ZoMbI3 CuPcAK3's blog: "I blog your face."

Ok, so this going green thing has become a trend of epidemic proportions. I took some easy steps to green up my world. And prove that you don't have to have a huge budget or an HGTV special to save our planet.
Being green doesn't have to be about turning into a patchouli wearing pothead or an overtanned health freak. So here are my 10 EASY STEPS to going green and staying awesome.

1) DIGITIZE YOUR LIFE. Not only does it make you look cool and all hip and up on the latest technology, it's also good for our planet. Since this is a website!! I thought I would point out that digitizing is one of the best ways to go green today. Ask for online credit card and utility statements. Ask for online checking. Digitize your books, CDs, movies, art, hell, even your Book of Shadows and save up to 100 acres of forest a year all on your own, just by using the tool you are using to read this blog. Don't print anything you don't need to. Reuse the other side of the paper. And use recycled paper. Make sure to recycle or sell all of the things you previously had on paper or disk!

2) BUY GREEN EVEN IF YOU SHOP AT WALMART. Even Corporate Satan (WalMart) now has a huge array of green products available. They work just as well, often cost the same, and are usually even aesthetically pleasing. Cleaning products, toiletries, pet food/litter and paper products ALL have green and easily available options now. Look for aerosol alternatives, chemical free cleaning products, and things that are recycleable and/or made from recycled products. It's become easy to save our planet. Thank the GODDESS for America's blind willingness to follow any trend thrown at them by the media. Let's keep this one up folks. We finally got something right.

3) EAT FROM THE EARTH. Another easy change in today's corporate world. Look for the following tags: organic, hormone free, free range, natural, cage free, no artificial preservatives, locally grown, chemical free. Read labels to make sure it isn't bullshit. Even a blood loving carnivore like me can eat green. Look for meat that doesn't come from factory farmed or cruelly treated animals. Look for cage free or free range eggs, etc. It's available at regular grocery stores. Eat seasonally. Discover your local farmer's market. It is a wealth of chemical free bounty. Every place on earth has one. Everyone has to grow and eat food. Also, the veggies, fruits, honey and various other stuff tastes better and costs WAY less. I still have my double emo girl latte in the mornings. I just make sure the coffee in it comes from somewhere chemical free where workers are not exploited. And the milk is from cows that aren't tortured. STARBUCKS is a god of local and tribal coffee. Even corporate assholes sometimes get it right.

4) DO NOT STAND FOR ANIMAL TESTING AND UNNECESSARY ANIMAL PRODUCT USAGE. It is a thoroughly unnecessary practice. PETA, crazy and militant as they are, has a great list of companies that do and do not test on animals on their website. And find alternatives to things that contain animal products, if you must. You can find leather from natural death animals or a synthetic or natural product alternative, animal product free hair dyes, makeup, soaps and shampoos, and hell, even SHED horns to make your nifty drinking horns, like the one hanging on my wall.

5) LEARN THE POWER OF BOYCOTT. Refuse to shop at stores that carry this stuff. The stores that don't have way cooler stuff anyway. Refuse to work for companies that test on animals. The ones that don't pay their employess more because they don't spend millions killing animals in the name of capitalism.  If enough people do it, it will make a difference. Blah blah animal testing saves lives. Okay, test my cancer medication on a rat, but don't test my goddamned eyeliner on one.

6) LIGHT SUCKS ANYWAY. Ok, so an energy smart light bulb costs like 8 bucks. But it lasts about 50 times as long as the other ones and uses WAY less of our planet's resources. So it's a win-win situation. And for god's sake, don't use lights when you don't have to. a) It will save you a ton of money. b) Darkness is so much more flattering. And remember to unplug shit you aren't using. It really makes a difference. This is something I am guilty of. I forget to unplug stuff. But I know I should dammit, and that's something.

7) BE CREATIVE DAMMIT. Reusing is sort of the forgotten part of the mantra. And multiuse products. Look for things that serve more than one purpose. And if you can't do that, find another purpose. Reuse fabric! I can't tell you how many of my clothes, blankets, and everything else either served another purpose at one point or will in the future. And I am proud to say nothing I own killed an animal so I could own it. Clothing alternatives are out there. They even make leather free hot goth shoes and fetish wear. Find them, do an internet search. I dress like a dominatrix, and it's all animal free. It's possible. You don't have to be boring to be green. I promise.

8) LET YOUR ART SELF GO GREEN. Use natural pigment dyes and paints. And brushes made from natural materials that are *not* animal hair. Shop garage sales for art and craft supplies. I have found 30 dollar canvases for 50 cents. It employs reusing and recycling. And it uses one of the most valuable resources on earth, your community. I know garage saling doesn't SEEM cool, but it is. I swear. Barter and trade are a huge part of our history. Look at buying or trading for other people's junk as participating in a rich cultural tradition!!!

9) YOU CAN STILL BE A GOTHIC DOMINATRIX OF DOOM. Even your thigh high boots come in non leather alternatives. Whips made of hemp hurt just as much as ones made of leather. Yes, there are even green alternatives to SEX TOYS. On the pretties side of it, black dye, hair dye, makeup (even black lipstick!!), piercing jewelery and EVEN TATTOO INK exist in organic, natural product, non-synthetic and earth-friendly incarnations. So see, you don't have to stop wearing mind numbing amounts of black, or being all emo and death obsessed. Although taking care of your planet might improve your mood a bit.

10) AND DUH REDUCE YOUR WASTE, RECYCLE AND COMPOST. This is a big duh.  Use less paper products. Be conscious of how much toilet paper, paper towels, paper and such you use. Pay attention to the packaging on what you buy. If the same product is available with less packaging, buy it instead. When your grocer asks paper or plastic, opt for fabric instead. EVERY grocery store has green bags now for like a buck. It's amazing how naturally paying attention comes when you start the habit. Most paper products, can, bottles (plastic and glass) and even batteries are recycleable. Most organic products, such as food scraps, are compostable. A composter is a great investment and they make them for every lifestyle from a one bedroom apartment to a 500 acre ranch. Also, recycling makes you money!!! And if you don't recycle it, reuse it. There is no reason you can't refill your bottled water. Or rinse a paper towel and use it twice. Or field strip your cigarette butts and throw them away instead of contributing to the cigarette butt coating that lines the urban landscape of America.

*EXTRA CREDIT*

PLASTIC IS EVIL. One of my current projects is replacing all my plastic with alternatives. This is going to be hard, because as someone with a lot of clumsy cats who moves around a lot, I had opted for a LOT of plastic products in my less aware purchasing days. Plastic composes almost HALF of our planet's non-biodegradable matter in landfills. There is a great alternative now made of corn. It's hard to find and a little more pricey, but it biodegrades quickly and is even safe for animals to consume. A good national goal would be to replace 50% of our plastic products with biodegrables in the next 25 years. Use recyclable paper, metal or glass containers where possible, buy things with LESS packaging (I can't insist this enough) and reuse what plastic you do obtain.

See it's easy to go green! You can like...be a lazy, emo, life hating, internet living, cigarette smoking, latte popping childe of the 21st century and still help to ensure that the lazy, angst ridden, space living, hemp smoking, food pill popping children of the next generation have a planet to be miserable and hateful on!!!
 
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY. Get your friends and community aware and involved. Challenge them to make one green change to their life a month. Even take them out to dinner for doing it or something. Or buy them a locally grown soy milk latte!!

Sane people aren't going to hate you if you aren't perfectly 100% green all the time. I'm not. I can't sleep without my television on. I don't always unplug my electronics or even turn them off.  I eat at restaurants and don't check everything. I occasionally buy not local ingredients or something I know isn't green out of convenience. And despite my best efforts, my household still averages a bag of trash per day of waste. But I pay attention. And I am aware when I do something that hurts goddess earth.

So shut up, stop whining about how it's HARD WORK, and learn to live green. Or just slash your wrists and get it over with. But make sure you are buried in a biodegradable coffin and natural fiber clothing.