25 Aug Annie Get Your Green…

Anything you can do I can do greener. I can do anything greener than you. No you can’t. Yes I can. No you can’t. Yes I can…. My apologies to Irving Berlin, but these days it seems almost everyone I know wants to live greener than ever. Its become local cachet… to the tune of: I only drive three days a week. Well I gave up driving and ride the bus. I quit driving my car and I bought a bike. I got my bike out of the bulk trash and rebuilt it. I walk everywhere… and I bought my shoes second-hand… It can become almost silly, but it is a positive point of pride. This is a good thing as long as we remember that simply tearing out all the old "non-green" materials from our living places and dumping the mess in the landfill to make room in our homes for the new "greener than thou" materials isn’t always the true "green way".

I just finished "Ecological Intelligence : How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything" by Daniel Goleman. He primarily focuses on common sense, reminding us to read beyond the labels when purchasing "green" products. He also writes about new and upcoming technologies that will make it simpler for consumers to understand and appreciate the "carbon footprint" of common retail products. And he talks about "green marketing", reminding us not to be easily taken in by labels but rather to be informed consumers (and how to accomplish this). This book is a good read and I recommend it highly, if only to find clear and concise ways of explaining what we believe to others. The inside back jacket copy of the book states "This book and its jacket were printed on paper that contains 100 percent postconsumer-recycled fibers and is certified processed chlorine free. The interior was printed using soy-based inks, and the jacket was printed using vegetable-based inks…" Did I mention that I got my copy from the library and that I went to pick it up on my bike? Seriously, has anyone else read this? What did you think?