Bottles Mary

Bottles Mary

The Green Cucumber

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The Green Cucumber

by: Mary Beth Byerly

 

I have always been interested in writing an article entitled "The Green Cucumber". Yes, I know put the cart before the horse, but that is exactly what happened. Of course I had different intentions on the body of the piece, but it seems to fit right into the recent and future state of our economy. I am also designing a website with the same name for purposes involving an Eco-friendly or "Green" environment.

Lately I have had some "green" encounters. No they are not "green" encounters of the third kind, but most of them are a bit freaky. I would have to say the information that I have, came to me in the form of dreams. I won't bore you with all of them but I will tell you my two favorites; in the first one I dream that I wake up and everything, I mean everything is green. The sun, the moon,(give me a break it is a dream) the people. Everywhere you look was a sea of green. I interpret this as God sending me a message to change. Second (my favorite) has sort of the same concept. I dream that I wake up and everything is white, which I connect with purity, and I am green. I see this as everyone on earth has made an effort to change their lives and help in some way, but I represent the activists and am quite overbearing at times. The reason I say this is because some environmentalists are only about the cause. We all want the same ending, but need to do it in our own way. Most of us are striving to get to the same solution. "Rome wasn't built in a day"!

I have come face to face and opened my eyes to the Eco-friendly revolution, for lack of a better word, that is going on all around us. This affects all walks of life, all industries from farmers to large corporations; what we eat, what we build, how we do most of the things that we are programed to do and most of all how to deprogram most of us from our comfy lifestyles and get involved. You can still have your comfort, but do it in a way as not to hurt the environment. The couch you are sitting on should be made of Eco-friendly materials and the television you are watching should be a HD energy efficient tube. The reason I used that example is because my husband and I are couch potatoes. As soon as dinner is prepared and eaten and the dishes are put in our energy efficient dish washer, we go directly to the living room and turn on the tube. This is our relaxation time and we deserve it after a long day of work. Other people may have a different way to relax, but it all comes down to the same thing, trying to change what you do to help the environment.

Watch the things that you eat. I have researched Eco-friendly foods, and still don't know how to interpret them. I found a website called "EcoFriendly Foods". If you are interested, browse this site. On the left hand side under the "about" section are 50 or more restaurants that only serve, what else, EcoFriendly Foods. I only checked out a few, but the restaurants that I did review have complete menus from appetizers to desserts. Some of the entree's sound delicious, but I have yet to figure out how to read them. Some of them have great names, but I can not understand if it is actually the food itself or a combination of "green" ingredients mixed up to make people think they are eating, lets say a hamburger.

Let's talk about cars. Most of our population can not afford to buy a new car right now. The state of our economy is horrendous. We have less jobs and more responsibilities According to KBB (Kelley Blue Book)"it's hard to know whether it makes sense to trade-in your current car for something more fuel efficient". I entered my information on my vehicle and my trade-in value was a little more than $2000.00. So my dilemma, as well as most peoples', I have no car payments right now and I can only get so much for my vehicle. What to do? Of course everyone, including myself will keep their vehicle. The only thing to remember is when you do go out to buy that new car, check out the hybrids. If that is not for you, find a car that is made by a manufacturer who is most compliant to the Eco-friendly world. They are all doing it. Every new car that is being assembled has to rise above the standards that is expected of them. Pretty soon we will not have a choice. We must go green when buying that new automobile.

For anyone who does not know, a hybrid car is a vehicle that uses a rechargeable energy system and a normal gasoline fueled power source. They are low polluting and consume less gasoline than cars with pure internal combustion engines.

They say water is the gasoline of the future. Although water plays a big part of the green revolution, I highly doubt that it can replace gasoline entirely. The human body needs water to survive and it could be the top resource to help heal our planetary situation. An inventor, who wants to remain anonymous, believes that a 100% water car can be built. But there is no proof of this. He does have a car running on 93% water and 7% gasoline. That is a great accomplishment, considering what is going on now with the manufacturers of an Eco-friendly automobile. They are nowhere near having that feather in their cap.

"GBB-The Green Business Bureau is quickly becoming the standard for green businesses certification and accountability". Not every business can be perfectly green, but every business can start. Small businesses can not compete with large corporations, but there are things that you can do to help. When you run out of copy or printer paper, buy recycled paper. For ink-jet printers, you can recycle the cartridges. Most office supply stores will give back money when you bring your empty cartridges back to the store. For your laser printer, you can recycle the toner cartridge.

I have a page on my site called Good Life Bottles. All they sell is bottles. They make a high quality food grade stainless steel BPA free as well as toxin free hot or cold beverage bottle with a vacuum sealed cap. They are a friendly alternative to plastic bottles and are lightweight, reusable and 100% recyclable. The bottles come in two sizes 500ml and 1000ml. It is a great alternative for plastic.

A Green Job or also called a Green Collar Job is a job that contributes substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality. It could be in agriculture, research and development, administrative or any other jobs that are specific to protect ecosystems and biodiversity.

As part of their curriculum, schools should teach their students at an early age, about the environment. They should learn how to be a healthy and responsible adult by using resources wisely.

Do you recycle? If you are responsible person you probably do, but not enough. Years ago no one would dare throw away an empty jelly jar. They would usually reuse it as a drinking glass or a container of some sort. We need to get away from the throw-away society and recycle that empty jelly jar. Beer comes in glass bottles, why can't water? We don't need to spend a lot of money in order to go green. My thought is, it should be mandatory to recycle and use recycled materials. The city I live in makes the community recycle glass, plastic and newspapers. I think most cities and small towns do the same.

Have you ever noticed those windmill looking things that are right smack in the middle of nowhere? Riding in your car and bingo, there they are. Those are alternate sources of energy. Their real name is wind turbines (pretty close), and there is a demand for clean power to meet the world's growing energy needs. The wind turbines are the answer. They are highly efficient and meet energy needs and environmental awareness for now and in the future.

You can help by

• shutting down and unplugging electronics when not in use

• washing your clothes in cold water

• filling your bottle with filtered tap water

• updating your wardrobe

• exchanging CDs, DVDs and books instead of buying

• using refurbished electronics

• using kitchenware products made of recycled materials

 

Attention to green is here. Most of us are too busy and need to be reminded. But most of all we need to annoy all of the people who don't find it necessary to change.

I could go on and on about subjects that I did not address in this article. The fact of the matter is we are at war and have to change our ways for the better so our children and our childcare's children can live in an environment that is toxin free.

The "Green" revolution is NOT going to away, it is here to stay.

 

About the Author

I am 57 years old and have only been using the internet for about a year.  During that year I have become an affiliate marketer and an author as you can see.  My first websitet is http://CashMadeEzItk.com.  The next site is http://deertroutsmallgame.com.  I also have a site under construction.  I love to write and hope to get more involved once my websites take off.

Will someone sum up Mary Renault's novel Fire from Heaven, please?

I have write a report on it and I'm trying to read it but reading the back of a shampoo bottle is more exciting. Alexander's greatness: a product of nature or nurture.

Wow. The fact that you aren't loving this book amazes me. Her Alexander trilogy ("The Persian Boy" and "Funeral Games" are the other two books) is one of my favorite reads ever.

There are summaries on Amazon, but the book is about Alexander's life until his father is killed and Alexander is made king. That's all you're getting from me, so go do your homework.