Tuesday

In case you missed it, 1 added a lengthy comment to the Sunday entry.

I had a successful mowing of my yard last night. The overnight rain made my decision to get the cutting done yesterday even more productive. If I had given it another day to grow, I would have had to catch the clippings, which is a lot more work.

Catching the clippings is a concept that relates to the idea that will be the core issue of today's entry. Going green. It's politically correct. It's urged at almost every municipal level. We have curb-side recycling. Yard-waste composting. Ethanol. Biofuels. Laurie David. Al Gore.

On a personal level, we're talking the carbon footprint of my failed tomato garden. I estimate that I harvested a total of 10 tomatoes before I threw in the towel to the rabbits. (Actually, I could take this analysis off on an economic bent, but that would be too easy.) Let's evaluate the carbon energy expended for the "natural" tomato experience:

1. Truck transport to Lowe's to stock the garden store. Plants. Dirt. Etc.
2. My initial car trip to and from Lowe's to buy the plants.
3. My trip to Lowe's last Fall to buy 3 bags of new dirt for the garden.
4. Plastic bags made to package the dirt.
5. Plastic tags to identify the variety of tomato plant.
6. Packaging for StaGro fertilizer.
7. Paper yard waste bags to send failed plants to community compost.
8. Compost truck gas/oil for curb-side pick-up.
9. Three months of every-other-day watering by garden hose.
10. Water from my shower after planting the tomatoes.
11. I could go on. And on.

For 10 tomatoes.

Okay. The marginal carbon footprint for each of the above items may not be significant enough to measure on any scale. So where is the veritable "tipping point"? When does an individual doing something or not doing something actually matter to the whole? How do you get there? How do you legislate globally when the level of interests are so varied? If the citizenry of California all elected to ride bicycles, would that offset the pollution or other detriments of the South Americans clear-cutting and burning the rain forests? (Fortunately, there's talk of a new rain forest outside Iowa City. But that discussion will have to wait for another day.)

True garden-fresh tomatoes are of high value. Any politicaly correct carbon footprint has to allow for variances. Those red ovular cardboard things that they sell in stores will make even an environmentalist grimace. I see a Tomato Exception sailing through both Houses.

Have a great evening.

Be careful out there.