it's not easy being green

{by me}

I have a weird guilt complex when it comes to being green.

First- I carry a reusable bag everywhere I go and feel so much guilt if I need another at a grocery that I either buy another one or put back some of the things I was planning on purchasing. (G can't stand it when I do this because we have so many reusable bags - but we don't have a ton of paper bags either).

Second- I buy all green cleaners (although I may not clean as often as I need to) going so far as to not purchase bleach. This means my white linens aren't so white anymore (if anyone has any solutions that actually work for this one, please share).

Third- when I am outside of my home, I drink my beverages out of reusable tumblers (my stainless keeps my tea nice and toasty at my desk for a long time too). I even harassed my G into getting one of those funny ceramic ones with the rubber top that look just like a paper cup. He chose one with a cute little bee design on it. ah bees (very good for the environment you know).

I could go into all the reasons why I'm not as green as I should be, but I don't see how that would be productive. Suffice it to say that today was not a green day. Despite how truly lovely and sunny it is today, in the interest of time, I piled into a car to go to lunch with my co-workers (this after, of course driving to work like I do everyday (so no I don't get credit for carpooling)). Strike one. But after lunch my pal Rich wanted to get a little something sweet, so we went to the closest coffee shop to the office so that he could purchase a ridiculously large chocolate milkshake. And what could I do, but get myself a little americano (the first coffee I've had in twelve days because I've been feeling so under-the-weather). But despite the no less than three reusable drink containers sitting idle on my desk, I did not have them with me. I received a doubled paper cup (10% post-consumer recycled fiber, but twice the cup to prevent my foolishness from burning myself) filled with delicious coffee. Strike two. And now that I have drank its contents, it sits here on my desk mocking me for my wastefulness. But I have a plan.

Tomorrow I am finally going to plant the starts you see above in my garden plot. The squirrels ate the seeds for my beans and zucchini, but they didn't touch the starts I'd already planted. Then spring turned and it got cold. Today it is finally spring-like and tomorrow promises to be another lovely sun-filled day, which I will at least partially fill with some gardening. I can finally drop my little starts into the earth where I know they'l like to be. As for the two paper cups that are mocking me from my desk - I was thinking I could reuse them to hold dirt and plants and then drop them into a prettier little pot. I know, I'm a nutcase.

If we owned the house we were living in, I'd make us build a green roof to top our garage. And if we lived in Portland, we'd get a tax credit.

for a longer list of my green shortcomings and general defaults, see my other blog - self-loathing saucer ( just kidding).