Ah, this is the green issue, and I’m sure that there are all kinds of wonderful things in the entertainment world that I could talk about which have to do with environmental issues. According to National Geographic’s webpage, http://www.thegreenguide.com, “John Mayer, The Fray, Bon Jovi and Incubus, are working with environmental organizations such as Reverb, Heal the Bay and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to take new initiatives to revamp and “green” their concerts both on and offstage.” There are ‘green’ instruments, tours and ‘green’ music festivals.
However, I don’t want to talk about these things. I want to chat about a couple of environmentalists that have been around recycling and being environmentally friendly for almost 40 years. I imagine between the column’s title and the pictures, you can guess whom I’m speaking of.
Kermit has been green since the moment he was born, and sometimes he does find it difficult. But in the last stanza of his famous song, he sings, “When green is all there is to be, it could make you wonder why, but why wonder why? Wonder, I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful! And I think it’s what I want to be.” Wouldn’t it be lovely if all of us could be as green as Kermit? If that were how we had always lived our lives, we wouldn’t know any other way.
Our other environmentally friendly friend (although I doubt if he would like us using the term ‘friend’ for him!) is none other than the original recycler, Oscar the Grouch. Oscar just loves trash! He keeps all his old things and reuses them for something else. His old newspapers get used to wrap fish; he plants weeds in old jars and gym shoes. He reminds us all that there is a place where garbage belongs, not thrown on the ground, but in his trashcan!
Granted, most of us were not born green or living in a trashcan, where we can collect all of our garbage, but honestly, if we just think about what we do with all the waste that comes from our consumables, and find ways to reuse it, there will be that little bit less garbage. Bring a cup from home instead of buying new ones for your beverages. Pick some pretty weeds from your yard and stick them in an empty jelly jar. Think of new and creative ways to make art from your garbage. Every little bit does count, and if you start thinking about things a little, you might find that you are thinking about them a lot.
Don’t forget to recycle this newspaper as well…. Shred it for your cat’s litter box, wrap your fish in it, make a paper hat or airplane or just throw it into a blue recycling container if you can’t think of anything more creative, but please, don’t just throw it in the garbage.