The New York Times published a provocative piece last Sunday on what the paper calls "green noise" -- the overload of often contradictory edicts, opinions, inventions, and philosophies meant to inspire a more eco-friendly way of life.

Organic produce that's been transported a thousand miles, or locally grown produce from a large, commercial farm?

Wash your dishes by hand, or use a water-efficient dishwasher that nevertheless relies on electricity to function?

Drink bottled water, whose environmental problems have been documented exhaustively in recent months, or re-use the Nalgene jug you used to attach to your backpack in college, despite the fact that it contains the potentially hazardous chemical bisphenol-a?

The endeavor to live green is getting harder by the hour, not only because we keep finding out about yet another environmental hazard at the core of daily existence in the western hemisphere, but also because there's always someone there to contradict whatever it is you heard yesterday. And sometimes it's hard to tell if you're just being suckered by some green marketing campaign, whose only real "green" concern has the face of Benjamin Franklin.

It's not just green stuff, either; it's just about everything.

There was an article in last month's Runner's World featuring lots of experts discussing how it's impossible to get too much protein, and that anyone, but especially athletes, should consume as much of it as possible. Then, last week, the Times published a piece with equally impressive experts making an equally convincing case for why people eat way too much protein, even stating that an adult man can only use about 10 grams at a time.

As someone who takes his diet pretty seriously, always conscious of my protein to carbohydrate ratio, these stories left me befuddled, to say the least.

Likewise, while I'd never claim to be an ecological saint (I do live indoors, wear clothes I didn't make, and eat food I did not grow myself), I try to be conscious of my carbon footprint. And just like the protein debate, the "green noise" has my head spinning.

Please, help me figure out what to do. Let's get a dialog going. Post some of the theories you've encountered, let us know what you believe, and explain why! Let's see if we can find our way out of this jungle of contradictions.

[Image: origamidon]