Am I Greener than I thought?

I have never made much of an effort to be environmentally friendly. Well, I haven't. I'm honest. And lazy.

But I think I am greener than I originally thought I was.

Granted, sometimes it pays to be greener. I have a hybrid car, a Prius. I can go two weeks without filling up. And when I fill up I may pay $25, even now with high gas prices. I can usually get 48-49 MPG out of my Prius. Yes, it was more expensive than a Corolla or maybe even a Camry. But it looks so cool and futuristic, and it has all these buttons... I love buttons. I was surprised at the low MPG many luxury cars offer. It's ironic we have both ends of the spectrum; one of the most efficient cars, the Prius, and one of the most inefficient vehicles, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with 4 wd. 'Nuff said, we hardly use the Jeep.

I recycle a lot. Our recycle bin is considerably fuller than the rest of my neighbors. I don't take extra napkins at the restaurant. We don't use straws at all. I try to buy products that have been recycled, like printer paper. Even A has changed out all our lightbulbs to fluorescent lightbulbs, which really reduce our electric bill. I made a point of buying a newer house with more efficient windows and super efficient HVAC unit (okay, that was a side benefit). I cover my windows with multiple layers to improve the efficiency of the HVAC. A uses public transportation all the time. I pick products that don't harm the environment. But it's almost subconscious already. I swear I don't do it to be trendy! It just happened!

After reading an article in Time about how crappy the environmental situation is and what people can do to make a difference, I realize I already do a lot of those things. I am probably greener than 90% of the world. And I wasn't even trying, I swear! I think most of it has rubbed off from A, who's (first) B.S. was in Biology and loves all animals, especially the ugly and yucchy ones. I think we do most of the things we do because in the long run it helps us save money, but if we're doing our part to reduce our "carbon footprint", then great.

The shocker to me was realizing that there are people that don't believe there is anything wrong with the environment and we should do nothing about it. Hello!?! One guy at work, who was offended I am not a conservative but talked to me anyway, told me "Thing is, I don't believe in this global warming crap. I read an article in yadayada that says there is no proof of global warming."

I looked at him with those beautiful big brown eyes of mine and asked "Are you serious? Do you realize this is science, not like a myth or something, but actually a fact? That the ice caps are really melting and there really is a hole in the ozone? Like, for real? Like, not a myth?!?"

What an ignoramus. Yes, Virginia. There really is an environmental crisis.