Tale of Two Houses

Now I'm not here to rattle anyones cages; just make people think. If you don't think this is true, check out snopes.com for more information under "The Story of Two Houses"

House #1
A 20 room mansion ( not including 8 bathrooms ) heated by natural gas.
Add on a pool ( and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas.
In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year.
The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400.
In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home.
This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern "snow belt" area.
It's in the South.

House #2
Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university.
This house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide.
The house is 4,000 square feet ( 4 bedrooms ) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest.
A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.
The water (usually 67 degrees F. ) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer.
The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes one-quarter electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system.
Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Waste water from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern.
The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house.
Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape.

~~~~~
HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville , Tennessee ; it is the abode of the "environmentalist" Al Gore .

HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas ; it is the residence the of the President of the United States , George W. Bush.

An "inconvenient truth"

So how Hard is all this?

I thought I would write a quick post about how easy going green is.
I'm using the term "hard" loosely though! Not all of it is hard. I think the hardest thing is changing your mindset about not slipping back into what is easy.
I've found that this is all way more then just recycling. Its beyond that in so many ways.


One of the hardest things on being green is that its typically not something most Christians follow. There is little literature out there on being green for God. Most books I've found that I think are going be a great read would rather spend more time complaining about how the Right is screwing everything up.
While there may be some truth behind that, please keep in mind people that not all Greenies are democrats!!!!! For goodness sake, even if the democrats were in power of everything it won't change the rest of America.
And for those of you thinking you should write a book about being a Right-Green Loving- God Fearing-Conservative then PLEASE do and send me your first copy! LOL!
I know what you are all thinking, "Well then if you think you can do better then you write a book." Yes I have thought about. But its a fleeting thought! Don't be surprised if I do one day though...blogs have to start somewhere right?!
Whew, anyway...glad I got that off my chest!


Ok so besides finding nothing help support me thru books and having to read some literature by filtering out all the complaining is like I mentioned above is changing my mindset.

I did read a good book called Serve God Save the Planet and one of the biggest thing he said that really struck me was when I go to buy something that maybe isn't necessary you ask yourself, "Will this bring God honor?" and of course the most note able, "Do I really need this?"
Sigh....
No I don't really Need a lot of the stuff I want to buy.
I've been really good lately though. Mainly its been the whole pocketbook/money issue rather then saving the earth, but it goes hand in hand.

That is the hardest. Moving beyond wanting to obtain more "stuff." Our family stopping "keeping up with the Jones" long ago. Our TV is really old and small, our DVD player is about 5 yrs old which in DVD years that is ancient. We drive very used cars and I'm proud to say that I DO NOT drive an SUV and my car is payed off.
So in a lot of respects we do good in those areas. I don't buy every article of clothing that I want. I actually think about it.
But there is my weak point--really cheap items that I probably don't need, but think I should buy since its such a good deal and who wouldn't pass that up!?
I'm getting better though.

But everything else really isn't that hard.
I found it interesting to be honest. I feel like I can put some effort behind something that I can do in my own home and that is empowering. The long term is good as well. Noah is already on it about our shopping bags and using the compost bin. He is a big helper in those areas.

So all in all it isn't' hard! A little research and just trying to be the change! In the long run it'll be worth it...