Guilty pleasures... how guilty are you?

[ReverendDeuce]

Folks,

We all have guilty pleasures. I try to live a good, green lifestyle. I am conscious about my utility use, paper use, etc. I make a conscious effort to reduce waste. However, I have some guilty pleasures that I need some affirmation on. :)

Here's mine: The Keurig coffee machine. It brews individual cups of coffee using little plastic pods of coffee.



Yeah, it seems sort of wasteful...

What's your individual excess?

[Speck Tater]

1. No excesses. Can't afford them. NT

[AlCzervik]

2. books and music.

[azmouse]

3. A swimming pool.

Uses too much water and electricity. But it also would cost a ton of money to dig out or fill in.
So we maintain, use and enjoy it during the long summer that we have here in AZ.

[AlCzervik]

7. we have a pool as well and it gets stupid hot here, not as bad as where you are

but pretty gross.

[MercutioATC]

4. My cars. 2001 Audi S8 and 1983 Porsche 911.

I recycle. I don't use chemical lawn care. I turn down my furnace in the winter and AC in the summer. I use CF lights.

...but I love to drive...

...and yes, with current gas prices, I pay for my vice.

[ReverendDeuce]

11. S8 is sick... I forgot about my car...

I, too, am a driver of fine vehicles... '06 Infiniti M here.

[MercutioATC]

14. The M is a great ride...

...and I love the push-button ignition.

You can't be getting great mileage, tho :)

Oh, and I have to check out that coffee maker...looks fantastic.

[ReverendDeuce]

17. Well, 90% of my driving is city...

And well, you know the feeling, I am sure. When you start to whip through traffic and you can hear that clean sound of precision from the hood. The quality components are there and you can tell just from how the entire car feels.

Infiniti has it just right with their new vehicles. That fellow from France has really made their products great.

[mike_c]

5. the Aerobie coffee press does the same thing, and almost as fast...

...with much less waste, energy use, etc. And it makes a REALLY good cup of coffee!

[KansDem]

6. !!!

:9

[lpbk2713]

8. Internet

Ever since I got RoadRunner Broadband I have become practically obsessed.

[maddezmom]

9. I have a similar machine but I throw my pods in recycling

Nespresso capsules are 100% recyclable :D

[ReverendDeuce]

12. Oh, Nestle has their own, eh?

Nice for Espresso drinkers. There are a few vendors of Espresso blends for the Keurig system. I think Timothy's has one.

Today I've been drinking French roast... and believe me, it's a heavy handed French roast. My god I am wired up!

Keurig has like a dozen different companies. Many offer Fair Trade and organics. One of the absolute best bold blends is Green Mountain's "Newman's Own". It's a fantastic rich, bold coffee but is not tangy like some excessively black blends.

I use two 11-oz shots of it in a big mug with a splash of cream. It's amazing!

[LiberalEsto]

10. Books

But we buy a lot of used ones, and every couple of months we donate the books we don't want to the Friends of the Library Used Book Sale.

[flvegan]

13. My car: 2007 Mazdaspeed 3.

I know, I'm horrible. I needed a newer car, and I still really needed something with cargo capacity for rescue dogs/crates. It gets half the mileage of a Prius, and I drive it like a fool. I could have gone with the regular Mazda 3 hatch and gotten the same cargo room, but oh, the delightful torque is addictive.

I telecommute most days of the week, so I don't drive it as much, but still. Guilty as charged.

Also, my beer is from Holland, so that's a hefty voyage to make.

I'm awful. I can also admit, and you'll hate me...if I had the money, well, I'd have an 8 mpg Lamborghini Gallardo. There, I said it. My entire home would be off the grid and entirely solar to try to make up for my wretched excess.

[Ohio Joe]

15. My car - 2002 Thunderbird

[Zynx]

16. An extensive collection of historical coins.

Pretty wasteful, but I enjoy them.

[Breeze54]

18. That just seems like a waste of money to me.

:shrug:

[ReverendDeuce]

19. But it's nice, because I don't need to clean up after it...

And the coffee is always perfect. No filter mess. And I never have to worry about making too much or too little.

It's a convenience that is probably a bit wasteful, thus the guilty pleasure aspect. :)

[Breeze54]

21. I have a coffee maker with a built in filter and I buy

one HUGE can of my favorite flavor. No messy filters and I save money. ;)

I also have a Black & Decker one cup coffee maker with a built in filter.

[Warpy]

20. Real maple syrup

Even when I was poor, I'd buy Grade B in bulk. I just can't manage the substitutes, not even when I make them myself to avoid the chemical aftertaste the store stuff gives me.

I know this doesn't seem like much of an excess, but consider that I live far from sugaring country, in New Mexico, and that I was living on $800/month when the mortgage took the first $560.

Treating myself with pancakes happened maybe every two months or so.