***Be a Green Boomer

A recent report I read indicated that the earnings of non-green products nationally is at $12 billion per year compared with similar green products that earn $1 billion per year. At first I thought this a paltry relationship until I realized that a dozen years ago the difference would have been much greater. But “thanks” to illnesses, complaints, economics, education, conferences, lawsuits and concomitant jury awards, and other factors, breakthroughs are being made.

These breakthroughs are interesting in that we are relea
ing, which is an education unto itself. Boomers are rediscovering that our grandparents didn’t have the thousands of fragranced products that now permeate our homes in a sellers’ market, or the hormones in our fish, poultry and meat; they didn’t have pesticides, pigments, and genetically altered fruits, vegetables, and grains that are now fed to animals and to humans. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Today we are involved in the fight for clean indoor air, the fight to initiate conservation of conserve rainwater runoff in cities and for ourselves, and the fight to capture the energy from sunlight and wind.

We are discovering the simple way to live — the way that saves money and time, because we can buy four or five products that cost two dollars a pound, such as baking soda, borax and vinegar. These products will last for a month or longer, even in the 21st Century. How amazing is that?

I removed from beneath my kitchen and bathroom sinks, my laundry room, and the shelves in my garage, all products that were not green. These products contained petroleum distillates, fragrances and perfumes, benzene, xylene, and other carcinogenic chemicals with which we are now so familiar. I shook my head in wonder and decided that virtually all of them could be supplanted with vinegar, baking soda, borax, water, cooking oil, and lemons with occasional splashes of carefully selected products.

For now, The Green People, who include us Green Boomers, need to push on, to further educate ourselves and to extend our knowledge base to reach the uninitiated. The green movement extends beyond purchases and substitutions. It includes awareness and continuing education. And as Green Boomers, that’s what we need to be good at.