A neighbor of mine \u2013 Tony \u2013 is trying his best to take this \u201cgoing green\u201d thing seriously. For example, he tells me that he\u2019s recently begun recycling his newspaper each week. \u201cThe entire newspaper?\u201d I asked. He shook his head. \u201cNo, \u201che admitted. \u201c Just your column.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked him what he thinks about Seattle Mayor Greg Nickel\u2019s proposed 20-cents-a-bag fee for all disposable bags at grocery and drug stores. \u201cI think it stinks,\u201d Tony said. \u201cI know that Nickels and all the other greenies want everybody to carry canvas sacks with them everywhere they shop, but I\u2019m not gonna do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Tony\u2019s not really a rebel. It turns out he has severe canvas allergies. That\u2019s why, he says, he always brings his own plastic and paper bags with him to the store. \u201cIf everybody just reused the plastic and paper bags already in existence,\u201d Tony maintains, \u201cthen those bags never wind up in the landfill, they wouldn\u2019t be an environmental concern, and we could put Big Canvas out of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
My grandma used to say that no one should buy more at the grocery store than they can carry on their person. That\u2019s why she always went to the store wearing her largest long coat \u2013 one with lots of big, deep pockets. As a result, she would arrive at the store as a slight, slender woman and leave as a bulky, hefty one.<\/p>\n
Her personal-best effort saw her arrive home with seven cans of beans, three tins of tuna, two quarts of buttermilk and a small watermelon \u2013 all within her coat. Her ankles were killing her, however.<\/p>\n
Lately, all of our local TV news stations have been admonishing \u2013 even scolding \u2013 us to be better stewards of the planet. One report offered tips on how to lower our daily electricity usage. Among the tips they didn\u2019t mention: Turn off your TV set. Seems odd that they somehow missed that one.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, their conservation tips include things such as doing your laundry after 9 at night when the demand for electricity is lower. Better yet, my kids used to say, why do laundry at all? By their definition, \u201cgoing green\u201d means letting your clothing take on mildew and mold hues. If the clothes get musty enough, you might even find some truffles inside.<\/p>\n
Another hint I saw on a local TV news show the other night (and I\u2019m not kidding): \u201cTurn off your lights when you go to bed at night.\u201d That\u2019s a terrific idea, and not one that most people would ever think of. It\u2019s also a good idea to turn your oven off when you\u2019re not baking \u2013 or putting your head inside it.<\/p>\n
Beyond all those tips, here are a few others to toss onto that surging bandwagon that\u2019s rolling into Greensville:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Each night, assign each member of your family a single, 40-watt, incandescent light bulb \u2013 one of those curly-cue types that looks like the top of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone. Then, as each person goes from room to room at night, they take their bulb with them, screwing it in and out of fixtures as needed. This does, of course, require a keen memory of exactly where all the fixtures and furniture is located, since it will be pitch-black in between times. It might be wise to put phosphorescent paint on the cat.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Rather than operate an electricity-hogging vacuum cleaner, tidy up your carpets by covering your body in two-sided sticky tape. Then, roll around the floors for a while. They\u2019ll be spic and span inside of 20 minutes. Make sure grandpa gets in on the fun, too.<\/p>\n
Always be looking for ways to multi-task. For example, when using your clothes dryer, toss the frozen meat you\u2019re using for dinner in there, too. It\u2019ll be completely defrosted by the time the load\u2019s done.<\/p>\n
Be sure to put it into a heat-resistant baggie first, or you may get marbling in your towels and pillowcases.<\/p>\n
\u2022 A personal trainer I know recommends taping a ham sandwich onto your torso prior to working out. By the time you\u2019re done, you\u2019ll have a ready-to-eat hot meal.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Some neighborhoods are experimenting with the idea of organizing block bathing parties. It\u2019s all about folks saving energy \u2013 and getting to know each other better \u2013 by taking baths together. Statistics show 11 percent lower electric and water bills. The other news: A 42 percent increase in divorces \u2013 and new marriages.<\/p>\n
\u2022 One more idea to consider: There are thousands of traffic light intersections in this state, all of them featuring the customary green, yellow and red lights. But since most drivers seem to pay no attention to the yellow ones, why not just turn those off? The cost savings would be considerable. And TV news would have lots of cool car crashes to show us each night. Everybody wins.<\/p>\n
Pat Cashman is a writer, actor and public speaker. He can be reached at pat@patcashman.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A neighbor of mine \u2013 Tony \u2013 is trying his best to take this \u201cgoing green\u201d thing seriously. For example, he tells me that he\u2019s recently begun recycling his newspaper each week. \u201cThe entire newspaper?\u201d I asked. He shook his head. \u201cNo, \u201che admitted. \u201c Just your column.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-23646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23646"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23646"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}