Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Trying to find the intersection of green, cheap, and local

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day.  We were discussing a post on a parents mailing list we belong to, where a poster asked where to find "locally produced, organic produce, at a reasonable price".  Hmm.

Despite living in a big city, I'm lucky if I can hit two out of the three.  Organic produce is all over the place, but it's usually fairly expensive and shipped in from other places.  Cheap produce is also plentiful here, but it's not organic or local.  Local produce is getting easier to find, but not always organic or cheap. 

When I think about it, a lot of "green" things are neither local nor cheap.  Take household products-I am blessed to have plenty of opportunities to buy "greener" cleaning and paper products, but your average bottle of "green" cleaner is going to cost 1-2 dollars more than the cheap, Earth ruining alternative.

And then there's the whole "greenwashing" bullshit that's going on.  Every company is jumping on the bandwagon and slapping "green!!!11oneone" on their label.  I just bought some shampoo the other day.  I picked a brand that touted itself as being "earth friendly".  I looked up the ingredients on the website Good Guide, and my shampoo is full of all kinds of nasty shit!!  I am pissed!!!!!

However, I don't have unlimited funds(oh, how I wish.) and I have to stick to a budget.  I've begun digging deeper in to what's in my food, what I clean my house with, and what I bathe in-and what my family eats and bathes in.  I want to find that mythical spot:  green, cheap, and local.  It's going to be difficult, but I'm going to give it a shot.