AAUW: How ‘green’ is your grass?

By Gwen Sayian

Mon Mar 09, 2009

Hingham -

It used to be if you described yourself as “green,” you’d be envious. “Did you see the Smith’s new car? I’m green with envy.” But times change, and while being green once was a negative, it is now a favorable attribute. “Have you seen the Jones’s new car? They went green and bought a hybrid.”

We use color all the time to illustrate moods and attitudes. Consider my example: “President Obama acknowledges the black economic mood of the country, while some of us continue to see red as we wonder how we got into this mess in the first place. We want to see our economy in the pink, but only a few are wearing rose-colored glasses as they look at the future. The president thinks we may have a green (there it is) solution to the problem, but I can feel only blue when I look at my 401K.” It’s just a literary rainbow of color!

With all the damage we’ve already done to the planet, going green is a good thing. We all want our grass to be as “green” as it can be, because no one wants to be green with envy because their neighbors’ grass is greener. Personally I like brown grass. If I let my lawn dry up in the summer, I don’t have to mow it. That is also “green” grass because I produced no harmful gas emissions from my lawn mower to cut the grass, because it’s brown and not growing!

I’m not disappointed in this new meaning for being green. Our environment is in big trouble, and any slogan that catches on and gets us thinking about our world on a daily basis, can’t be bad. Read the newspaper, or walk into a store, and you will see some product advertised that will make your world and you “greener.” Of course if we all weren’t driving to the store, and buying stuff, the world would already be greener. However, if we were all buying more stuff, than our economy might move into the pink.

It’s nice for all of us New Englanders, who have been for years environmentally conscious, but never had a socially accepted and recognized name for our behavior. Instead of being “cheap” or “odd,” now we’re green. I hang my wet laundry near the furnace in the basement to dry. Then I pop it into the dryer for 10 minutes to soften it up and take out the wrinkles, and voila, I’m green! It’s so much better than being odd. I use less electricity, decrease my carbon foot print, and I get good exercise (I’m serious) by a few extra trips up and down the stairs. I consider it my in-home Stairmaster.

In case you hadn’t guessed, our AAUW (American Association of University Women) presentation this month is “Greening Your Home and Environment.” Jon Belber of Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset (hollyhillfarm.org), and Debbie Cook from the North and South Rivers Watershed Association (nsrwa.org) will be talking about taking care of both your home inside and outside in environmentally friendly ways. We are meeting March 10, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Hanover Public Library, 534 Hanover St., Hanover. Please join us for this timely and informative meeting. As always the event is free and open to the public.

While I’m at it, why is it that every Toyota Prius I see is silver? It is probably the “greenest” production car widely available, but don’t think I’ve ever seen a green one, but I guess that would be redundant.

Holders of associate’s or bachelor’s degrees who live in South Shore towns from Plymouth to Quincy are welcome to join the Hingham Area Branch. To learn more, please call Patricia McKay at 781-337-3375, or email: hollie@gallivan.org. Visit the branch Web site at aauw-ma.org and follow the links to the Hingham Branch.

Gwen Sayian is a mental health counselor, Hingham resident and member of AAUW.