green is universal

Eco-Horror Story Time with Mr. Green

Dear Mr. Green,

Can you tell us an eco-horror story to get us in the Halloween Spirit?!

Thanks!
The Green Ghoulies

Dear Monsters from the Deep Green,

Imagine if you will, the rustle of wind through leafless trees, unresponsive apparitions, the wisp of tattered bandages as they fall from dried corpses, dust filled tombs, the preserved dead and other undead creatures; vampires, werewolves, flying monkeys, Frankenstein, Freddy Krueger, the Invisible Man, the Headless Horseman and maybe even the Wicked Witch of the West.

Neither you or I need to look far to find spooky, frightening, spine tingling or scary stuff to scare us. When you've got man-made disasters like Love Canal, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, climate change and global warming - who needs "Eight Legged Freaks", "Frankenfish" or even "Attack of the Giant Leeches?"

To get you into the spirit of the holiday I've written a poem inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"... here it goes.

Once upon disasters dreary, before air and earth was weak and weary,
Over disturbed and mangled soil, ruined and tangled, polluted with oil.
Mother Nature nearly napping, suddenly there came a snapping,
Like feet moving through dead birch, over leaves, and past birds that perch.
Humans mangling every shore, with behaviors most abhor.
While we've dumped and quelled the chore, promising "Just this, and nothing more."

In what felt like earth's December, barely glowing like dying ember,
Sorrow for our Mother Nature, with every attempt to denature.
The dawn of time, the break of day, whose thread-bear fabric begins to fray
Wish I may, wish I might, wish I could fight to end this blight.
In my challenge to start tomorrow and with attempts to stop this sorrow,
Our planet's changed forever, to her core, we can no longer silently ignore.

We once marveled at sky and shore, and counted earthly spectacle galore.
We splashed in surf and picked out stars - Pluto, Venus, Saturn and Mars.
Without thought we've carved roads for cars, parceled her up leaving scars.
McMansions, MiniMarts, McDonalds, Malls, beneath it all we hear her calls.
With certain meaning in stillness broken, before I end my rhyming token,
I'll continue briefly my thoughts to outpour, without our care she's nevermore.

(Halloween Spirit? I'll give you Halloween spirit...boogly-boogly!)

about mr. green

From re-gifting, re-cycling, to natural cleaning products for your home, Mr. Green has all of your ecotiquette answers. Our Mr. Green (aka. Michael De Jong), is the author of "CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing." He lives in Jersey City with his partner (Richard,) dog (Jack,) and three goldfish (Phil, Jill and Gill) all of which benefit from his natural cleaning techniques. De Jong, who cleaned apartments in New York City while working as a fine artist, began researching and inventing many of the recipes in "CLEAN" and is continually experimenting with safe, effective and eco-friendly alternatives. Raised in the mid-West by an immigrant family that valued the environment and re-cycled before it was fashionable, his quest for non-toxic solutions comes naturally to him. He is currently writing a companion series of "CLEAN" books dealing with such topics as the body, first aid, organization, and food, as well as posting a weekly Blog on www.thedailygreen.com. "CLEAN: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing" can be purchased at Barnes & Noble stores across the country or on-line at www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com.

Click here to send him a question and he'll put in the elbow grease to scrub out the answers!