Growing up in a middle-class suburb of Cleveland, I hardly considered my family progressive. I learned to drive in our shiny, new 1982 Mercury Grand Marquis. The only thing green about that gas guzzling land yatch was its metallic Jade exterior. But I suppose hybrid cars were still a far off thought for most people at that time (although I will say, I can parallel park just about anywhere now). No, that part of my childhood seemed normal. It was the other habits that struck me as odd…at the time.

While most families had mothers attending to rose bushes in their gardens and friends earned allowance by cutting the grass, my chores consisted of picking the corn (as in off the stalk) and helping my mother can tomatoes for the winter. When it came time to set the table for dinner, it also meant cutting fresh lettuce for our salad, usually Romaine. Flourishing along side the lettuce in our yard were carrots, peas, onions, string beans, eggplant, potatoes, squash, zucchini, pumpkin, watermelon and a variety of herbs. Little ever went to waste in the kitchen, as it would be added to the compost in the yard - to help the soil for next year’s crops. We often grew more than we could eat ourselves, so we were constantly sharing the bounty with our neighbors.

Did I mention I grew up in suburban Cleveland?

Things were not much different inside the house. Cleaning supplies were rarely chemical based. Vinegar and water was a popular combo for both windows and floors (no streaks). Newspaper was saved to use for mirrors and other glass instead of paper towels (no streaks AND no lint). Instead of bleach for whiter whites, we used bluing. And if you went to get something from the refrigerator, you better have known what you were looking for because we were “not trying to cool of the entire neighborhood with that thing!”

I don’t say any of this to brag, as if my family was green before it was trendy. In fact, as a kid, it was down right embarrassing. None of the cool kid’s families were growing their own dinner. They were ordering from Pizza Hut, for God’s sake! Imagine at 15 having to say, “Sorry Joey, I can’t play today. I have to help till the soil so we can plant before it gets too late in the season.” Who was I, Opie?

I later discovered that much of this behavior was a hold over from my grandparents. They grew up in the depression. For them it was not a matter of being green - it was a matter of surviving. As difficult as those years were for them (and they never missed a chance to tell me about it), they always knew things would eventually get better, and they did. As I think about how this influenced my own consumer habits through out my life, I can’t help but be thankful for what I learned and for knowing what my choices are — and I do know that I have a choice.

I’m not going to be pious and tell you that I’ve always done the right thing. In fact, in my twenties when I started living on my own, I would turn all the lights on in the house and keep the refrigerator door open — just because I could. I did a lot of things then, “just because I could.” Either because I could afford it or because it was more convenient. And when you live in a disposable society, there aren’t too many people around to keep you in check once your grandparents have passed.

But when I started to hear about something called the El Nino Effect and when I noticed that fall was becoming a little longer — and much hotter and that my some of my younger cousins had Type 2 Diabetes - at age 16 - I realized that I could no longer afford many of my choices. When Al Gore started talking to us about Global Warming and now that gas is at $4 a gallon, there was nothing convenient about any of my previous choices either.

As I tried to figure out what to do about it, I realized that all I really needed to know about being green, I already learned from my family. I’m not advocating making your underwear our of old flour sacks (true story), but these are the things I learned:

• Share everything (that’s pretty universal)
• Waste not want not. Everything, just like everyone, can contribute many things in life.
• Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
• Eat fresh foods whenever possible.
• Learn to can - or at least how to freeze properly.
• Clean up your mess - without the toxins.
• Plant early and with good intention for a bountiful harvest.
• Fresh soil yields the most delicious fruits. Keep your soil nurtured.
• Hope is by far the most renewable resource we have at our disposal
• Know that you have choices. Know their effects.

Happy Earth Day!

Written by: Bob Kasunic