How Not to be Green

I found an interesting article about the Green Building Boom. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=13220

I am sort of a self proclaimed Eco-Nerd. I dream of a house with solar panels and even have spent an eveing looking up manual reel lawn mowers ( I someday hope to own a Brill Luxus 38) like most guys would do with cars or motorcyles.

But really most people are just silly, or at least prone to overcomplication, when it comes to seeking out the 'green life.'

I know some people who 'dream' of moving from their city home to the country so that they can grow their own food, build a super efficient house, and have lots of solar panels and windmills. The thing is, though, that the process of building that home and driving 20 miles to get to anything useful is going to far surpass the amount of energy they use living in their "inneficient' city home.

I know other people that rant and rave about how we need to change our lighbulbs to save the earth but buy overpackaged prepared food and fresh fruit in december (shipped across the country in big trucks.) I know people that will nearly kill you if you get plastic grocery bags or styrofoam cups instead of paper bags or cups (even though paper bags and cups require far more petroleum to grow, harvest and manufacture than is embodied in a plastic bag or a styrofoam cup).

I think we are prone to just jumping on the bandwagon, rather than really thinking how our decisions make a difference. I think this article is a good challenge to consider thinking backwards instead of forwards and also looking at the big picture, when trying to be eco friendly, instead of just feeding those who are capitalizing on our disires to be green.
Mike