Environmental musings from a home on the range
A few of the thoughts that have come to mind--mine or Alice's--during my week as temporary director of the domestic front:
-Is the breathtaking view of a snow-capped mountain range from the grocery store parking lot sufficient compensation for the fact that the grocery store doesn't sell coffee yogurt? Or any Dannon yogurt? Or real bagels? Or a decent loaf of crusty French bread? I never thought I would miss Wegman's as acutely as I do. But then, if we're to take eating locally seriously, maybe I shouldn't be asking for New York bagels and abundant fresh produce in an arid climate 2000 miles west of New York?
-Is it ecologically better to drive the 18-mile round-trip to Home Depot for CFL lightbulbs or to order them online and have someone deliver them to my house? What about the 20 miles to Michael's versus direct delivery of picture-mounting tabs? The 24 miles to Old Navy, Children's Place, or Gymboree or direct delivery of children's outwear? Or should people who live in such a low-density, sprawling city be leading the charge towards doing without so much stuff?
The miles one has to put on the car for a standard shopping trip here drive me batty...the more so because they don't seem to drive other people batty. I had an illuminating conversation with a young hairdresser native to the Springs who seemed unable to envision the kind of development pattern I was describing when I said I really missed walkable commercial districts.
-Now that we're in a place where the skies are not cloudy all day (or at least haven't been since August), are disposable diapers in fact a more ecologically friendly choice than cloth?
-I don't know about the antelope, but the deer do roam here, up and down the street, through our backyard, up and down the hill, all day long. Should I feel guilty that we've so thoroughly invaded their habitat or glad to think we can share the space so amicably?
-Is it reasonable, given the carbon footprint of air travel, to want so much to be able to share this gorgeous place with all the friends and family I'm hoping will visit?
Alice's contribution, on being directed to dry her hands one morning in our home bathroom:
-Why not paper towels here at home?
And totally unrelated to environment, today for her 23-month birthday (the last time we'll count in months...sniff), Alice popped out with the following:
And then she didn't stop--just kept chanting it over and over.
3 comments:
You could take up deer hunting to restore ecological balance and purchase less supermarket meat? :) Or combine trips to all needed stores at once (I guess that's a similar efficiency as gained by having items delivered by a USPS/UPS/FedEx truck already coming to the area?)... Hmmm... A, B, C, D, E, F, G...
I've got to believe delivery makes far more sense given that distance to the stores. Because remember that the trucks are combining trips. And also, the environmental impact of the store is also the footprint of the store itself, and the delivery of goods to the store from a central warehouse, in addition to your drive. -brian c
I've thought about the issue in respect to Fresh Direct, and I have to believe that there is environmental benefit to doing away with the store.
We have also been contemplating such issues here in our smaller town. There is no Target within 45 minutes. Good, right? No big box store. However, driving 6 different places to look for a toaster seems a bit batty and carbon-overload. Repeat for a bunch of other household items that didn't make the move. Our solution has been Amazon.com with our free prime shipping through our edu account (does everyone know about this - it's great!). Or just not buying it, which also seems to be a good answer for our budget-strapped bank accounts. In other news, Alice's command of the ABC is outstanding! ;)
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