I finally did it. I finally caved and bought some "reusable" grocery bags. They're bulky and awkward, but I did it anyway. Then they sat in my car through at least two grocery trips, because I forgot to take them into the store with me. Then I finally took them to Walmart and the poor checkout ladies had bagged half my stuff before I could tell them I brought my own bags. They seemed annoyed and flustered about moving all my stuff into the reusable bags and who can blame them... they don't fit very well on the walmart bagging carousel. And I've heard from a friend that using the reusable bags with the "self checkout" is a lot of work because the weight sensors freak out when you put them on the pad. The jury is still out on whether or not I like doing this, but quite frankly I feel bullied into it. Everywhere I shop (maybe with the exception of Walmart), I'm being asked when I check out if I'd like to purchase that store's reusable grocery bags. (Maybe Walmart doesn't ask me because I use self checkout 95% of the time I'm there.) When I finally did buy some, it was at Sprouts, my local Farmer's Market/Grocery store and I bought them because they didn't have any particular store logo on them. I don't want to buy them at one grocery store and then feel weird about bringing them into the competition. I already feel weird about bringing them anyway. Am I alone on this issue?
Speaking of "green living", I've also invested over $50 in CFL lightbulbs. The jury is still out on this too. I'll be perfectly honest... I didn't do this to save the environment. I did this to save $$$ on my electric bill. I don't like the harsh white light from CFL's and especially in my "earthtoned" house, they make my painted walls look... well, just WRONG. But, once again, I'm feeling bullied into this as well. The other day I counted the number of light bulbs in my house. It was shocking, even to me. 59 regular bulbs and 22 recessed bulbs. To change all those out will cost me a small fortune, but now that I have some done, I feel like I need to do them all so that I have a uniform lighting look. You can tell that my kitchen is still lit by incandescent bulbs and my nook is CFL. It's kinda weird in a room that's all connected. Here's my other beef with CFL's... in the 40 I've bought (bulk packs at Sam's Club) at least 2 didn't work right out of the package. That's over a buck a bulb. Then I've had 3-4 burn out after using them for just a month or two. Ouch! And did you know that you really aren't supposed to throw these away in the garbage? They have mercury in them and can poison the air in a room if they burst in the garbage can. Hmmm... maybe the environmentalist groups will wait 5 more years before most people's CFL's start burning out around the world to let us know what the proper disposal method of these babies are! One more gripe... they don't do so well with ceiling fans. Anyone in the desert knows that ceiling fans are a lifeblood in the summer (spring and fall, too) and if I have to choose CFL or fan, it's definitely fan. No question about it.
One more thing.... I drive a gas guzzler. I have to. We have 4 children, a tent trailer and a boat. I have to be able to tow and go on a road trip with six people and room for suitcases in the back. I actually love my gas guzzler and I figure if I'm willing to pay for the gas, no one else should be able to complain about it. My Chevy Suburban is equipped with a "flex fuel" option. This means that I can run my car on regular unleaded or E85. Our first E85 station just opened up 20 miles from our house. Three weeks ago they were selling E85 for $3.42 a gallon and Unleaded for $4.15. So, for fun, we drove the 20 miles and filled up on E85. What a waste. I got 4 mpg less with the E85 than I do with regular gas. I figured it out and it was costing me 34 cents per mile to use E85. At the $4.15 price, regular gas was 29 cents per mile. Reg unleaded would have to climb to $4.80 while E85 stayed at $3.42 for me to break even in the cost. So, I will never get E85 again. So, I have to wonder with such poor efficiency, why on earth are we using up our country’s food supply making a very crappy gas alternative? I love what Glenn Beck says on the topic of SUV emissions: "Just the increase in the amount of coal that China will burn by 2020 will send as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 3 billion Ford Expedition SUV's. At it's current pace, it would take Ford 15,000 years even to sell that many."
Here's my take on "green living". Moderation in ALL things. I think it's important to "do our part" to help conserve resources, but I don't condone all the extremism. And I really get annoyed by all these "celebrities" who fly all over the world in their leer jets promoting conservation. Do you think people like Cameron Diaz ride on commercial flights? (If you know the true answer to this, inquiring minds want to know!) Hey, in my mind, by choosing a commercial airline carrier when I travel, I'm essentially "carpooling", right? I loved the blip I heard on the radio from John McCain a couple weeks ago. He suggested that he should be joined by Barrack Obama at some town hall meetings around the country during the campaign season. He even suggested that they share a plane while they travelled around to the different locations. What an awesome idea!
I challenge Al Gore himself to buy a Prius (one of the ugliest cars ever made), drive it himself to AZ and live here with his thermostat at 85 degrees in July. I don't think he can do it!
