GREENMEANING
Culturally, "green" has broad and sometimes contradictory meanings. The most common associations are found in its ties to nature. Green is associated with regeneration, fertility and rebirth. Recent political groups have taken on the color as a symbol of environmental protection and social justice. (From Wikipedia.org: "Green." See also "Natural Environment" and "Sustainability.")
NEW PASTTIME: LINK TO LINK
GREENBROWSING - Spend some time browsing the links on these pages and others you will find. Each link leads to another, and those lead to more in the exploding world of green-earth-sensitivity and opportunity for positive change. Take a relaxing creative informative trip through the intra-linkage of greensolutions, greenwarnings, greenactions and greenpleasures. Here are some down-home ideas, and one for getting away:
SOME FAMILIAR GREENIDEAS:
GREENBAGGING - Are you still letting the grocery and other stores load your purchases into flimsy, eco-UNfriendly plastic bags? Did you know they are banned in some cities and soon to be banned in others? BE GREENER: Bring your own paper bags, cloth tote bags, or a cardboard box, let the sales clerk know that you are happy to bag/box your own purchases, and feel virtuous all the way home! Some environmental groups even give away nice cloth totes when you make a donation, giving you a two-fer, or you can pick them up cheap at many checkouts. ReUseIt.com is a Website devoted to reusable products of all types!
GREENLIGHTING - Be sure to replace all incandescent light bulbs with the more efficient CFL bulb. Those strange little Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs may cost a little more, but will last longer and use less energy, saving you money in the long run, AND helping the environment. If you don't like the squiggly look, they are available encased is a glass bulb just like a...lightbulb! Also, be sure to turn off lights you aren't using! For more energy-saving ideas around the home, check out The Home Energy Saver!
GREENPATHLIGHTING - For outdoors, buy inexpensive solar lights and light up the garden or the path with no energy expense at all! Some of these are not very sturdy, though, get solidly-made ones, especially for next to a pathway where they could get kicked accidentally and lose their heads. (Voice of experience here.) Solar-powered pumps and filters are also available if you have a fountain, or want to add a "green" one to your landscape. All these green products and many more are available at realgoods.com.
GREENTRAVEL - For local travel, obviously: Drive less, walk more, bicycle more. Carpool. Telecommute when possible. Combine trips. Drive a vehicle that's good with gas, and keep it serviced to be most efficient. And when you drive, take time to visit places that are green and natural and beautiful, as reminders of what we have to lose if we don't pay attention and work on our green-ness. For "ecotourism" in vacation and distance travel, check out Sustainable Travel International.
GET YOUR GREEN ON!
NOTHING IS GREENER THAN NATURE - and without nature in a healthy state, we humans will suffer loss of quality of life, loss of good health, and ultimately loss of our own resources and habitat. There are many reesources to discover nature and our connections to it, but The Nature Conservancy: My Nature is a very good place to start.
