Question of the Day | 04/22/2008 12:00 am

Today is Earth Day! What's the most wasteful thing that you do?

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No waste compares to the time I waste reading trivial magazine articles, on the Internet, on going to meetings or gatherings in which I have little interest but don’t know how to say no to, by attending to teensy-tiny details which seem important at the moment and in worry about wholly unworthy matters over which I have little or no control.

By Joan Ganz Cooney on 04/22/2008 12:00 am

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I take long, long, long – very long hot showers. They are my tranquilizers and my sleeping pills. Standing in a shower for a long time I become very calm. I know I am wasting resources we have much too little of. I am good about and aware of most green issues, but like all addicts I have not found a way to stop showers.

By Mary Wells on 04/22/2008 12:00 am

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I race around trying to do everything. I take taxis. I fly. I go to Europe once a year. I know I should stay home and rub two sticks together.

By Liz Smith on 04/22/2008 12:00 am

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For convenience, we often use paper plates & plastic spoons and forks at home for meals. I justify it to myself by thinking that the energy and water savings from not running the dishwasher are an offset. I re-use many of my zipper-closing plastic bags, but I probably could use fewer bags.

By Angie in Seattle on 04/22/2008 12:30 am

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Angie - Have you ever considered have TWO dishwahers? It eliminates the need to EVER empty one and put dishes on the shelf.

By Ken Jarvis on 04/22/2008 7:56 am

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There’s a neat dishwasher on the market that has separate top and bottom halves. So you can run the whole thing, or just 1/2. Probably is more efficient, and you could use it as you describe also without taking up as much space.

By Willow K on 04/22/2008 1:18 pm

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I drive a big ole pick up truck because we have three horses and need to transport them I hate going to the gas pump knowing how much fuel I’m burning up.

By Deborah Voss on 04/23/2008 1:50 pm

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I cannot take a shower, wash my hair, and shave my legs in under 45 mins. Am I bad?

By C A Rose on 04/22/2008 1:09 am

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To Cynthia Rose and Mary Wells, and many more, I hope, I heard on an Earth Day radio program today that if Americans would cut just 2 minutes off their shower time, the amount of water saved would fill all the Great Lakes. In how long? I didn’t catch the time frame, but does it matter? The realization behind the math is powerful: We each make a difference when we “pool” our efforts! So, how about romancing good long BATHS, where you don’t need to keep running water down the drain? An added perk: if you put some drops of essential oils atop a cup or two of epsom salts before you run the bathwater, the oils emulsify and don’t float in globs on the surface. Thus, you can add the relaxing and/or envigorating effects of aromatherapy to your experience. PS. When I previewed this message, it was attributed to another Lara H, a youngster born in ‘69. I’m of an older vintage, 8/10/47. Guess I need to change my registration name. Nice to meetchya.

By Lara H on 04/23/2008 12:30 am

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Please everyone, if you have not, bookmark this eco-database on one comprehensive site: http://www.treehugger.com/ explore the site and you’ll learn a lot. I do pretty well reducing my carbon footprint: organic everything, recycling ace, walk or take public transportation as much as possible, buy few things in as little as packing as possible. But I am not a saint, like Mary…I indulge in too long showers…but I’ll work to cut them shorter. And do you know just some of the things made from oil [listed below] I try to buy alternatives. Fifty Things Made From Oil Petrol for cars Diesel for cars, trucks and ships Aviation fuel for planes Credit cards Plastic bags Hair brushes Anti-freeze Motorcycle Helmets Carpets Telephones Brake fluid Boats Glue Toilet Seats Shampoo Household paint Detergent Bowls Fertiliser Explosives Car tires Artificial turf Football boots Lipstick Weed killer Parachutes Umbrellas Food wrappers Shower curtains Waterproof coats Artifical limbs Roads Bubble wrap Drinks bottles Toothbrushes Life jackets Fishing line Tennis rackets Roller blades Eye glasses Lunch boxes Flower pots Toys Car seats Insulation Nail polish Hair spray Medicines Insect repellant Golf balls Whew!

By No GOP on 04/23/2008 1:54 am

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I have a disability and I’m always in Pain……I take long hot showers which help me to relax. sometimes I feel guilty, but not enough to stop. I do try to do most other things in a Green way…….

By Dona Howlett on 04/25/2008 5:38 pm

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I sit in my car with the air conditioner running and play the stereo. Sometimes it is just to finish the song playing but sometimes, I have to leave my office and go out to lunch and clear my head with some loud rock’n’rock. Bad for the planet, I know, but it keeps me from going postal on my office.

By RoseMerry Hoffman on 04/22/2008 1:13 am

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Yo Yo Ro… I do the same thing. I also drive to work when I could take the RTA but I refuse to spend an hour on smelly public transportation for a 6 mile commute.

By Jo Jo on 04/22/2008 5:42 pm

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I use a lot of plastic bags which bring about a lot of pollution, and as well as Chinese people do in the past years. However, we will restrict the using of plastic bags in JUNE,2008, and hope one day we would absolutely give it up. The waste and the pollution has arouse the wide attention in China, and the new generation has realized the importance of the environment, and the only thing we could do is spending long time to educate the public to prevent the waste while find the ways to solving the problems of pollution.

By lin si on 04/22/2008 1:16 am

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你好, 朋友, Lin si. Now in California we are making sturdy grocery shopping bags out of many different materials, packaging from other uses, whatever is at hand and will work. It is difficult to remember to bring them to the store, but people are making the effort. They are a little larger and stronger than our normal grocery bags, and have long handles so they will fit over the shoulder. Maybe you can begin a business making such bags in China.

By Mugsy Peabody on 04/22/2008 3:37 am