(EDITOR’S NOTE: The essay below is part of an ongoing literary project sponsored by Sustainable Indiana 2016. In short, the group has collected “so many stories of Hoosiers taking a more sustainable path that we can literally write the book on how green living in Indiana is taking off.” See more at sustainableindiana2016.org.)
Hi. My name is Renée and I’m a greenaholic.
It started 10 or more years ago. I wanted to start taking better care of my health, so I read a book. This particular book was about a doctor who was diagnosed with testicular cancer, hit rock bottom, was near death, decided to change his diet, healed himself with organic, healthy food, and lived to write a book. Don’t ask me what it was called — unfortunately, I don’t remember.
What I do remember is that I translated the message of the book to fit my own life: Take care of the Earth and it gives us everything we need to take care of ourselves.
And so it began — probably first with my buying organic fruits and vegetables because it’s better for the environment and my health. Then maybe realizing that if I take my own shopping bag to buy those fruits and vegetables, I’m creating less waste. From there, it was probably a reusable mug for my soy chai addiction (an entirely different support group) and phasing out paper towels.
I’m not sure when it turned in to an obsession, but it did. Fast forward to now when I feel immense guilt when the tasting room reaches for the plastic sample cup faster than I can say, “No, thank you!” — and the same amount of frustration when they say, “Oh, don’t worry, we recycle.” Or the total disdain I have for people who take a plastic bag for one or two items with the rationalization that they will reuse the bag to pick up dog poo.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all-in when it comes to reusing and recycling. But not when those acts are used as a Band-Aid to the excessive and inexcusable amount of waste that our entitled society has grown accustomed to creating. Sorry, did I go too far with that?
Seriously, though, my life has become plagued with constant, compulsive thinking about my green-ness. If I plug my phone in overnight, am I wasting electricity during those hours after my phone is fully charged? Is leaving a light on when we’re away from home good for safety or a waste of electricity? Once I asked my electrical engineer dad to help me calculate how much energy we could save if we opened or closed our garage door once or twice less per day. And for years I’ve questioned which is worse: flushing a tissue down the toilet for our wastewater treatment plant to deal with or tossing it in the trash where it will eventually be burned in the incinerator. I currently go the trash route, if you’re wondering.
I haven’t used the excuse that I left my reusable shopping bags in the car or at home in years and I’ve been known to make fun of folks who still think that’s an appropriate response. If I don’t have a reusable mug with me, I don’t get coffee to go. I may even silently judge friends who don’t recycle or make other wasteful choices. Sitting in a meeting with disposable coffee cups and plastic water bottles gives me anxiety.
Please understand, I’m by no means perfect. I am also addicted to air travel and cheese (did you know that animal agriculture is the most environmentally destructive industry facing the planet; waste from a farm of 2,500 dairy cows equals the waste from a city of 411,000 people? Source: Cowspiracy). I’m too much a wimp to ride my bike if it’s below 50 degrees outside. I have used Round-Up to kill bind weed that threatened to invade my garden. I recently bought an EPS foam cup of ice cream — for my dogs.
All this to say that no matter all the side effects of this condition, I’m proud of the direction my life has taken and I won’t be engaging in any programs to rid myself of this addiction. My therapy is writing and, hopefully, helping others find ways they can green their own lives. I will always encourage you and anyone who will listen to reduce before you reuse and reuse before you recycle. I will continually seek one more way to cut back on my own waste and share my ideas, even if they’re tiny, with you. Because I believe that individual efforts, no matter how small or large, add up and can have a huge impact on our planet.
