Writing a green blog is a great deal like being a minister.  Why?  Because when I inform acquaintances about our website’s mission, they invariably launch into their own eco-failings. I listen and nod, acting as though I have the power to pardon their sordid eco-sins. Of course, I have no such ability—partly because I’m not an eco-evangelist and partly because I too am a work in progress

The truth is, my family has a list of transgressions against the planet just like everyone else.   Today I shall confess them to you:

#1 We use disposable diapers for Roscoe at night.  I actually wrote a whole post about my green mom guilt on this issue.  It’s difficult, but we’re just so desperate for sleep that we’re willing to use seven disposables per week.  We buy the chlorine-free Seventh Generation diapers but they don’t break down in landfills any better than standard disposables.

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#2 There is a plastic exersaucer in my attic.  It’s true!  We were never planning on buying one of this large landfill-occupying contraptions, but when we were given a used one for free, we didn’t turn it down.  When Roscoe was little we occasionally used it just so that he could see the world a bit more and I could get dinner in the oven.  Part of my dark confession is that I know exersaucers can actually can delay walking in children and aren’t developmentally helpful in any way.  So please know that I would never endorse the exersaucer as a necessary piece of baby gear!

#3 We love take-out.  On a Friday evening after a long work week, there is nothing we enjoy more than watching a movie while eating Phad King and Lad Nah out of take-out boxes. I’m having a happy Thai food flashback just thinking about it!  Lately I ask restaurants if they use Styrofoam before ordering and opt to go elsewhere if they do.  Someday I aspire to ask that they spoon my meals into the tupperware I bring, but I haven’t reached that green goal yet.  For now we go for the recyclable plastic containers. 

#4  We are remodeling nuts.  Our house is a work in progress, and while we aren’t the granite countertop type, we have replaced doors and windows for aesthetic reasons and will most likely reconfigure the kitchen someday.  Remodeling isn’t the greenest thing to undertake and I feel a little guilty replacing perfectly functional (although hideously ugly) items in our home.  On the upside, we do try to recycle all our used materials by taking them to a fabulous used warehouse called Bring.  It assuages a bit of my green guilt.

#5  I grocery shop at a big-box store.  It’s employee owned, but doesn’t have as many eco-friendly options as other stores do.  As a result, I end up buying groceries at a few different stops to get all the items on our list—which uses up gas and time.  Also, doing the bulk of my shopping at the cheapest store forces me to buy more mainstream items than I really want.  This is why one of my resolutions is to come up with a better solution for thrifty, green grocery shopping in the year to come.

Roscoe Shows his Green Disappointment In Us 

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#5  We drive a Toyota Forerunner.  This is my darkest confession of all.  We’ve been using the truck (dare I say, SUV?) for years since my sister-in-law first generously lent it to us.  It sits in our garage for about eight months of the year when my husband bikes to work, but I still feel guilty every time we use it.  This year it shall be replaced with an eco-friendly alternative, but still!     

So, there you have it.  You now have no reason whatsoever to imagine that I’m eco-perfect. Please be convinced that I have no judgments against anyone’s green shortcomings–I have my own eco-sins to overcome!