Go Green... and Stink

Current mood: distressed

My blog circle has extensively covered global warming or global climate change or the phrase of the day for whatever you want to call it, as well as the need to conserve. I've mentioned before that I do not use the dryer regularly during warmer months because I see no point in heating up the dryer (and the back portion of the house) only to pay to have to cool it back down again. I estimate my seasonal energy savings reflects about a 40% reduction in cost. Yay me! I also do not use the washer, dishwasher, shower/bath, or lights from the hours of 10am to 6pm because in El Paso, both water and electricity are 2-3 times more expensive druing the peak use hours.

Having two houses with two sets of expenses has been interesting, and that may be the understatement of the century. I have really been pushing to conserve as many energy resources as I possibly can and in doing so, I have not had our coolers turned on at the house. We have two units. I knew that if I had them hooked up and ready to blow I would be weak and use them. They will be turned on at the end of this week so we can sleep really well (and comfortably) before we make our two day interstate highway trek across the country. Then, while we are gone they will only be set to 94 degrees. We do have fans in the house in the bedrooms and the family room, and two small window coolers in the back of the house, which I have run (never both at the same time) to ensure the health of the elderly dog. Today the family room thermostat read 37 Celcius, which is about 97 Farenheit. The other day it got to 102 in here. That was a bit uncomfortable.

Once we get back here and settle in again, I know that we can use minimal energy for our comfort, because we have made it this far without melting. I am curious to see how our efforts will stack up into savings at the end of the summer.

So, needless to say, I really do push to conserve. I conserve because it serves my family well.

Yesterday I was watching TV and saw a commercial about "going green." It offered several suggestions to viewers about how they can go green and aid the push toward conservation. One suggestion really bothered me. It said, "Ladies, do you really need to shwer and wash your hair every day? Skip a day and blah, blah, blah..." I was offended. There are already too many people in the US who can shower every day, and afford to do so, who do not. They opt to stink and "go greasy." And, they go greasy not in an effort to conserve anything except their own personal energy. Lazy-butts.

I need to shower every day in order to be human. I hate not getting a shower. I feel sticky and icky and my hair will look like the Exxon Valdez crashed into my forehead. Now, if it is a cleaning day, I will refrain from showering until I am done working around the house, but as soon as I do finish, I'm hopping in the stall for at least a quick rinse. This is a must. There are no acceptable negotiations. Then, once the peak hours have passed, I wlil get a real shower.
So, I would appreciate it if the "Go Green Groupies" would keep their suggestions about personal hygiene to themselves. You may absolutely tell me that four out of five aluminum cans are not recycled and that my carbon footprint has the potential to to stamp out certain breeds of puppies, but please, peeps, don't tell me not to shower or wash my hair daily.

And don't tell anyone else either.