Green by default (by law?)

Frankly I don't quite know what to write about greenness. Somehow the people I usually talk to about being green are American, and the situation over there is quite different than it is here. Want a plastic bag to carry home your groceries? Be prepared to pay for it (in some cases: be prepared to buy paper or jute). Too lazy to recycle? Be prepared to pay ridiculous amounts of money to be allowed a bigger non-recycle bin. Want a car? Have fun driving around town for an hour to find a parking spot (and then pay for it). About a year ago we decided to finally get renewable energy, only to discover that our default supplier of electricity had actually switched over entirely some months before.

You see, even if I tried not to be green, I'd have a pretty hard time. So of course I carry a tote bag around all the time. Of course we recycle. Of course I walk or take the bus. But really, so do most other people. There are probably people who use less electricity, or heat less, but then again I mostly work on my computer, and live in a dark and badly isolated apartment. I could buy more organic & local food; I would, but right now I simply don't have enough money. Really, unfortunately, that's what it comes down to quite often: not having the resources to be green(er). There seems to be a standard of some greenness for the middle class (organic food is quite normal, for example), while poorer folks can't afford it (except for the stuff that's law, of course), and richer folks can afford not to give a damn.

win. (also: pretty as hell)

My town is ridiculously, notoriously, green. For the last two years our town has been trying to make it mandatory for home owners to install solar panels under certain circumstances (new houses & roof and heating system renovations), but sadly the nuclear-loving regional government did all it could to stop it, and finally won a few months ago. Now we're trying to build windmills in a place where they won't bother anyone, but oh, they'll destroy the landscape in the place no-one ever goes *eyeroll*. We can have lovely ancient nuclear reactors instead! Weeee! (well, right now they're shut down... for safety checks, I mean, until the elections are over and/or people have forgotten about Fukushima).