Sunday, June 7, 2009

Go Green or Go Home!

I have fully embraced the philosophy of "going green". Everyone keeps talking about it but this girl is really trying to do something about it. Obviously I'm not the only one & I applaud anyone who chooses to live this life. I have always shut off lights when I leave a room & have never left the water running while I brush my teeth. I have never been one to litter or even spit my gum on the ground so changing to this new way of life was not the most difficult transition for me. I kind of force it upon everyone & might be starting to annoy one or two non-eco-friendly civilians.

When I worked for the accountant a few months back, she would constantly reuse paper & just write things on the other side or use double-sided printing. Such a simple choice but it saved so much paper, so I of course implemented this strategy at Holly Hill when I returned there. The problem is that nobody remembers to do this & I am like the green police around the office yelling at everyone for throwing away paper. I put up a sign reminding people to reuse/recycle but clearly this sign should be in neon lights & play on repeat on a speaker. I am a broken record when it comes to telling people to flip over the paper. It makes perfect sense though so I don't get what's so hard about it. Not only are you saving money by having to buy less paper, but you are also helping the environment!

Another thing about working in a business is the amount of plastic bags people go through. Yes, I totally understand if you have multiple items that require a bag & I am not against that in the least. My problem comes in when somebody has 1 thing that can easily be carried by hand or fit in a pocket book & they ask for a bag. Before I bag people's things, I always ask if they would like a bag if it's one of those questionable purchases. I must inadvertently give them the stink eye when they choose the bag because some people feel it necessary to explain to me why they need a bag. I'm judging you no matter the explanation you give me, so save your breath. I tend to smile at those that opt to save the earth.

Customers also come in with their water samples with containers of all different shapes & sizes. I always try to give people back their bottle, bag, container, etc. so they can reuse it for the next time they come in but noooo some people just insist on throwing them away. Have you ever heard the statistics about plastic bottles & how they are so super deadly to the environment? I recently reprimanded my mother for buying a case of bottled water & I think she felt so bad about it that she went out & bought all of us aluminum water bottles. Filtered water tastes the same as bottled water people, get it in your heads & stop buying bottled water! I don't mean to sound like a Green Peace Environmental freak or anything but like I said, I have fully embraced this lifestyle & I am now about as green as a smurf is blue!

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