“New green products” appear all the time in the forms of cars, stationary bikes, and water bottles, but many more get thrown out daily in the trash. They’re the products that have already had one life: bottles holding water, jars of preserves, even just sheets of paper that retain the potential to be used again. Often, going green isn’t about buying the most innovative and efficient car or television; it’s about reusing the products you already have to reduce waste and limit more production.
The generation that grew up during the Depression and Second World War remembers a great deal about reusing. Every scrap of rubber and length of wire were saved and shipped off to American soldiers overseas. We as humans might have consumed a lot to execute such a huge war, but few resources were discarded before their full potential had been reached. That’s a value system that only a few decades have lost. Even the most eco-minded individuals are more concerned about buying new green products than making do with the old things they have at home.
These new green products can vary from using old yogurt containers for food storage to remaining content with the older car already in your garage. Even if an SUV doesn’t get the same mileage as a hybrid, manufacturing a new vehicle costs the earth many more resources than a few hundred extra gallons of gas. Going green is mostly about sensible choices and personal recycling; buying every new eco friendly product won’t prove nearly as beneficial for the earth.
