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Beth: Remember that New York Times article that you forwarded me the other day?
Michael: Yeah.
Beth: You know which one I'm talking about?
Michael: I send you a lot of them, but um...
Beth: Okay, specifically remember that New York Times article about couples or families
that can't agree on green living standards in their homes?
Michael: Oh yeah
Beth: What do you have it over there?
Michael: I have a nice metal bottle
Beth (laughs)
Michael: You know I'd probably still be drinking out of plastic bottles if it weren't for you.
Beth: So, my question is, why did you forward me that specific article?
Michael: It just seemed like it was about, I don't know, greenness. I mean, we have discussed
this issue before. This is not unknown to us.
Beth: Right. I thought there was a personal reason why you sent it to me.
Michael: I thought it might be something to include on your blog. I don't necessarily
consider you more green than I am, I just think we're green in different ways. I mean,
you have your priorities. I have other priorities.
Beth: Do you feel that I tell you you have to be greener?
Michael: Um... I think that that um... See the thing is, though, I generally adapt eventually,
don't I? I mean, I guess I just don't like surprises like suddenly, "Oh, you can't do
this!" or "you should do this" or "It's bad to do this." My first reaction, for instance
when you blogged about chewing gum. Now I like to chew gum and ...
Beth: Chewing gum is made from plastic we found out but we didn't know that until just
like a few weeks ago.
Michael: Yeah, but but so um so I don't know on the one hand my first reaction was, Oh
now Beth is taking that away from me, but it's not that she's taking it... she didn't
go through my drawer and take out the gum, she just told me, "You know. It's probably
not so good for you."
I still eat energy bars in wrappers, but I've joined this program to recycle the wrappers,
well of course that's recycling, and it's Terracycle dot Net, and of course the, I mean
I do collect the wrappers and send them in and they get turned into handbags, which...
okay that's kind of stupd...
Beth: And they're fugly handbags, too. Well, no, I know somebody who likes it so I have
to be careful. Like I would never carry one of those handbags. I mean would you? Would
you carry one of those Terracycle handbags?
Michael: But anyway... the thing in the article was when partner says oh we have to do we
have to this and the other partner says oh I don't feel like doing that. I mean for instance
I wonder, because you do a lot more flying than I do...
Beth: Truthfully, your carbon footprint is probably lower than mine because I have flown
a lot more than you. Do you ever feel that I'm being self-righteous or that I am judging
you in a, like morally judging you?
Michael: Yeah. But not... but yeah... but yeah.
The only thing I do occasionally do is something, and I think you know I sometimes do this is
I'll buy a product that's in plastic and before I get it home it will not be in plastic anymore.
Beth: Yeah, you trick me sometimes! I've noticed. Like, like you brought me that jar of nuts
one time that were so delicious; they were like, I don't know, they were like toffee
nuts or something. And then I wanted to get more, and I was like who did you get that
from... it was some guy at the farmers market... and you were like, "Oh they come in a plastic
bag." And you had put 'em in a jar before you got home.
Michael: Yeah, yeah, it makes sense not to wrap things in plastic indefinitely. Like
I mean if I don't always have a jar with me or always have a metal container with me...
but I use metal containers a lot. Um... I think that um... I mean, I think that compared
to some of the couples in that... that story... we get along... we don't have that many differences.
I mean, sometimes I'll be in a store and there'll be little samples of something and they'll
be in little plastic cups. And sometimes I'll say, "Oh, you know, it's in a plastic cup.
I'm not gonna waste a plastic cup just for a little sample of something. And then sometimes
I'll say, "Oh, it's just a little sample, and I'm hungry," and just, you know, it depends
on my mood. Um... you know, other times..."
Beth: And when you do that, when you take the sample cup in the store, do you think,
"Oh, Beth would hate this..."
Michael: Yeah
Beth: Or oh if Beth was here I wouldn't be able to do this...
Michael: Sometimes I think... oh this is wrong but, oh to hell with it. And uh, I don't use
that much plastic. I really don't.
Beth: Do you feel that I criticize you for that?
Michael: Ummm... no, but I guess, I don't know, like sometimes you're a little like
Ned Flanders... you're just soooo good...
Beth: I'm like Ned Flanders!
Michael: You're just so good, and I'm like oh I guess I can't be like Beth, I can't
You know I am proud of you.
Beth: You are?
Michael: Yeah. I mean I give out your card all the time. So...
Beth: But you're proud of me.
Michael: Yeah.
Beth: So I'm proud of you too. I think that's a good place to stop.