How I feel about going green…..

I would LOVE if I could live my life COMPLETELY green. Basically, I wish I could live and make the SMALLEST CO2 footprint possible. But unless you’re Bill Gates, that just ain’t gunna happen. (sorry about the poor grammar, it just felt right in the moment).

I live an average life. Grew up in an average community (ok, who am I trying to kid, my community is actually pretty stinking rich), but MY family, not us. We’re not rich by any means. We’re average. Well, ok, we ARE literally average in our means of living, but I don’t like to think of myself as average. Actually most of the time I like to stick out and consider myself unique. The community where I grew up…. all the kids wear Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister or American Eagle (you get the picture). They all listened to Dave Matthews Band and the majority came from well to do families. Most kids would want to fit in, try to be a part of the crowd. Not me. I always wanted to stand out. Of course back THEN (high school for me was 7 years ago) I was notoriously shy. I didn’t stick out, I didn’t fit in. I just melted into the background because I felt safe there. I’ve definitely come out of my shell since then.

My average/unique life consists of working full time, going to school part time. I like to drive stick shift, I would rather watch cars racing (not NASCAR, but Rally Races or drag races) then football or baseball. I ride a motorcycle. I’ve dyed my hair every different color of the rainbow. Ok, not every color, but a lot of them. I’ve got a couple small tattoos (i’d love to have more, but for the sake of making it BIG in the BIG WORLD, you have to present yourself as professional). So to shorten this up, I like to stand out. Like I said above. And I like to try different things. ie, why I have a motorcycle license and motorcycle. Next goal of mine is to get my pilots license, learn how to play the guitar and who knows….. there’s lots of things I’d like to do in my life.

So back to the subject, if I could I would live completely green. But as you can see my life has a lot of UNgreen things in it. Riding a motorcycle is slightly more green then driving, but I live in the Chicago region so this frigid/windy weather doesn’t permit me to ride it all year round. Cars. They are one of my favorite things (and in case you’re wondering, yes I am female). I love to watch rally races, drag races, timed races…… I love races. THAT is not a green way of life. I’d love to be completely self-sufficient when it comes to energy (solar panels) and I’d love to go out and buy all organic food from local farmers to help save on costs of transporting things in. But if any of you have ever ventured into a Fresh Market or Whole Foods you know how ridiculously high the prices are. Being that I’m from that ho hum average life I can not afford a routine diet of organic/local foods on my budget.

So what are we suppose to feel at this point? Guilty because certain aspects of our life just simply CAN’T go green? I could ultimately protest racing and everything that surrounds it because of the CO2 emissions they cause, but I honestly could never bring myself to protest that sort of thing. I love it too much. Maybe they could set restrictions or build cleaner cars, but I won’t go out and full on protest against racing.

And am I suppose to feel guilty because I pass up a local farmers produce at the store for the cheaper alternative next to it? I could be supporting the local farmers…… but at the same time I need to be very frugal with my money and make it stretch as far as possible (Who’s with me on that one?).

So in the end I’ve come to the conclusion that we as people should definitely STRIVE to be green, and that doesn’t mean you have to turn into NAZI GREENERS! Do what you can. Take the small steps towards being more green. I’m not saying RUN OUT AND BUY SOLAR PANELS! Ya, right, for most that wouldn’t be cost effective. Do your part in striving to be green. Turn off lights you don’t use. Shut off water when you’re not using it. Unplug chargers that aren’t being used. See my other post “So you don’t know where to start?” for other quick solutions. And email me/comment me some suggestions of your own that you do day to day…… spread the word of how YOU strive to be green!