Transparency and environmentalism

When our little group started in the fall of 2005, we decided that our purpose would be to gradually change our lives in a more sustainable way and discuss the work we were doing each Tuesday morning. It's been 5 years now, and the reporting has been overwhelmingly positive. Most of us have lowered our energy bills, reduced the amount of garbage we are taking out, switched to organic fertilization for our lawns, become more local and organic in our eating habits, and on and on.


Two recent discussions, however, made us realize that all is not perfect in the world of a greener lifestyle. The first discussion happened a few weeks ago, when I pointed to the fact that our dual-flush toilets, while saving us a considerable amount of water each month, were not particularly easy to care for. Because they carry less water in the bowl, dual-flush toilets tend not to look as clean as a traditional low-flush toilet. So instead of cleaning my toilets once a week, I clean them more like 3 times a week. Each time I clean I flush, so this reduces water savings a bit. And it's a nuisance.


That's story #1. Today Martha introduced us to story #2, another disappointment. She bought a front-loading washer-dryer set - more expensive, but using less water than the traditional top-loading model. She has had the set for about 3 years, and reported to us today that she cannot seem to get rid of the mildewy smell that emanates from her washer. This problem has been reported in journals, but the when she broached the topic with the sales clerk at the time of purchase, they told her that this problem had been solved. Apparently not. She has run loads through with bleach (hasn't helped, and not good for the environment), and has now switched from liquid to powder detergent (something about the fat in the liquid contributing to the problem). But the kicker is that she always has to do a second rinse to try to get rid of the smell. So much for water savings!

I just wanted to write this up because many people who advocate for a greener lifestyle often develop an opaqueness about their views. They may find problems with some of the changes in their lifestyles, but don't want to address or report them for fear that the "cause" will be hurt. We simply don't agree. I believe that we are at the very beginning of product development when it comes to a green lifestyle, and some things may work while others need adjustment. This happened with the early CFL light bulbs, and manufacturers have made significant improvements to later models. So as a group, we support transparency in our reporting. If something is working, we want to hear about it. The same goes when it doesn't. I've never known a movement or government that has survived when all of the knowledge was held by a privileged few, and the rest were left in the dark. Same goes for environmentalism. Let's keep our findings out there, positive or negative. Now that's sustainable.