What does 'going green' mean to you? Is the term overused or diluted?

Comment

Comment by Tom Heatherington on July 29, 2008 at 12:59pm

Green – overused? Yes, profusely. Overrated? No.

The concept of doing things green requires no debate. Everything we do that uses less energy, reuses or recycles materials and benefits the planet in some way is a good thing that no one can deny.

The problem with the ‘green’ label is that it is being attached to everything and is often nothing more than a marketing term having no relative meaning to the accepted definition of green. In my opinion, the ‘greenwashing’ of products is making us less sensitive to the real problem.

~ Tom

PS: No electrons were harmed in the creation of this comment :-)

Comment by Tom & Barbara Gaskell/Heritage Log Home Dealers/VA on July 26, 2008 at 11:54am

Donald,

That is a great statement about the "Green" Movement. Those of us that have chosen the lifestyle of Log Home living are way ahead of the rest of the world. We use renewable recourses such as getting our logs from tree farms and not cutting down old growth trees, geothermal energy and solar energy to name few. When we built our log home, we only cut down the trees that the inspectors said that we had to for the house and drain field. It was still too many! It is my opinion that we, as a group, do more for the environment than any of those so called activists who make the speeches but do not live the lifestyle they talk about!

Comment by Donald Parsons on July 26, 2008 at 10:40am

Fact or fiction, real or imagined, talk the talk or walk the walk...I'm 50 years old and definitely not a fan of the word "Green". Like Britney - "Green" is WAY overexposed and espoused by those wanting attention. I live on 22 acres packed with carbon sucking trees, live in a log home that has stored an untold amount of carbon, we have been recycling for years, composting food items, switched to florescent light bulbs years ago, been driving vehicles that get 26+ per gallon, tele-commuting, etc, etc, all before the "Green" Kool-aide was being served. What turns me off about this "movement" is that those serving the Kool-aide don't "walk the talk" - living in large energy in-efficient homes, drive large SUV's or better yet - chauffeured driven SUV's, fly in their private jets and typically think - its best for the masses but not for me. That is what turns me off about "Green". In our current "throw away" society where we have to have the most current cell phone, computer, big screen TV, etc. etc. does anyone THINK where all the "old" technology goes to? We're filling up land fills with our "we can just go to Wal-Mart and get a new one" type of thinking. Be consciously conservative in your buying and living habits. Everything in moderation. Be the best steward of and to the earth and you won't have to join a movement, drink the Kool-aide or be "Green". You'll be living a responsible life which is what we should all be doing anyway. And by the way - when I fly a commercial airplane somewhere, instead of ME paying for my "carbon off-set", I'll expect "the movement" to pay me for all my carbon sucking trees that are cleaning up after all those "tree-less" city-dwellers. Log homes ROCK - country living is THE BEST - environmentally and otherwise. Cheers - Donald

Comment by Michael McCarthy on July 25, 2008 at 1:06pm

It means being smart and informed about how we use our resources----all resources: water, fossil fuels, and yeah, building materials.

Lots of what we hear about being "green" is related to scaling back; that is, not using as much of a resource. That's wonderful, but also somewhat old school. But a new wave of thinking has evolved: how we harness our existing resources. We're learning to become better stewards of what we have...how we site our homes to take advantage of solar gain, how much roof overhang we have, how we heat/cool our homes, etc.

Upshot: Green's definition has changed. It's simply about being smarter. And it's not a fad...