In The Name Of Ecology????

We've come a long way, Baby!

 





  In the name of Ecology we are advised to do many things that require a change in how we do things. We are asked to carry reusable bags to the grocery, take a shorter shower, drive less, drive a smaller more gas efficient car, use fluorescent light bulbs, separate your trash, save and recycle trash. Use less water when doing anything. Going green is supposed to be better for our world, our environment. You know, save the whales, save the polar bears, etc. What I am not getting is at what point is the Going Green less healthy for us and causing more issues in the end. I love the whales and polar bears are awesome. But, when are we at the point that we are actually not doing better but, making ourselves sick with all of the "Green" ideas?
     Reusable grocery bags are the first thing I will address. If you use a canvas bag and are washing it each week, I guess you are saving on grocery bags. Which transfers to gas and weight to transport them. Also, the plastic bags filling the landfill or chocking the dolphins. I'm just wondering how much more water and detergent we would need to wash the canvas bags. If you use the cute recycled bags that all of the stores sell with their logos on them, they can't be washed and if you buy meat, it can drip into the bags and rot. Then the next time you use them you could be giving your family E-Coli. So, you saved a dolphin or some gas but, my family is deathly ill with E-Coli. Hmmmm Good trade off? I also, want to point out how we had all recycled these "terrible" throwaway bags. The paper ones are used from everything from trash bags, to carrying items places, even covering textbooks (to save them from being abused too much). The plastic ones are used by all families that own a dog and take it for a walk. We would otherwise have to buy special bags for picking up poop. Really? Seems ridiculous to me.

     Fluorescent lights instead of incandescent light bulbs? The new ones use less energy. And.... O.K. so less energy. That's good right? Well, I'm wondering if that is such a good thing. First, the new bulbs need to warm up. That means that when I walk into a room and flick on the light, it is dull for several minutes until it warms up. Really, if I'm honest that means that I end up leaving lights on more often because I want to see when I go into the room. Not in 10 minutes from now. Also, they just aren't as bright. I feel like I'm turning more lamps on to see as well as I did with the old bulbs. So, is that really using less energy? And is it good for our eyes? The biggest problem is the poisoning factor. The are full of mercury. I have 4 kids. The two oldest were jousting with pillows upstairs one morning (instead of doing chores) and broke one of the lamps and the bulb in it. They cleaned it up without telling me. Have you looked online as to how you are supposed to clean those things up??  I am so careful as to what my kids are exposed to. I have heard arguments on both sides of how dangerous the new bulbs are. But, let's go to the point that as moms we do all we can to keep our families healthy and by making a choice to Go Green, I am now exposing my kids to mercury. Awesome. Feeling great now.

    Use less water. UGH! This one is huge. Ready? Here we go.
 Here in California, we are very green conscious. We have many rules and laws we must follow that the rest of the country would scratch there head and say huh?
     One of those laws is not being allowed to wash down our yards or driveway. We can use a blower (unless you live in L.A.) Gas fumes and the incredible amount of noise is apparently O.K. Not to mention, the amount of dust that is flying. If you have allergies at all, any day your neighbor has a gardener is a bad allergy day. Heaven forbid if you have anyone in your family with asthma. You can use a broom and a dustpan. That works for the big stuff but, what about the dust? And grim? It's getting tracked into my house in my carpet. Great! Lucky me. This law is so that the run off (a mixture of chemicals from the lawns and the oil from cars in the gutters don't go into the ocean. Because not just all drains drain to the ocean, so does every gutter in Southern California).

     They have tried to monitor how much you are allowed to water your lawn as well. Encouraging you to put in fake grass. Problems with that? It gets very hot and you can't walk across the "grass" in the summer without burning your feet. How do you wash dog "stuff" off without using a hose and letting it run into the gutter? And my favorite, when it gets hot (and it does), it lets off a smell that is atrocious. And no one is sure (since it smells like chemicals) what it could do to your body as you breath the fumes of the hot melting man made product.

     One more forbidden is washing your own car in your driveway. Again, the run off is the issue to the city. You are to go to the car washes that have special reclaiming drains (question? What do they do with the reclaimed water? Reuse it?) If you must wash your own car, you should park it on the lawn. Unless you live in an HOA and that is forbidden. Oh and if you break a sprinkler while doing said activity and your sprinkler spurts up water and you don't stop it, you got it, you are committing an offense. Warranting a fine.

    All water conscious people have these next issues even if you don't live in California.
First, the "fabulous low flow toilets". Did I mention that I have 4 kids? Do I really need to elaborate on this? I didn't think so.
     Low flow showers- I have very thick hair. Those silly shower heads won't wash out the shampoo or conditioner out of my hair.

     And the big one that really chaps me about all of the "use less water" push.
Washing machines. This one is my soap box, so get ready for an ear full.
Again, I have 4 children. O.K. established, right?
Any mom or anyone that does any cleaning knows the best way to clean anything is with water. Water is THE most important element in cleaning....anything. Whether it's hands, floors, or clothes. Water is important.
I bought a washing machine recently. Well, actually I bought 3. Not at once. But, one after the other. I was pregnant with baby number 4 and my washing machine died. So off we went to find a washer. My first and most important criteria was having a soak cycle. Most of the new washers don't have soak cycles. And odd when I would tell the salesmen that was what I was looking for, several said, "Why would you need that?"
     I'm serious.
They said that.
My answer, "I have 4 kids, 2 dogs and a husband in construction. That is why."
     Blank stare.

     So I found one that had a soak cycle. It was the top of the line front load washer. Isn't that great?! The kids can help put laundry in. (See where I go?)
     Got home and tried the new washer. Put a cycle on soak. Well, soak meant there was a small amount of water that the sheets swished through every few minutes. A very small amount of water. Not nearly enough to soak out any dirt. And technically not soaking, swishing. That is not going to get chocolate milk out, I guarantee. I would go through more clothes that I would have to buy because I don't want to have my kids walking around looking like ragamuffins. Not to mention, it locked and wouldn't let me add detergent after it had "soaked" or swished. So, that would mean running it again through an entire cycle to wash after "soaking". Think about this- If I put bleach in and the detergent at the beginning it all drains out after the swishing (or at least that is what I thought. Stay tuned for that little surprising fact). The other thing we noticed was the distinct "not fresh" smell. I don't use smells in my clothes. No perfumes. No softeners. Nothing but, soap. Non-smell soap. When our clothes come out normally they don't smell. Not of perfume or deodorant, body odor or anything else. I was told later that I would have to run some special cleaner or bleach by itself through the machine periodically to get the stinking smell out. What? It's cleaning. I shouldn't have to get smells out, IF the machine was getting smells out. Right?

     I returned that washing machine for the top of the line top loader. It is made so people with back issues could do their laundry more painless. It also had 2 cool features; a see through top and no center post so you could do a HUGE load at a time. This was a fantastic feature. So in went the jeans. Got to check out the soak cycle. Again, not a soak at all. More of a spit and spin. Every few minutes it would spit some water at the jeans, and spin a bit. I started reading the book that came with it. I must be doing something wrong. This is NOT a soak cycle. While reading, I came across some disturbing information. First, it quoted the "wonderfully minimal amount of water", then the words that freaked me out! Using Recycled water! Yes, it really said that. Basically, a small amount of water was brought in to do the wash (whether you were soaking or not), then there is a holding pan under the machine and as the clothes went through the cycles and the water drained at the end of each cycle, the water was drained into the holding tank. Then, when the next cycle or rinse cycle began, the water from the holding tank was reused for this purpose. Are you feeling my horror yet? I read this over and over. There was a filter. It was a screen that the machine would filter the water through so no "debris" went through. Specifically mentioned small rocks or sand. I HAVE 4 KIDS AND 2 DOGS AND A HUSBAND IN CONSTRUCTION!! Are they kidding? How many things can you think of right now that wouldn't have been "filtered"? I thought of several. Urine. Vomit. Any number of construction chemicals or fuel. Shall I go on?
     I went to the store and discussed this with the salesman. He had no idea why it would be a problem until I mentioned that I had not only a new baby on the way but, a puppy that liked to eat the fruit growing in the yard. Poor little guy would then proceed to have the runs. New babies do many gross things such as pee, poop and spit up a lot! This completed disgusted this poor man and he asked no further questions and immediately found the machine I had been looking for from the beginning. And they had all avoided showing me because it used more water and was less expensive.  An old fashioned top loader, with a soak cycle and uses much water in each load and NOT recycle the water.
     Water is needed to clean. Using stronger cleaners isn't healthy. Using clean warm water is the best cleaner. Scrub with elbow grease and maybe add a bit of vinegar but, strong cleaners and no water isn't the solution to these issues. You will get sicker and sicker as you clog your liver full of strong cleaners. And then when we get sick we just use stronger medicines. Try using water and washing things thoroughly and maybe you wouldn't get sick as often.
     O.K. there is my soap box. I do love the earth and the animals in it. I believe that God intended for us to be good stewards of this beautiful planet. However, God created all of this for us to live in. So when you take things on faith that they are true and don't check for yourself you are not being a good steward of anything. Especially your own intelligence that God blessed you with. We are to check and research all that is presented before us. Even when someone says by using recycled bags we are saving umpteen amount of whales, check on that fact and all of the negatives as well. The negatives may not outweigh the positives. There may be other solutions yet thought of that would be much better. Instead of knee-jerk reaction to someone you think isn't being GREEN, stop and think why that person may not be doing things the same as everyone else. Yes, it could be laziness but, it could be any number of other reasons that they discovered in their own research.
     Our grandparents that lived through the great war are experts on real recycling. It isn't as fancy as turning in your yogurt cups to create new toothbrushes but it may actually take less energy and not have any other repercussions. Maybe your grandma would use the old yogurt cups for painting or carrying snacks in. But, since the yogurt company stopped making the lids to go with the cups now the cups could be used to separate nails and screws. There are many ways to Go GREEN. Use your head and research before you buy into the popular  belief on how to do it best.
     O.K. I'm done. Sorry if I offended but, hope I made you think. Gotta go the washing machine buzzed. I need to move my laundry.