Green Options

I remember reading the little placard on the bathroom vanity advising me to hang my damp towels with curiosity. We were on vacation and it was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. We did this at home, but it seemed more practical - a way to avoid doing laundry each night. There was also a note about turning the lights out when we left our room. Little things.

We discussed the hanging of the towels and the turning off of the lights over a shrimp dinner that night at some tourist trap. I remember my mom saying that if we all do a little, we can do a lot. So I thought it was great when I heard of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s new executive order that requires state agencies and departments to hold meetings and conferences at lodgings that meet the new Florida Green Lodging standards.

I was standing at the refrigerator door, pouring filtered water into my son’s sippy cup when a terrifying news story from a few weeks ago flashed through my head: “Pharmaceuticals Found in Tap Water” the headlines had screamed. According to the AP report: trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer were found. And a study released by Medco Health Solutions Inc. reported that HALF of all insured Americans were on medications for chronic health conditions. Are you kidding me?

That’s an awful lot of chemically-laced poop and pee (as we say in my house) being flushed each year. For some reason when the story broke it didn’t hit home to me. I don’t live in a metropolis, but as I stood there with that sippy cup I realized I don’t want my son drinking birth control pills, no matter what the dosage level. And what if he had been exposed to this when he was an infant?