We'll just be "green enough"!
When are we doing enough to protect the environment and create a sustainable world? There are so many questions about when “enough is enough” or even how some extravagant measures to protect the environment may really be useless.
This question emerged in a surprising way at our Memorial Day cook-out with my daughter and her family.
As Dana and Chris were clearing the dishes, they decided it would be a good time to prepare the next day’s school lunches for the kids. With all of the mess already spread around the counter, this seemed like a good idea.
I watched them systematically and skillfully maneuvering around each other as one chopped carrots and cut watermelon into bite-sized pieces, while the other one skillfully sliced wheat rolls and packed them with healthy, delicious turkey breast and lean ham. Dana reached for the eco-friendly lunch boxes and reusable fabric snack bags, as Chris grabbed reusable water bottles and eco-friendly napkins.
And then it happened.
Chris placed the ham rolls directly beside the granola snack bar in the eco-friendly lunch box, and the bread touched the wrapper!
Horror of horrors!
Dana quickly snatched the ham roll to rescue it from its potential contamination from the individually wrapped all-natural granola bar as she stared at Chris with huge brown eyes. She spun around and reached under the counter to retrieve a mini-snack bag – yes, a PLASTIC snack bag!
“What are you doing?” Chris asked in a shocked tone.
“I’m wrapping the sandwich so it doesn’t touch the paper wrapper,” she replied matter of factly.
“For what? It’s not going to hurt anything. It’s just paper.”
Her look of amazement was followed by, “But the bread might get germs from the paper! Do you want the kids to eat germs?”
After a few seconds, Chris looked at her and replied, “That’s crazy. We’re trying to be ‘green’ here – using a plastic snack bag is not ‘green’!”
Without a second’s hesitation and not skipping a beat, Dana replied, “It’s ‘green enough’!”
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this exchange of information between two parents struggling to provide a healthy, nutritious lunch in the most environmentally friendly way possible. They both looked up at me quizzically and said, “What?”
Ahhhh……the joys of being a parent in today’s green world.
Have a great week — and be “green enough” in everything you do!
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