Why I Don't Live "Green"...

Absolutely, Nuclear power is the best alternative. The only problem is the eco freaks and their childish rants to congress keep the nuclear option from reality.

Eco freaks that lie about caring about our dependence on oil.

They just need to realize that overall, nuclear IS greener and cleaner than coal or oil.

With wind, it kills so many birds that the cost of hiring someone to drive around and clean up the pile of carcasses completely offsets any money saved energy-wise.

Solar's good as a supplement, but at least currently, it's not good enough by itself. As technology progesses, it'll be worth it to stick solar panels on every roof, as it's a source of energy that takes up no additional space.

Exactly! The alternative sources are good as supplements, but they have no real viability as a main energy source.

I've wondered about some of the "natural living" suggestions too. I'm glad you can live the way you want to, but could any earth friendly products keep up with demand if the entire nation chose to use them?

I do believe they could. Really.. isn't that all there use to be? In the old days didn't everyone use these things? I know my grandma did. We cleaned with vinegar and baking soda then.. why not now? I do everyday and have built a cleaning business out of it LOL Handmade soap? Easy.. remember lye soap?? Ok maybe none of us "remember" it but we know what it is right? I use castile soap but that's not the point LOL My natural face soap sells for $2.99 but it lasts for MONTHS. That's pretty cheap too I'd say. I make my laundry soap in 15 minutes out of household ingredients. Costs me about $1.30 for 2 gallons.

Anyone can do it and if they can't...there are plenty of people selling it. What would happen if the world decided to do it is those of us who hand-make it.. could mass produce it and throw proctor and gamble in the ditch*lol*

Yes, in 1940, when the US population was 132,122,446, and most people made the products they used every day that was possible. But now our nation's population is 303,824,646, and most people live in areas where making their own products is impossible.

You make your own, and sell it to a very limited number of people. You can keep up with demand because only so many people are in the market.

What if you suddenly started getting orders for 100 units a day? Could you keep up? Even if you had the capital to expand accordingly, would you be able to get the materials needed to cover the orders?

Ok, multiply that 100 by 1 million.

The only reason you are able to live as green as you like is, you aren't forced to compete for limited resources the way you would be if we all went "green".

I do understand what you're saying. But there are SO MANY people like me who are buying, selling and/or making their own products. It's amazing really. I never knew there was this whole "other world" of people until 10 years ago. In that 10 years I've watched nearly everyone switch over who I know or come into contact with. Then we are seeing mainstream trying to jump on that wagon too.

My friend Dave started with his own products and a cleaning service and now he doesn't do the cleaning service at all because he had to start mass producing his products. I've seen the same with friends who make diapers, slings, etc. If they're having to mass produce already--then why couldn't they do it if the world demanded it? All that would mean really is that all those millions of people would have to go big like P&G. However, knowing P&G, they'd jump that wagon in a heartbeat.. oh wait.. they already are... now they sell that clorox stuff that's natural. And there's Method selling at Target and so on. Yes.. I think even if you eliminated people like me in selling-end of the industry.. those companies which already exist with their harsh toxins would simply switch over to the other side completely.

But really.. who can't do this?? Throw some vinegar and water in a bucket and mop. Want fragrance..throw in 3 drops of orange or lavender oils. My cleaners cost 2cents to make. Who can't do that?

I hope you are right, because there are some really good ideas in the real green market. But I still wonder if there is enough of each raw material to support mass production in the hundreds of millions of units per month category.... which is what national brands have to support.

Let's say people decided to drink fruit juice instead of soda pop. Would our entire fruit infrastructure be able to keep up with an increased demand of 15 billion gallons per year?

In that regards: absolutely not. People are ruining the earth and food is declining for many reasons. Unfortunately, as stated before, humans can't do it all.. they're too busy messing up to fix anything:-/

Yeah, I remember when we did get paid for recycling, but then local government's started mandating it and charging us for the trouble. It turns out that a lot of them charge for the service, then it all ends up in landfill anyway.

Now we learn that it costs more, and is more polluting to recycle some products.

Thanks greenies!