Go Green #3.

Most of you do or don’t know that I grew up pretty poor. We never had new things and in particular I was never able to own books as a child. What’s in a book you might ask? Well, I had and still have 3 books from my childhood (the only books I ever owned when I was younger), two picture books about gnomes and a dictionary. Because of my strong desire for books and lack there of, I was a big library person. I read every single book in my elementary school library (winning me an award when I finally left). I particularly loved the fat neglected books that people always forgot about. The librarians would always comment on the checking out of a book that hadn’t been lent in a decade. As a working adult the first thing I did was start to buy books. Used books at first, and then new books. I now have a massive library of books that I just like to have around.

What does all of this have to do with being green? Well printing and not reusing books is pretty wasteful. So, this past weekend I went to the public library (which is a 10 minute walk from my house). I got a library card and borrowed a book that I’ve wanted to read, but I know I’ll never read again. I’m sure that I will not be checking out my favorite authors or books that I know I will want to read over and over again. But, as a first cut – I think checking out books that are one use – is pretty good.

How hard it is for people to get over crap that they were brought up with! Childhood does a number on a person.