader is fun; living the green life is not
I keep reading all this green stuff that everyone’s writing and I am full of admiration for those that would repair our planet. Then I decided to take the green matter one step further and live green. I made the announcement in the kitchen where my wife and her 2 assistants, my daughters, were preparing dinner. I ended my little speech by saying to my wife, “you are the manager of our Green Project. You decide what we do.” She nodded in silent acceptance. Oh boy… Did I hear shrieks of laughter after I left the kitchen?
Dinner
Dinner turned out to be salads, fresh fruit and 2 pieces of whole-wheat bread. The bread was quickly withdrawn when daughter number 2 reminded us that bread is baked in an electric oven and using electricity is a green no-no. I was about to suggest that we could get around the electrical problem by taking a cash advance in North Carolina and buying bread which is a dietary necessity, but then I realized that the cooking factor would still be there. We definitely saved money on the dinner.
Shower
I hopped into the shower before going to bed to find the water icy cold. “I turned the boiler off. Heating water with electricity is a green no-no. I suggest you build one of those solar water heating panels tomorrow.”
“But I arranged to go fishing with the boys…”
“Your choice. I myself find the cold showers invigorating. Plus we’re saving money on electricity and saving the planet.” I saved more money on water. I was out of that shower in a flash.
Bed
“Reading lamps are out. Electricity again. But we don’t have to give up reading in bed, we’ll use candles. I managed about 2 pages of the thousand page monster book I was trying to finish. “Can’t we just…?” I asked. I got a silent headshake. Money saved on my candle.
Breakfast
Breakfast was cereal and cold milk and an awful concoction of hand-stirred cold coffee. I was presented with a small scrap of paper which simply read, “Savings to date $35.78.” I sprinted for the garage so I could get away from this self-inflicted madness and get to the office and environmental sanity as quickly as possible.
The car
The garage was locked with the largest padlock I have ever seen. Yep, my car is not green. It’s not even hybrid, just an old-fashioned fossil fuel guzzling super-comfortable Chev. I love it! I grabbed one of the girl’s old bikes from the tool shed, pumped up the tires and made for the station. I have to admit that I enjoyed the bike ride but hated inhaling everyone else’s exhaust fumes. I also hated the feeling that I was a moving target for every car on the road. I broke the green rules by riding on the electric powered train and enjoyed it. I may get back to bike riding in the countryside after this green experiment is over.
The office
The office brews great hot coffee, has an electric water cooler and as a senior draftsman I have an electric pencil sharpener.
The day
All in all I had a good “green” day. We saved money and if we keep this up and iron out some of the bumps, we can live green lives. Like everything else it will take some work.
