For Liz, My “Green Goddess”

Hardly the earthy-crunchy, nauseating “save the world” chants, swaddled in hemp thread, Birkenstock donning, typical tree-hugger, Liz cares about our planet without annoying Mother Earth and her peeps. While digging through my friends’ brains in search of my next topic, she suggested that I do a piece on recycling. While I do not know much on the subject, I do recycle; mainly because it cuts down on my trash and there are useful items that people love to throw out. Not I; I like to keep what others call “junk.” No, no, I do not have piles of garbage lying around, that’s just nasty. And no, I do not rummage through others’ trash. What kind of person do you think I am? :)

Over the last year or so, “Going Green” has been the campaign for many corporations, politicians, and earthy crunchy do-gooders. Well, what does it mean to go green? What I have learned so far is that you do not save any green initially. There is always a price tag to go along with being a part of the army of do-gooders. For example, light bulbs, florescent bulbs are huge right now. I bet if you tried to buy an incandescent bulb you would be stoned to death in lane 7. Do they save you money? Not at first. Every bulb I have in my apartment is florescent. I hate changing light bulbs. The incandescent bulbs burn out so incredibly fast, I was buying them every time I went to the store (I have a lot of lamps and ceiling lights). During one of my trips to my Mother Ship, IKEA, I picked up a few florescent bulbs to give it a shot. Besides, the regular price for the bulbs at IKEA is that the same price as a package of incandescent bulbs at most stores. It has been one year since I replaced all of my lights. I saw a difference on my power bill. Not a lot, maybe $10.00?
When I owned my home in Cobb Co, my power bill was always above $300 regardless of the season. Our power bill crept down to just under $200 a month. We just recently moved into a more energy efficient apartment and my power bill went down to $180. Still not satisfied - I have all of these florescent bulbs (btw – IKEA bulbs have a natural glow and not a typical blue evil office glow), so why is my bill over $180?? Brandsmart (www.brandsmart.com) had a great sale on the Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer. We bought it, not to save on our power bill, but to get rid of the stupid agitator that destroys everything in its path. **Do not go out and buy a new washer and dryer just to save money, doesn’t make sense, or cents.** After one month of owning my precious Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer, my power bill went from $180 to $110. Um, what? I checked the bill to see if I had opened someone else’s mail. Nope, it was mine. $110 power bill; I haven’t see that since I lived in my tiny one bedroom apartment that barely scraped in at 700 sq ft. While it will take quite some time to recoup the money spent on the washer and dryer, I say it was a great investment. Plus, Whirlpool is a great company with quality products and the one of the highest consumer satisfaction ratings. My old GE washer and dryer, well, yeah. The dryer went out just before the warranty did and ALL GE washers require a few parts to be replaced around the five year mark. The parts were going to cost more than the stupid thing was worth. My old washer almost caught my house on fire as well. I know what brand I will never buy again.