And I thought I was doing the environment a favor by using a SIGG water bottle.

Last night I watched an MTV documentary called “True Life: I Live Off The Grid”.

(Yes, I am probably one of the oldest people alive watching MTV. I remember back in the day when it –gasp!–showed music videos! I digress.)

Anyway, a few twenty-somethings decide to go to this wilderness camp in Wisconsin for a year and learn to live in the wild because they want to get off the grid and exist without all the technological advances we know and love. 

We’re talking Boy Scout camp on steroids. No electronics, no watches, no Brita water filters. They have to build their own shelter, trap their own food, create fire with sticks and stones, use leaves for toilet paper. One night a distant cousin of Bambi is dinner. (I think even the Extreme Food dude would be appalled at having head stew for supper.)

But then once a month the back-to-nature folk get to go to the base camp and use the Internet/telephone. I guess friends and family living far away may not see the smoke signals.

Here’s the deal: I am not worthy. I need my mobile phone. My digital cable box. The Internet. When one of the extreme-greeners confessed to taking a can of pop from a nearby camp site, I cheered. Dude! I’m with you pal. I need my soda too.

Don’t get me wrong; I am all for helping protect and maintain the environment. But why do people think the only way to make a difference is through over-the-top, extreme actions?

My plan? I’m going to lower the heat a couple degrees and refill my water bottle.

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