Green--it is what it was and a little different

This will be a little different over the next few days as we discuss the increasing popularity of "going Green".
Without question, this is a very popular subject. It seems as though everywhere you turn, there is a green element involved. Especially in the building industry. Who doesn't want to save trees? Who doesn't want to use less energy? Who doesn't want to lessen the impact of what we do to the environment? I mean really, are we as Americans and us as remodelers hell bent on wasting energy and destroying the environment? Absolutely not!
As Americans we are told we consume too much with what we drive, with the size of our homes and with how much waste we create. Do we use a lot? Sure, we do. But the way it's made to sound is that we do it on purpose. That is just not true. In the building industry we are told we are wasteful and don't pay enough attention to how we build and the energy consuming systems that we install. Could we do better? Of course, we could. But, again, we are made out to be the bad guys and that's not the case either.
Is what we are doing really all that bad? Are we all destroying our surroundings as fast as possible? On purpose? I think not. I know we're not. Room for improvement--of course. But is what we are already doing that far off the mark?
Over the next few days, I will try to put some perspective to this issue of "going green". The perspective that I'll take will be from a common sense and logical point of view.
In short, the current "movement" is great for raising awareness but falls short on practical and economical solutions.
Our discussion will begin soon with the first of: reduce, reuse, recycle.

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