My thoughts while watching HGTV
I’ve been watching "Living with Ed" lately. It is the adventures of Ed Begley Jr. trying to save the environment by standing outside the bathroom door & timing how long his wife Rachelle Carson showers. He has solar panels on his house, a white picket fence made out of recycled materials & a solar oven to cook his food in the sun for several hours. He even has a bike that he can use to generate enough electricity to make his morning toast. While I think that this is view is to the extreme, & may or may not sacrifice his marriage, I think it is an important example to be set. He actually practices what he preaches, he walks, rides his bike, takes the bus, or drives his hybrid car. He is a celebrity who rides the bus. It got me thinking, maybe I can’t generate enough electricity to make toast, especially since I don’t eat toast, but I can do something. I can refuse a plastic bag when I can easily carry an item out of the store.
With these thoughts in mind I went to visit Green Options: Greening the Good Life. There are several things I really liked about the site. The emphasis on practical applications is priceless. I’m not in a place where I can install solar panels on my house, but I could add more local food to my diet, or set up a recycling system. I like that they try to inspire & make me think, "I could do this", instead of being overwhelmed. This is again apparent when the website writes about a hybrid car that gets 100 mpg & it even comments on the awesome styling of this car. One thing I would love to see is a guide for "Light Greenies", with a huge list of ways we can get started in taking better care of the environment, just pointing out the miniscule things everyday that when added up amount to something. So I am not on an Ed Begley Jr. level, but I can do something.
Tags: living-with-ed, ed-begley-jr, green