I got a good giggle over a renovating show I watched on the weekend. The couple bragged about their environmentally friendly house. Okay, some of the things they did were very kind to the environment, I'll happily agree (envying them their solar panels), but some… not so much.
For example: They talked about hardwood floors made from trees killed naturally by beetles. That would have been great except that to put these new gorgeous floors in, they tore out perfectly good existing floors. Wouldn't it have been more environmentally friendly to simply refinish the old floors?
The same thinking could apply to their walls and furniture. Yes, the kitchen table were designed by the Amish but what about the kitchen table they used to have? Where did that go? The landfill?
Then, there was the front yard. Yes, the green lawn they had took more water but instead of letting that die naturally and replacing it slowly with area friendly plants, they tore everything out. And they toppled a fir tree (that was the biggest shocker).
My first step along the road of being "green" is, when it doesn't mess with energy efficiency, I look long and hard at working with what I do have. Then if that doesn't work for me (for example: I want shutters in a bad, bad way), I look at reuse, used, and antique stores. No new trees killed and possibly things kept out of the landfill.
Oh, and it saves money too (especially, I'm finding on the shutters).