Monday, January 28, 2008

Ungreen Environmentalists

My husband tells me that a bill was passed recently which will outlaw plastic shopping bags. (I don't remember if it's Wisconsin or national.) Stores will have to return to paper bags. Now, personally, I always ask for paper instead of plastic. But the plastic that I get from Target or Walmart (or from the grocery store for carrying a bloody piece of roast) is used to make my garbage bags. But in the name of protecting the environment, we're going to get rid of those. Nevertheless, people will still be lining their kitchen trash bins with plastic. But now we'll have to BUY it instead of reusing our shopping bags. And THIS is what's considered environmentally friendly???

Whatever happened to "Reduce, REUSE, Recycle"?

And on a totally different tack, whatever happened to the government letting businesses run their businesses instead of the socialistic thing about the government micromanaging them? Ah, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

And then there's all the environmental problems caused by the new-fangled lightbulbs that are being foisted upon us with the soon-to-be-outlawed incandescent bulbs. But, hey, those new lightbulbs are "green" no matter what damage they do to the environment or people's health, because the experts on global warming have assured us that the new lightbulbs are good.

6 comments:

  1. I can't tell you how much the lightbulb ban upsets me. I am going to stockpile while I can so that I have enough incandescents to last me a lifetime!

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  2. I admit it: we do use some of the compact fluorescents. But I'll have it known that we use them to save money on electricity, in a few high-wattage fixtures that we seem to need all day, and most decidedly NOT because they're "green." (Which they're not.)

    Funny. I haven't heard ANYONE talking about the dangerous levels of mercury in our oceans for a long, long, LONG time. Harumph!

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  3. I can imagine us using those fluorescents in some places in the house for the sake of economy. But you're right -- they're not "green." And to have all options taken away stinks. What am I going to do without my full-spectrum Reveal bulbs?

    Kelly, can't you just see it? The underground black market full of DANGEROUS items like
    incandescent lightbulbs
    raw milk
    and toilets snuck in from Canada that actually flush!

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  4. COunt me in on the black market. We have cf bulbs in our basement fixtures and Colin kept putting them in everywhere to save $$. I hate hate hate them.

    I, too, need my full spectrum happy bulbs in the winter and am slowly laying in a supply of light bulbs when they're on sale.

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  5. What are full spectrum bulbs and where can they be purchased? Do they look different from regular old-fashioned lightbulbs?

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  6. Karen, I think there are the reeeeal full-spectrum lights that cost a fortune and are prescribed by a doctor. Then there's the el-cheapo version, for example, the "Reveal" bulbs. There are other brands too, and even some generic off-brands. They look like regular old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, but the frostedness of the bulb looks kinda blue instead of kinda white/yellow. And it makes a brighter light. Around here, they're available at the grocery stores and dept stores alongside the regular incandescents. They cost three times as much, so we choose where we place them, and try not to use them during summer. It seems to me that the Reveal bulbs help with mood during these months of little sunlight. Not as much as real phototherapy would, I'm sure. But still, they help.

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