Why "Go Green" When You Just Don't Care About Saving the Earth

You say you don't care about the earth ... well, what about your health and your wallet. I can show you how "going green" is not only good for the earth, but it can also keep you and your family healthy and save you a significant amount of money. I can also prove to you that caring for the earth isn't just for hippies. It directly affects you and your children more than you know.

Why should you care about the earth? The first reason is because it is your responsibility. Think if it as a civic duty of being a part of the human race. People vote because it is their responsibility to get involved and to care what is going on in their country. If they do not vote, they have no right to complain when the president does something they do not agree with. All those people slamming President Bush for so many things ... how many of them are saying what a terrible job he is doing, yet never voted when those election years came along. Well, it is the same thing when it comes to this earth. Anyone who does not do their part to take care of the earth has no right to complain about the state of the air, the water, or the weather. It would be like someone driving by a dump site and complaining about the ridiculous amount of trash when they themselves have never once recycled.

Now, if you still are not convinced you should care, here is reason number two, the health of you and your family. The best way to give you a good idea of what you are doing to your health when you buy and use all those name brand "wonderful healthy products" for your family to use and eat on a daily basis it to ask you a simple question. Would you give your child a tall glass of disease and toxins with his cookies? Of course not! "Milk is a very strong pollutant: it is about 400 times more polluting than untreated sewage. To put it another way, 1,000 gallons of milk has the same polluting potential as the untreated sewage from a town of 7,000 people." (Morlais Owen. Chief Scientist for Welsh Water. North Wales Weekly News).

And this is just one product out of thousands that you and your family use every single day. It seems so harmless, but do some very basic research on the safety of the things you use in your everyday life and you will see that they are not so harmless. There are so many diseases these days that we do not know the exact cause of. Well, don't you think eating products with toxins and poisonous substances could do serious damage to your body over a period of time? Where do you think things like cancer and diabetes come from? These days people cut so many corners when making different products and put so many unhealthy fillers in food products just to save a few bucks that you are literally putting you and your family's lives at risk in the long term by buying these products.

If you knew that the paint you put on the walls in your home had carcinogens in it (as well as most cleaning products) and several years down the road your spouse or child got cancer, would you not feel a little guilty for not spending the five extra dollars per gallon of paint to buy the safe eco-friendly brand? Would you not wonder if all that exposure to products with cancer causing ingredients over the years (which could have easily been prevented by looking for healthier earth-friendly substitutes) could have caused your loved ones cancer? The EPA website states that VOC's found in paint, wax, cleaning products, cosmetics, pesticides, and degreasing products cause "Eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some can cause cancer in animals; some are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans." This is just another good reason why buying more eco-friendly products is not only good for the earth, but can also be very beneficial to you and your family's health.

Now here is an example for all those Christians who think recycling and saving the earth is just for all those left wings and hippies, and it comes straight form God himself. "...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen 1:28). Now I know most Christians emphasize the part of this verse where is says to have dominion, but what about replenishing the earth? Isn't that what "going green" is all about? Using sustainable resources and taking care of this earth is mostly seen as a liberal or left-wing idea. But isn't taking care of what God gave us and not cutting corners to save a few dollars only to sacrifice our health and the health of our planet not only a part of being a good Christian but also just being a decent human being? God does not want you to destroy what he has given you.

Doesn't that seem a little disrespectful towards God and even hypocritical for a Christian to tell God thank you for all he has given you and then go on to contribute to pollution, support companies that produce their items with complete disregard to this earth that He gave us. What about in 1 Cor. 3:17 where it tells us that our bodies are the temple of God and we should not defile them? Don't you think that means being select about the things you eat and breathe and are exposed to (such as un healthy foods, toxic cleaning products and candles, and other household products)? Obviously from all of these supporting facts straight from the Bible itself, "going green" is not just for liberals. As a matter of a fact I think I would go as far as to say that God had commanded it of all Christians.

Look for part two of this article coming soon all about the ways you can go green without sacrificing too much. You might even end up saving some money in the process of helping to take care of this earth if you do it the right way.