by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Making our lives more sustainable and saving the Earth, Step Two: RE-EVALUATE YOUR GREEN HABITS.

Over-consumption of green products and energy systems is still over-consumption. Lower carbon emissions is not the same as very little or zero carbon emissions. Using less water may not be enough to have enough water in the future, while using A LOT less water may do the trick, and so on…

For instance, If you replace your incandescents with CFL bulbs and then leave a light on in every room, it’s not green. If you buy a Prius and then drive to the store every day, that’s not green. If you get a solar hot water heater, and then take 10 or 15-minute showers or fill the bathtub every night, that’s not green.

Eco-Entrepreneur blogger, Shea Gunther says this:

“There’s a big difference between green and greener and we as a society need to recognize it. We can’t pat ourselves on the back thinking the job is done when we’re all greener, we need to keep on chugging until we’re all green. The only way that’s going to happen is if EVERYTHING is green. The electricity that comes out of the outlets and the fuel used to drive from the factory to the store need to come from renewable sources, the cars used to dive us to the store need to be powered by green energy, the materials used to build it need to be either compostable or fully recyclable.”

This issue takes some thinking through. Fortunately, there’s a lot of information available out there - most of it at our fingertips. Don’t stop too soon. There’s a little engine inside all of us that really, truly wants this to happen. Dig Deep. Grow Green.