Green Options

Editor’s note: I originally published this post on Intent.com

November 15th is America Recycles Day! As Robin noted on Tuesday, it’s an occasion that can create mixed feelings for us “greenies”: yes, it’s great to have recognition of the importance of recycling in our daily lives, but the very existence of America Recycles Day reminds us that, in many cases, American’s don’t recycle… or, not nearly enough of us, anyway. We need to address that issue on the level of mindset as well as accessibility: many of us don’t think about our disposal of “waste” as we should, but many others don’t have access to convenient recycling services… and we’d like both to change.

I’d imagine both of those issues will receive plenty of attention today. I’d like to bring up another concept that doesn’t get discussed as much: recycling as a moral yardstick for one’s commitment to environmental protection and restoration.  You know what I’m talking about: the mixture of disbelief and downright contempt many of us experience, and express, when we find out someone doesn’t separate recyclables out from their home waste stream.  “You don’t recycle?!” We often “ask” this rhetorical question with a tone reserved for question like “You don’t vote?” or “You don’t wash your hands after using the bathroom?” Failure to recycle is a personal and social failing akin to passing gas at a cocktail party…

OK, maybe that’s a little strong, but I do think we tend to approach the act of recycling as a sign of virtue.  I don’t know that this is always the best way to get more people not only separating out waste paper and aluminum cans from the “trash,” but also thinking about the impact of their consumption choices.  As someone who’s been guilty of all the above-mentioned sins, I’d like to share my resolutions for this America Recycles Day (why wait until New Year?).

2007 is officially history, and what a year it was! Gavin’s provided a fantastic overview of some of the big green stories from last year… there’s plenty to celebrate as we consider the next steps we must take to meet the many environmental challenges that face us.

Here at GO, we’re also celebrating our first year in existence: Thursday will mark the one-year anniversary of Green Options’ beta launch. It was an exciting, challenging and fulfilling year: we had successes and hiccups, and (hopefully) learned much from both. As we move into 2008, we’ll be ratcheting up our efforts to help you make greener choices: look for new network blogs (with additional expert writers), and other web properties designed to guide you down the path towards a greener, more abundant lifestyle.

To get the new year started off right, we thought we’d share with you some of the plans each of us are making to make 2008 an even more sustainable year. Here are some of the resolutions members of the Green Options Media writing team have made:

Editor's note: We're pleased to welcom Tiffany Washko to the GO blog! Tiffany writes for GNMParents (among others), and her biweekly pieces that we'll publish here are one half of a content swap we're doing with that site. In this case, we'll be trading original pieces: our "Green Family Values" writer Jennifer Lance will be fulfilling our half of the obligation at GNMParents — you can find her first post