The Best Green Intentions Can Sometimes Go Awry

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

19 Oct 2009 08:19 AM

So much of green living seems to be a fad or at least tied up with marketing. For example, you can buy organic disposable diapers. Hmm, why not use cloth diapers instead? Although as Colin Beaven, the No Impact Man wrote in his book, "I have to choose between the "angel twist, the 'newspaper fold,' the 'reverse newspaper fold'; the 'thigh fold,' and on and one. All I want to do is contain my child's poop, but apparently I'm learning origami."

And yes, cloth diapers can still have an impact on the environment. We can also buy organic cleaners that are packaged, in of all things, plastic. Sigh.

Still, I am glad that there is media attention to the current environmental crisis. Not only may it change things and less our impact on the earth, but it gives us something positive to do, rather than sitting around waiting for the seas to swamp us as the polar ice caps melt.

The problem is that we often treat our green efforts as fads. I am no exception. Although we have cloth bags for grocery shopping, half the time at least, they are left crumpled in the hall closet or in the back of the car, unused. I am collecting far too many plastic bags and feel guilty for trying to dispose of them, even when I reuse them for the trash that although has been cut down, has not disappeared entirely.

Although we do try to get used, new toys inevitably wander in our home for birthdays and Christmas, complete with far too much packaging. Our organic frozen broccoli comes in plastic (and the pesticide-laden version comes in thin cardboard that can be recycled; ah the irony).

A couple of weeks ago, I broke down and bought, of all things, a vinyl tablecloth, in order to protect our cherry dining room table from several daily milk spills. And I would probably do it again. Yes, the Victorians lived without vinyl tablecloths, but then again, their children had nannies and ate their meals in the nursery, apart from the family dining room.

My point is that sometimes the best green intentions can go awry. We are all human. The important thing to focus on what you can do to create less of an impact, and to pursue it as much as you can.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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