Going Green is Easier Than You Think!
Going green... consciously working to reduce our ecological footprint upon the planet may be easier than one might think. Many folks understand the reason for recycling materials such as aluminum, paper and wood products, plastics and even clothes and appliances to friends or the needy. Recycling is great, but there is much more to be considered.
Permaculture is a design system that helps to plan and design how we live to ensure resources and a clean environment for the future people of the earth. Based in principles, there is a principle that addresses recycling: Produce no waste. We have all heard the old sayings: Waste not, want not. Or a stitch in time saves nine. These aren't new, but in these modern times, a consumer culture encourages us to throw away our tired and used items to purchase brand new replacements. Traditional values of frugality and caring for material goods have fallen by the wayside as the economy machine roars along. But now, in this time of change, we are reminded to remember the future, even seven generations into the future, when we are consuming products and using energies in our daily life.
Bill Mollison, the father of permaculture, defines a pollutant or waste produce as "an output of any system component that is not being used productively by any other component of the system." So we look for ways to capture waste and cycle it back through. We gardeners know this as composting the garden debris then returning it to the garden as an amendment. Every system and product we use should be scrutinized for cycling the energy or element. For example, my grandmother used to catch rainwater in a cistern; the windmill would pump it up to a holding basin where she could hand pump what she wanted. She could wash her hair, and then water the vegetables with it. Today people could wash their hair into a basin and flush our toilets with it, or water houseplants. Catching the shower water or bath water is an excellent low tech way to re-using water. Flushing with bath or shower water makes much more sense than using the fresh drinking water. This is just one example and there are many, many more.
Before we even address recycling, we could decide not to use the energy in the first place, or to not make a purchase and make do without. We can reduce what we use, unplug our appliances, trade down to a smaller car, share tools without having to own them. We can carpool, we can walk more. We could take our own "doggie bag" containers to a restaurant and not use a Styrofoam container. We could have a stash of canvas bags in the car so we don't have to take home countless plastic or paper bags for our purchases. And we can reuse containers without recycling them. Using plastic containers to store everything from food to buttons helps. Gardeners can always reuse buckets. Jars are great for storing dry foods and can look great on the shelf. Ask anyone from the Great Depression how they reused items. You may be surprised.
Beyond reusing is repairing items. Stitch, glue, patch, take apart or rebuild broken and old items. Be can purchase used items, saving money. Recycling is over-emphasized as a strategy for preventing waste, as recycling requires lots of energy to transport and in the recycling process itself. And besides an enormous amount of recyclables still find their way into the landfill. Granted, recycling is better than not recycling, but with the concerns today about pollution and the loss of our natural resources, to refuse, reduce, reuse and repair are much more effective than recycling. So think on these ideas as you consider going green.
Becky Elder Blue Planet Earthscapes 685-0290
Blue Planet Earthscapes P O Box 861 Manitou Spgs, CO 80829 (719) 685 - 0290