A few words about Earth Day

On Sunday night I watched HGTV's new show called something like... 20 ways your home could save the planet... It was fairly ridicules...

There were a few decent ideas if and only if you were building a new house... it seems that the creators of this program completely ignored the aspect of reuse in the whole reduce, reuse and recycle idea.

When recommending new cupboards, they suggested A) something locally grown (good idea) b)something farmed (yes, another novel choice) and c) something renewable (as much as wood can be renewed...) Brilliant right? Fine if you're building new (isn't it more responsible to use an existing home and modify it?) but if you are simply replacing your cupboards due to aesthetics, then that is not responsible at all now is it?

I especially frowned at the part in the show where the host commented that she is saving the environment because she just went out and purchased an new bamboo lounger... hmm... what did you do with the old one? Why couldn't you buy a used one... oh, I know why... our lives are so disposable aren't they?

I realize that HGTV exists as all forms of fashion do, to entice the consumer to purchase what is new what is hot, what is now. If nobody was interested in redoing their homes, or building new, HGTV wouldn't exist in the same form, so of course they have to do what they do.... (Last Christmas when we purchased a TV for our bedroom, all the TV frames were black, and I remembered feeling that our big one that we bought in '04 was outdated looking as it has a silver grayish frame... hmm... once I realized the scam I was okay with how it looks...) I guess my point is that HGTV with this particular show was misleading... here are some questions I had at the end of the program...

- So should I go out and buy all new energy saving and less carbon emitting light bulbs (with all their packaging... which of course I would recycle, but however...) replace the ones that work perfectly well but are not environmentally friendly, and toss them into the garbage although they still work? Wha? Huh?

- Should I replace all our flooring that is perfectly fine, but wasn't made with the environment in mind? If you seen this show, it made me feel guilty for not having cork or bamboo floors...

- What about sheets? Should I purchase new ones although mine are okay?

- Should we tear down our deck and replace it with something more environmentally friendly? It is better or worse to use cleaning chemicals on it, as well as earth killing stain and take care of it, so we don't have to replace it?

People, use what you have, take care of the things that you own. Take care of your lawn furniture and barbecues so you don't have to buy new ones and trash the old. Don't worry if your possessions aren't with the cutting edge of fashion....Yes, buy responsibly, but don't get caught up in what the Jones' have.

Yes, last year we did buy new family room furniture, but we gave our old stuff to my brother (it was way worn, but he doesn't care...) All I'm saying is do what you can, you'll save money and the environment, right? Ugh, I don't know...