We cannot command Nature except by obeying her. -- Francis Bacon
Our latest attempts at greening up:
Mrs. Myer's Dryer Sheets - which you can get at Sprout's
Shaklee Laundry Soap
both biodegradable.
I'm proud that our earlier attempts are going as strong as ever (cloth napkins, grocery bags). BTW, I highly recommend IKEA's reusable bags for 59 cents. They're huge and sturdy. Several grocery stores (including Fry's here in the Valley) will give you a discount for using your own bags.
If we had any guts, we'd actually hang our clothes to dry instead of using our dryer. But, Noooo! -- we have to justify the money we spent on it in the first place. I know ... that sounds stupid. Kinda like saying that you are not going to read a book because you've paid for that perfectly good TV and cable and you don't want it to go to waste.
The biggest impediment to change is not the technology or even the cost. It's retraining ourselves. It's no wonder that a large part of society doesn't understand this when our own leaders preach consumerism (instead of conservation) in the face of tragedy. God forbid that any of us would ever make a sacrifice for the common good. Oops! I said "common good". I must be a Communist.
Also, go check out Leo's environment documentary, The 11th Hour, soon. I haven't seen it yet but will within the next week. If you've already seen it, post a review here.
6 comments:
I tried eviro friendly dishwasher liquid and man, it sucked bad. It smelled great, but the dishes where still filthy.
I was just discussing with a friend about my newly instituted "no stuff" rule for presents this year and we came to the conclusion that Americans are programmed by our culture to value 'things.' I'm rambling and this is becoming a post of its own in my head - but you're right. Self sacrifice is nonexistent in our culture right now. What happened?
For me it would be pretty impossible to give up a dryer considering I live in a college dorm, I don't have anywhere to hang my clothes and I don't think I can hang them in my room lol. For me a dryer would be a pretty tough thing to live without just because of how convenient it is.
Laura - I like the "no stuff" rule. At our age, we pretty much have the things that we want or if we want something, we just go out and get it. Somebody making something for you, giving something used, or giving to charity in your name would all be cool things.
Jeff - I agree with you. Your dryers will get used whether you use them or not. Your choosing to not use them wouldn't really effect electricity usage a whole lot.
And in college, the only kids I knew that didn't use dryers were our freaky Birkenstock-wearing neighbors who rubbed talc rocks under their arms (instead of deoderant) and smoked entirely too much weed. lol
Way to go!! Do you ever use the 7th Generation products?
James - I hadn't yet but had seen them at Sprouts. We plan on introducing more and more stuff into our daily use and the 7th Gen stuff looks good.
After the August APS bill I'm air-drying the clothes and just tumbling them for a few minutes in the dryer to shake out wrinkles.
Unfortunately here in The Valley there are many home-owners associations that prohibit outdoor clothelines. That will change.
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