010Friends and family often refer to us as DINKs (dual income, no kids). When we get glossy junk mail with photos of a lavish sports car or that sailboat cruising in crystal blue waters, I wouldn’t be surprised if our names appeared on some marketing list entitled “DINKs”.

However, today as Clint and I were coming home from a trip to Home Depot in the continuing saga of my “Suburban Organic Vegetable Farm” project, we heard a new term on San Jose’s Mix 106.5:

SCUMPs (pronounced SCUM-PEES): Socially Conscious, Upwardly Mobile Persons

I wouldn’t want to get on a soap box and declare us to be completely socially conscious. However, Clint and I have been hit with the same “green plague” that has every grocery store touting “organic” and Home Depot aisles lined with Energy Star light bulbs.

Clint and I glanced down at our bag of Energy Star fluorescent light bulbs we got as an impulse purchase at Home Depot. They are now much improved from what I remembered them last. The bulbs turn on in a snap and give off a warm glow that mimics that of incandescents.

Have we transitioned from DINKs to SCUMPs? Pause. We noticed that we had forgetten to use our reuseable Trader Joe’s bags and instead, had our light bulbs in that familiar orange disposible bag. Sigh.

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Loni Stark is an artist at Atelier Stark, self-professed foodie, and adventure travel seeker who has a lifelong passion for technology’s impact on business and creativity. She collaborates with Clinton Stark on video projects for Atelier Stark Films. It’s been said her laugh can be heard from San Jose all the way up to the Golden Gate Bridge. She makes no claims to super powers, although sushi is definitely her Kryptonite.