I'm all for saving the planet. Really. I think it's a nice little habitat. Still, there's a balance. Exactly how much am I willing to give in order to ensure that fewer greenhouse gasses are headed into the atmosphere?
A few weeks ago, after spending an hour with our old-fashioned push mower (the kind that is powered by nothing but the effort you put into pushing the blades around) to get half the front yard looking chewed on, I threw in the towel. I told Adam I'd had enough green, and sent him off to the store to buy a gas-powered mower.
When it comes down to it, I discovered that while I'm willing to work a little harder to be greener and (especially) to save money, working twice as hard with our old mower to have a lawn that looks twice as ratty as our neighbors' just isn't worth the trouble for me.
So, if they announce next month that the ozone layer has another hole and it's over the midwest this time, you know who to blame.
Yeah, mowing the dadgum lawn is not where I'm doing my bit for the environment, either.
ReplyDeleteOur mower is even self-propelled.
But we're trying to be better about recycling! And gas prices have me driving much, much less.
See? I'm doing my part!
I think we should all go PINK! or Purple. That would be fun. I've been hanging my clothes to dry and washing my dishes by hand. Those are easy things that don't involve sweating.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post - specifically the push mower information. I have a bad habit of romanticizing those things and I'm sure my husband will be glad to hear the end of my lamenting.
ReplyDeleteMy own efforts include clothes that are 1/2 as soft for twice the work (line -drying). And don't believe all the ways people on the internet claim you can make them softer, ie. hanging in the wind, using vinegar in the rinse cycle, etc. Last year I did not use the dryer once the entire summer (while pregnant, mind you) and we saved a lot of money, and ozone layer, but our clothes were sometime uncomfortable and the towels basically sucked :(
Ummm--we tear our commercially produced baby wipes in half? And we use the refills instead of buying a new container each time. Oh, and we use old towels for spills, instead of paper towels. (pats self on the back)
ReplyDeleteSurely that offsets our consumption of gas in our 15 passenger van every Sunday morning!
:)
Jeanne
Don't feel bad! My hubby and I were just talking about this. We started out with a manual push mower because we couldn't afford a gas one, and I like being "different". That lasted one summer. We have a regular size lawn, front and back, but it was just too much. My husband says we barely use 1 ENTIRE gallon of gas in our gas mower for the WHOLE summer. That's $4 a year (at current prices), people. And only one gallon of gas. So, really, it's not like you're a huge polluter by using a gas mower instead of a push mower. Lose the guilt. :)
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