Lighten Up! Nobody is 100% Green

‘Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who’s the greenest of them all?’

‘No one,’ replies the wise, kind face in the second-hand mirror from the thrift store.

There are various shades of green, but what constitutes the purest hue? Are you bright, jewel-toned, tinted or shaded?

Many of us are eco-minded in different areas of our respective lives.

• Some are vegetarians.
• Some drive fuel efficient cars.
• Some live in walkable neighborhoods.
• Some telecommute.
• Some live in energy efficient homes.
• Some grow organic food.
• Some shop only locally.

Do you do all of these and more? Not likely.

A Small Footprint

I don’t know what the criteria could possibly be for ‘100% green.’ Even the homeless on the street have a carbon footprint, no matter how small. I have known some of these people and marveled at how little they consume. They dumpster food and clothes, and barter among themselves for other things they need. They do create the need for energy if they use the services of a shelter, food bank, community kitchen or medical clinic. Other than that, though, their lives are pretty green.

But not 100%.

A Smaller Footprint

Do we have to be dead to be 100% eco-friendly? Copious amounts of energy are used in a traditional funeral – build and ship a casket, toxic embalming, dig a hole with a back-hoe, take up valuable land area forever, have a service at a church or funeral home, have a procession of vehicles, and whatever else goes into your final party. Although cremation has a smaller footprint, it is still an energy hog in the act of heating and burning with fossil fuels.

You could be recycled into liquid fertilizer, but again, the process consumes fossil fuel energy – less than traditional cremation, though.

The Smallest Footprint?

Your friends could take you out to the desert, mountains or sea, and recycle your body into the food chain. This would have the lightest impact. You could be 100% green in your death, but the energy your friends spent to get you there would not. Would your pure green hue be the offset?

Hopefully none of us are headed that way soon, and most likely, none of us will be thrown to the animals.

While You Grace This Earth

Since you are here, be as conscious as you can. Find a reliable source of green living tips (read: no greenwashing!), and do what’s feasible without getting overwhelmed.

Get outside of yourself and into your community, too.

• Get energy efficient building codes implemented in your town or state.
• Go the the local Board of Realtors®, and ask for green criteria to be added to the Multiple Listing Service.
• Ask the city to consider energy efficient fleet vehicles.
• Ask for more and better public transportation.
• Ask for safe bike paths.
• Ask restaurants to buy local ingredients.
• Volunteer.

And so much more! Check out these links to purify your shade of green, because, let’s face it, none of us will ever be 100%.

365 Ways to Go Green
No Impact Man
The Good Human
Green Rednecks

Read about becoming liquid fertilizer and traditional cremation and energy use.