Going Green
I've been on a journey for a while now. Studied Buddhism, gave up meat, went on a macrobiotic diet, started walking 4 to 8 miles a day, planted a garden. Now, I am going green.
To that end, all the lightbulbs in my house have changed. I am (today, as a matter of fact) starting a compost. I now wash my clothes in cold water. I gave up my blowdryer. I am insane about turning off the lights and not using the air conditioning unless Oldest Child comes to me swearing she is going to hurl because the upstairs bedrooms are too hot.
And all that has gotten me thinking that . . . well, my characters are going to have to start recycling. I just want my characters to be responsible stewards of the earth. Maybe they will all get hybrids. I don't know . . . but I feel like even if it's a tiny detail here or there, they are going to be green.
Which also got me thinking . . . I have had a Buddhist vampire, and I have had characters who have donated big money to charity. I try to have them do the right thing. And lately, I have been thinking that with the insane gun culture in the United States, some of them are going to have to give up their firearms.
So I wonder . . . do you find yourself imbuing your characters with things you think are important or right? ALL my characters pray. It may be a single sentence, but I can't imagine a life without prayer, and so I can't imagine a character who doesn't fall to sleep at night praying. It's there, these traits I think are important, if you want to look for them in my characters. So how about you all? Going green? How about your characters?
9 comments:
I gave up my blowdryer years ago. ;)
And, I've been looking at the xeriscape philosophy a bit--using mulches and drought-resistant plants as alternatives to turf on the lawn. It started in Colorado, but it's catching on elsewhere now as well. My front yard is dead, and I'm looking for something besides labor-intensive, water-hogging St. Augustine grass as a ground covering. The low-maintenance will make me happy, and the planet will be a little happier too. I might just make that my new hobby. :)
As for my characters...
Hmmm.
Colt is doing a gut rehab on his lake house in book #2, so maybe he can think of some green things to do there.
I do. My project right now features an environmental scientist. :)
Preachy characters annoy the crap out of me so I watch that my characters don't cross that line.
But by their actions, I think it's pretty clear where I stand on certain issues.
:) d
Just wanted to address the issue of the CFL bulbs that are the rage today... here are two links to information about the bulbs:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=aa7796aa-e4a5-4c06-be84-b62dee548fda
http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm#breaks
If you read both you can see that they are at odds on a few facts... but the point is that those bulbs do have mercury in them and that if you do break one it is much more dangerous than a standard light bulb. The big issue that scares me is that a lot of retailers a phasing out incandescent bulbs in favor of CFL and there is going to be a huge issue when they start appearing in land fills, etc.
Other than that... well, I had never though to add that kind of thing to my characters personalities or habits. Now that I have that bug in my head I can certainly work it in without preaching about it.
well, the links didn't come out well at all there... I'll try again:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/
financialpost/story.html?id=aa7796aa
-e4a5-4c06-be84-b62dee548fda
http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_
lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm
#breaks
Hope that comes through...
Jude:
Well, it doesn't have to be green, per se. I mean anything you stand for--whether that's anti-hunting or pro-choice--or some other moral or political stance.
And those types of yards are amazing. The NY Times had an article a while back on a company that does entire edible lawns--transforming it into like a farm. Pretty cool.
E
dana:
I hate preachy too. That's where, I think, the secret is "gray" characters who have just as many flaws.
E
ewoh;
THANKS for that. I personally would love to have the money to go solar. I started my compost yesterday! And I will definitely continue to read up on the bulbs.
E
"Green schmeen. The best solution to global warming is nuclear winter. We should herd all the Godless left-wing liberals in America over to Sandland, right before we blow it off the map... They want us to give up our right to bear arms, but it's somehow okay to scoop a defenseless fetus out of the womb with steel forceps. What's wrong with THAT picture?"
--the loony right-wing fundamentalist in my wip.
Sometimes, we can raise political/moral questions not by preaching, but by showing the absurdity of radical thought on multiple sides.
Jude:
I'm not even touching that one.
;-)
E
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