MARCH EDITION

EDITOR'S THOUGHTS

March is the month of all things green. Slogans like, “Take Care of Mother Earth”, or “ Protect the Trees” are heard all over the airways, and the television. Personally, it’s starting to become a little overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big advocate of taking care of the planet that we were left as caretakers of. We should take responsibility for the earth, because it is ours. Although I seriously doubt that people making minimum wage at McDonald’s, are worried or loosing sleep over - paper versus plastic bag options at the grocery store. For that matter, buying organic food or cleaning supplies from Whole Foods Market, versus the cheaper substitutes, is not a hard decision when placed in those shoes. I get annoyed after spending half of my pay check at Jewel’s (grocery of Chicago) , and they can’t even offer you any bags. Now, how am I supposed to get all that stuff to my car, and up 6 floors to my place?

When “poop hits the fans”, you’re only concerned about, “how will this decision affect my pockets, and any of my spare energy?” Can we really afford to save the environment in this economy, and pay bills this month? Do you really want to live in a green house with solar panels, and no AC? Think what you want to, but it’s not easy being green, while you’re still in the red (and your bank account).

Furthermore, the whole green garment philosophy really boggles my mind. And let’s be honest, truly eco-friendly clothing, means buying no new clothes at all. When you take all the energy that goes into laundering and washing into account, you’ve used large quantities of water, energy, and chemicals. Never mind dry- cleaned clothes! Cold washed and line dried methods are really the only way to alleviate the costs to the earth. Producing , constructing, and distributing a line of clothing, is the least bit of your worries. Longevity in fabrics, and button options are important too. Selecting clothing that you can wear for the next 20 years, and still looks as good as the day that you purchased it, is hard to do. Recyclables from thrift stores are an option, but who really wants to wear clothes from 20 years ago?

Looking on the bright side of my Debbie – Downer moment (last 24 lines that you just read), I recently started saving cans and plastic bottles to reuse as part of my art exhibit. My art work turned out beautiful (of course), but the collection of rubbage used in it’s construction, started to smell funny after a few weeks. I even saw a few bugs- yuck.

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