In honor of Crusader Rabbit

Many years ago, for reasons too complicated to mention, we collected glass in dump trucks and recycled it out at Anchor Hocking. It was fun to break the glass by lobbing it into the trucks. It was fun to hang around in the Jewel parking lot and take the glass from people. It was clean, weirdly glassy, teenage good times. And Green, really green. We didn't make any money. The city donated the trucks. We donated the time. The glass was recycled. It was all good. No one got cut (don't ask me how) and we didn't worry about liability. This was probably dumb, but it was how it was. Being Green was very popular for a while, then it went out of vogue and being wealthy was chic once again. Now, Green is in, again. Unfortunately, it's very tricky. At our house, as at lots of houses, we recycle, paper, glass, plastic, cans. We do it faithfully. But they won't take plastic bags. We have to take those ourselves. They won't take styrofoam, no one will around here. They won't take batteries, those have to wait for periodic drop off events along with toxic household chemicals and electronics. The government (meaning that genius president of ours) is now urging us to be Green. He is joined by a number of other, more well-meaning individuals who want us to use ethanol made from corn. They neglect to point out that corn-based ethanol takes more energy to produce than it provides. Lately the big push has been compact fluorescent bulbs. Saves energy. I'm no fan. Fluorescent bulbs provide lousy light. Bad for the eyes. Distorts color. They are vile for people with migraine. As my daughter has been so fond of pointing out, these bulbs contain mercury. Still, we are admonished to save the planet by using these bulbs. If everyoe did it, the energy crisis would be over. Uhhhhh. Today I read this article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694819/
In brief, the mercury in 1 bulb is enough to contaminate 6000 gallons of water beyond EPA levels. Even the newer "low mercury" bulbs contain enough mercury to contaminate 1000 gallons of water. If you break one in your house, there is an 11 step process recommended by the EPA to safely clean up. It doesn't actually mention what to do if you have children crawling around on the floors. The article sounds as though the expectation is merely that people will be walking. Pets aren't mentioned either. There are very few fluorescent recycling facilities in the country, but IKEA will do it for you- save those bulbs- but for the love of God, DON'T BREAK THEM. Still don't want those things in my house. However, you can get some nifty little bags to take with you and you can use them again and again. You just have to remember to take them. The truth is, it's just not easy being Green.