Do Tell: What's Your Biggest Pet Peeve About People Not Living Green?

April 22, 2008

Happy Earth Day! As we all know, we live in a world where we must do our part to help save our planet and the environment. You've told us how you pitch in to save our one and only planet Earth, but unfortunately, not everyone does their share. So if you're anything like me, you get frustrated (to say the least) when people litter, or don't recycle, or leave their lights on. So ladies, in honor of Earth Day today, do tell: What's your biggest pet peeve or gripe about those who don't live green?

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124 Comments

canadianbacon 3 years 1 week

My biggest peeve is folks who only think "green" one day a year (e.g. Earth Day). They will make a big show about not driving ONE day, recycling for ONE day, or turning off unnecessary lights on ONE day...and expect everyone to give them a f**king medal for "going green." By the way, the original "Earth Day" was MARCH 23 (the vernal equinox, and the first day of spring). This tradition goes back at least 3000 years, to the days of the nature-based "pagan" religions. It only got switched to April 22 in the late 1970s, primarily as a marketing gimmick for companies that wanted to sell more posters, T-shirts and buttons. Ironic, huh?

michelle c 5 years 3 weeks

oh, and also new cars, i think i read somewhere that it's better to keep your uneconomically friendly car until it dies, as it produces more carbon emmissions to build cars. just walk or cycle!!

michelle c 5 years 3 weeks

Not recycling, wasting electricity. I don't know if it counts as a green issue, but i hate it when my friends waste food. when they're on diets they eat half their food and throw the rest away, why not just buy half as much food!!! ggrrr. oh and heating aswell, i've never once turned on the radiator in my room, i do have a south facing room so it doesn't get as cold as other areas of the house, but i wear lots of clothes of blankets and use my electric blanket if i'm really cold. wasting water aswell actually, i worked in Africa for a while and we had barely any water at all, just a cold trickle once every couple of days.

lena90 5 years 4 weeks

I just used the Carbon Footprint calculator.. Any explanation why using the standard range of financial services causes 0.4 tonnes of CO2 emission?

tdamji 5 years 4 weeks

the people on here are so much kinder than on CitizenSugar for a similar topic. good to see. my pet peeve is bottled water! i know that many cities do not have clean running water (tap water) so i'm not sure what people in those places should do, but here we do have very clean tap water, so what is the excuse?

nicstar 5 years 4 weeks

A lot of people are saying that SUVs are a pet peeve, and I would agree, but something that most people don't know is that Prius are actually BAD for the environment! Spread the word! I wouldn't be expecting mainstream media to report on this any time soon. http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/editorial/print_item.asp?NewsID=188

drinkerofh2o 5 years 4 weeks

I made a post recently about my dad. He considers it a waste of his time to do anything other than trashing stuff he doesn't need anymore. Furniture, books, WORKING APPLIANCES, he has thrown them all away immediately upon deciding they were encroaching on his space.

kikidawn 5 years 4 weeks

You're welcome avettafawna!

Meike 5 years 4 weeks

How unfortunate. My carbon footprint is 8 tons, 4 tons of which belong to 2 business trips and 1 for pleasure.

avettafawna 5 years 4 weeks

oh, also, thanks kikidawn, I didn't know you could do that. You have just freed up a lot of space in my tiny mailbox!

avettafawna 5 years 4 weeks

I think its strange that people get so defensive about this issue, throwing around terms like 'sanctamonious' and 'self righteous'. I understand that no one likes to be scolded for driving a big car, owning a big house, or generally living their life as they see fit, but the fact is that a lot of the things we do (WE, myself included) are damaging to the environment. Watching people get angry at those that try to remind them of this fact is puzzling to me, and suggests that we as a society are both in deep denial, and incredibly unenlightened.

Nitrobezene 5 years 4 weeks

I see your point snowbunny. No no no, I don't need steak everyday. :) I'm not much of a beef eater. I like my chicken mostly. Thanks for your input!

petite42 5 years 4 weeks

Here's a carbon footprint calculator: www.carbonfootprint.com It says my carbon footprint, at about 6 tons, is higher than the world average at 4 tons, but a lot less than the US average, which is 20 tons. And I would have hit the world average of 4 tons if I didn't take two plane trips last year (one for business, one for pleasure).

sldc 5 years 4 weeks

I have lots of pet peeves on this topic: One pet peeve is when people who assume their overall carbon footprint is smaller than the SUV driver's or the suburbanite's. Do not underestimate your own (past, present, and future) contribution to pollution. Buildings create pollution and consume resources, whether they are old, new or renovated. This applies to college campuses, businesses, inner city or suburban dwellings. Obviously all industry and the consumption of crap are huge sources of pollution and resource consumption, which includes buying junk that is "green washed." Blaming all of the world's woes on the mom trying to haul her kids is just weak. We should all worry about our own habits, be a good example, and avoid being sanctimonious parrots. Instead of blindly doing anything, stop and think about how recycling involves an extra gas guzzeling truck running down the street, more water consumption and chemical off-gassing during the processing, and the continuing acceptance and green washing of products made from petroleum. Recycling is not wholly a bad idea, but it does have plenty of flaws that need to be objectively addressed. Driving a hybrid hardly makes anyone an environmental saint. How much energy and resources did it take to develop that technology and produce the new vehicle, how long will that battery last, and how will it be disposed of, etc, etc. Oh, and you realize you are still using fossil fuels (albeit, a little bit less), right? Retrofitting older vehicles for plug in technology is feasible and the technology has been developed, but most people would rather buy a green status symbol. /rant over

sldc 5 years 4 weeks

I have lots of pet peeves on this topic:One pet peeve is when people who assume their overall carbon footprint is smaller than the SUV driver's or the suburbanite's. Do not underestimate your own (past, present, and future) contribution to pollution. Buildings create pollution and consume resources, whether they are old, new or renovated. This applies to college campuses, businesses, inner city or suburban dwellings. Obviously all industry and the consumption of crap are huge sources of pollution and resource consumption, which includes buying junk that is "green washed." Blaming all of the world's woes on the mom trying to haul her kids is just weak.We should all worry about our own habits, be a good example, and avoid being sanctimonious parrots. Instead of blindly doing anything, stop and think about how recycling involves an extra gas guzzeling truck running down the street, more water consumption and chemical off-gassing during the processing, and the continuing acceptance and green washing of products made from petroleum. Recycling is not wholly a bad idea, but it does have plenty of flaws that need to be objectively addressed.Driving a hybrid hardly makes anyone an environmental saint. How much energy and resources did it take to develop that technology and produce the new vehicle, how long will that battery last, and how will it be disposed of, etc, etc. Oh, and you realize you are still using fossil fuels (albeit, a little bit less), right? Retrofitting older vehicles for plug in technology is feasible and the technology has been developed, but most people would rather buy a green status symbol. /rant over

popgoestheworld 5 years 4 weeks

Wow, so much good discussion on this board and not enough space to respond to it all!I just wanted to take a second to plug the "not-so-big-house" series of books by Sarah Susanka. It discusses the issues of exploding home sizes and offers a beautiful alternative.Also, in re: to having kids. I feel like recently a lot of couples are deciding not to have children. I totally respect their decision. But there is this part of me that's like, you guys are such wonderful people, so smart, so earth conscious. We need kids raised by people like that for our future!Another point brought up is eating locally. You guys should all see if you have any local CSAs operating in your area. It's a great way to support your local agriculture, to eat very fresh food, and to do some good for the environment.The thing is, there is so much people can do better. I mean, the fact is, being truly green would mean returning to the ways of life of the Native Americans in this country. Of course, there is a LOT of territory in between where we are now and moving backwards. But my point is there is always room to be "greener" and the idea that people are looking down on people for not being as green is sort of pointless. Personally, I try to do what I can. But I'm probably not doing everything that I can. I mean, think of the electricity I've wasted on these Sugar sites alone!Alright, enough out of me.

popgoestheworld 5 years 4 weeks

Wow, so much good discussion on this board and not enough space to respond to it all! I just wanted to take a second to plug the "not-so-big-house" series of books by Sarah Susanka. It discusses the issues of exploding home sizes and offers a beautiful alternative. Also, in re: to having kids. I feel like recently a lot of couples are deciding not to have children. I totally respect their decision. But there is this part of me that's like, you guys are such wonderful people, so smart, so earth conscious. We need kids raised by people like that for our future! Another point brought up is eating locally. You guys should all see if you have any local CSAs operating in your area. It's a great way to support your local agriculture, to eat very fresh food, and to do some good for the environment. The thing is, there is so much people can do better. I mean, the fact is, being truly green would mean returning to the ways of life of the Native Americans in this country. Of course, there is a LOT of territory in between where we are now and moving backwards. But my point is there is always room to be "greener" and the idea that people are looking down on people for not being as green is sort of pointless. Personally, I try to do what I can. But I'm probably not doing everything that I can. I mean, think of the electricity I've wasted on these Sugar sites alone! Alright, enough out of me.

Nina_79 5 years 4 weeks

Big, useless 4x4 cars. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere, where there are no paved streets, there is no use to have these cars. And they are not safer, especially not for the people around you. Every time I see someone driving one of those gas guzzling cars in the city, it makes me mad. Plus, I live in a country where we have great, efficient, and not so expensive public transport, so there is even less need to use a car at all, especially not those huge ones.

Nina_79 5 years 4 weeks

tamio 5 years 4 weeks

This is totally delayed, so maybe it won't matter. But I think everyone has a point, even citizenkane. I think we should be careful about excess (I can't stand plastic wrap usage or even plastic dinnerware at bbqs) and we should recycle, but I also think that a lot of us dream of having a large home one day. I think we want to be able to eat good food from far away places. Isn't that the American dream? As a science grad student, I think the way to go is new innovations that allow us to be environment-friendly without going back to old ways. I think that is real progress.

citizenkane 5 years 4 weeks

I don't like it when people breathe.

moodyphanter 5 years 4 weeks

When people leave the water running while brushing teeth and so on. Leaing TV on while not watching it!

moodyphanter 5 years 4 weeks

When people leave the water running while brushing teeth and so on. Leaing TV on while not watching it!

Kimpossible 5 years 4 weeks

Littering is my biggest "green" pet peeve. And people not respecting protected areas such as National Parks or National Preservation areas.

snowbunny11 5 years 4 weeks

Yes, Nitrobenzene, eating meat is a lot worse for the environment than littering. And what is with people and littering? I don't litter either, but I thought that was an aesthetic issue, not an environmental issue. I'm not suggesting that people become vegetarians, but meat consumption should at least be treated like any other treat that we indulge in that could harm the environment; in moderation. I could post stuff here, but you might as well google it if you really care. But instead I'm guessing you'll post back; "well screw that I NEED to eat steak everyday!"And oh my gosh, yes, minivans ARE just as bad as SUVs, I had to drive one for a month, it is so ridiculous. But, of course, that doesn't make SUVs GOOD,obviously it doesn't make sense to say that because minivans are also bad it's okay to drive SUVs, with one kid, sheesh. And I totally agree with whoever said we should try to consume less instead of focusing on recycling. I am really trying to kick my bottled water habit and limit the amount of things I would have to get rid of in the first place!

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