The Weight of Money

As the house purchase approaches, I feel my inner tree-hugging, environmentalist freak coming on. Funny thing is that I don’t typically feel much like an earth loving, granola-crunching hippie, but it seems that all of my latent Save the Planet emotions are welling up big time now that we’re about to own .85 acres of land.

My frugal fanaticism is pretty earth friendly, especially when I see no reason to spend to spend or to own to own. Reduce, reuse, recycle are common phrases uttered weekly in our house – whether I’m whipping leftovers into something new and exciting or painstakingly dividing recyclable materials from non-recyclable.

Homeownership is bringing new passion to these actions and feelings. I’m wondering if all the “someday I’ll do that” thoughts I had when reading about natural home products have now found their day. Even though I’ve been the first to grab up the strongest, chemical laden cleaning products around, I’m suddenly looking at more people and earth friendly products and homemade recipes to take care of things. I feel like I’ve oversung the praises of the clothes line and how we don’t need a stinkin clothes dryer anyways. The partner cringes when I start touting energy saving practices that will reduce, and maybe (hopefully) even eliminate, the need for air conditioning.

Also, as we’re (thinking about) packing, I’m thinking about the day to day life in the new house. Where things will go, how will we use items? Suddenly I’m getting uppity about trash. I recall listening to some very nature-loving friends a few years ago about how they generate only a few bags of trash a year, a year! How things are packaged influences every purchase decision they make – including airfare, they won’t fly with carriers whose waste and recycling actions don’t meet their standards. Secretly, they’ve been my heroes and I’ve thought time and again how I can do the same. And now, that day has come, and I want to make that happen.

I often fantasize about winning the lottery, especially with the recent high dollar jackpot. In fact, that is the only argument I have for playing: $1 for a little big-money dreaming is worth it. Of course, I usually forget to buy a ticket and so I’ve been dreaming for free lately.

Last night, I went on another fantasy binge of thinking about what I would do with all that cash. From the outset, I’ve already admitted that money would change things. For all those people who insist it won’t change anything, no, it’s going to make a difference. The first consideration I have is dealing with family and money. Even in my fantasy world, I’m already feeling too stingy.

It isn’t that I wouldn’t want to help my family out, because I’d do anything and everything I could for my mom and grandma. But, for all the other family that I never see, I wouldn’t be feeling as generous as I’d be expected to be. And then there is the partner’s family, what are the implications going to be for them too? Paying off mortgages and establishing college funds for all the kids seems like possibility, but where would the line be drawn and should the line be drawn? Here in fantasy land, I’ve not even bought anything with my new imaginary money and I’m already stressing about the situations it’ll cause.

Next come charity contributions, because I surely wouldn’t just throw a “mine, mine, mine” fit, or would I. Several years ago, I said that if I ever won the lottery, I would buy a building for the preschool/child care center that my daughter attended. They rent two locations and had to close one center when their landlord decided it was time to go. Since I feel that their operation is an amazing one, I’d love to support them in some way (maybe they won’t want their own building). Funny thing is that I fell behind on payments with this organization, was forced to stop taking my daughter there, and eventually sued for the tuition owed — yet I would still do this for them.

Not knowing how I’d really handle the charitable giving, I move on to what I’ll actually buy. First up is a house and not some McMansion towering over the neighbors. In fact, I’d opt out of having neighbors and get lots and lots of land. Older farm houses built around 1900 seem to be my style of choice and I’d certainly want to make that dream come true. But, then comes the updating needed and also outfitting the house. For any renovations, I’d have a mental challenge of maintaining historic integrity and updating with all green materials. For home furnishings, would be acceptable to get rid of everything we have (all used, hand-me downs) and replace it or should I hold on to what I have? I’d want to switch to greener items in the household, be able to buy all organic cotton sheets and furnishings that suit my values. Last night, a new idea came to mind: fully outfitting our house with solar, wind, and hydro power. The cost of solar panels wouldn’t be out of reach anymore and we could get enough to cover our needs.

Then clothing. Part of me would want a major shopping spree — but is that just contributing to mass consumerism and hurting the environment more than helping it? What about shopping in 100% independent, perhaps locally owned shops for my clothing and then donating what I own (not much)?

Going beyond material processions, how will the money change my interests and social interactions? Will I suddenly feel like it’s my responsibility to fund things I could pay for before? Will my volunteer activities take on a new light when I know, and everyone else knows, that I could solve any financial problem the organization has without a second thought? Will I still want to have all seven children, or will there be too many other things available to fill me time? If I have the kids I want, would hiring a nanny as a helping hand be contrary to the family values I have or just be an extra helping hand? Speaking of kids, how will the influx of money change the daughter’s life? She already faces some social challenges; will being the mega-rich kid amplify those problems or mask them?

Already, in fantasy world, the money is bringing up all sorts of questions I don’t feel like I can answer. Perhaps that is a sign that I shouldn’t even play the lottery if I don’t know what I do with the money. Other than the simple, pay off all bills, everything else opens up new territories that would need some serious soul searching to figure out how that spending will line up with my values. And I don’t know how possible and realistic that soul searching would be when you know you’ve got a pile of cash waiting for you to sort everything out.

While I don’t classify myself as a major environmentalist, I get upset at the over consumption of materials I see every day. It seems that environmental issues have been constantly popping up on my radar and I’m starting to get moved enough to act. My new job in a corporate office brings up an endless number of issues and I wonder what environmental ethics exist in corporate culture.

One of the corporate values that have been communicated through actions is the importance of looking good. This includes physical appearance of staff, neatness of the building, and the visual presentation of materials. Everything circulated within and from the office must have a certain polished appearance.

Right now, I’m stuffing 10 page, full-color, glossy newsletters into crisp, white corporate-labeled envelopes. These newsletters are not getting all dressed up to be sent out to customers; these are internal newsletters written for managers and directors. We’ve printed more than 2,000 copies that will get thumbed through and, maybe, filed away for later reference. The envelopes we’re stuffing them will go directly in the trash upon arrival. Why are we putting them in envelopes?

It seems that the thrifty and environmentally conscious thing to do would be to skip the envelop and just put labels on the newsletter. Or, if envelopes must be used, get some recycled ones and skip on the company letter head. Also, did we really need to publish a full-color newsletter on glossy paper — none of which is recycled? Where is that line where environmental and financial concerns are balanced with the need to add visual pizzazz?

Our office also has a behemoth color printer that is always running. No job is too small or too large for this printer and it is the first choice copier. We also have a great black and white printer that sits motionless next to the color monster. I’ve attended meetings where every piece of paper is color printed, just to throw it out when I get back to my desk. Black and white copies would have gotten the job done just as well and conserved toner and pricier paper.

Finally, my biggest complaint is that we don’t have a recycling program. We have recycling bins in the copy room, but I’ve learned that they just get tossed out with the trash. That color copier produces pounds of waste every day that doesn’t belong in the trash. I’ve recently contacted the local county to explore some business solutions for recycling, and hope to get something started. However, I’ve been warned that it will be a difficult challenge since the office manager has expressed her opposition against recycling (I’m guessing she thinks it’ll make more work for her).

I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to change the “looking good” culture. I know that there is a deeply held belief that the corporate office must be dripping with class, but what about appearing environmentally considerate too? I will start with my department and see what I can do to change some of their habits and go from there. Hopefully, we’ll drop the color staff meeting agendas and lose the envelops for the next outgoing newsletter.