Its Not Easy Going Green

            My husband and I are not “green” people. You’ll only catch us being ecologically conscious by accident, out of laziness or because it’s cheaper. Occasionally, we do something green because we think it’s healthier or better in some way, but it’s not the environment we’re thinking of. We buy paper goods in bulk (paper towels, paper plates, etc.) so we don’t have to reduce, reuse or recycle. Whatever the opposite of green is, that’s pretty much us. Lately though, this lack of care has been weighing on me and I want to make some changes. I want to see us “going green,” or at least getting closer.

            This blog is about me putting this average-joe family on a green road. I expect there will be kicking and maybe even some screaming along the way. To tell you the truth, I’m a little scared about it…I don’t really know what this will take or how “green” we can feasibly go. I heard about the family in NY who is trying for a year to leave zero carbon footprint and it sounds hard. I don’t think I’m ready for that. I’m more of a baby-steps kinda gal. Even if I were inclined to get gung-ho and jump in feet first to a no impact lifestyle, it would be so foreign and strange to me that it would probably only last a day or two…well…let’s be honest…I’d be done as soon as I had to compost poo.

            One of the reasons we haven’t made an effort to be ecologically conscious before is because it’s always seemed like a liberal’s issue. If I sat down to talk politics with Al Gore, we’d probably have a disagreement inside a minute and he’s become the poster boy for global warming issues. Tree-huggers, granola heads, hippies. These labels (often used as epithets) conjure up images of dredlock wearing, VW van driving, sprout eating protesters. They’re pro-choice, I’m pro-life. They’re for gay marriage, I’m for God’s word (Romans 1:26-28). If they’re for environmental causes, then I’m not. That’s what I used to think, anyway. As it turns out, there are many out there who are working for God AND working to clean up the world.

            As I think about all this, it makes a lot of sense and I can see the environment IS a Christian conservative’s issue. In Genesis, God gave charge of creation to man. He was to subdue the earth and have dominion over it (1:27, 28); he was to tend and keep the Garden of Eden (2:15). This stewardship entrusted to Adam has been dropped by recent generations and we’re about to have to pay the consequences. Don’t get me wrong; God is more than capable of caring for His creation, but when someone gives you something to take care of, you don’t turn around and destroy it. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

            I’m somewhat ashamed that it hasn’t been my issue before. Those who don’t believe in or worship the same God I do often believe they just turned up here by some kind of lucky cosmic accident they call the Big Bang, yet they’re caring for the world. I believe this world was given to me and I’m not caring for it? Why has it taken me this long to see that it should be my issue, my responsibility? Shouldn’t I be one who stands up for God’s works as well as His word? I may not be standing in a picket line to protest when an anti-gay marriage bill gets signed, but maybe the granola heads would be willing to teach me how to help protect the world (if I promise not to call them granola heads).

So, here’s me…baby-stepping toward green-ness and dragging my family along.

Step-one: Go hug a tree.

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