Lids on Pots and Pans

The banter between "everyday environmentalists," Dave and Ann, is reminiscent of golden oldie commercial radio programs between married couples having breakfast. I'm red-faced to admit I recall husbands and wives chatting about everything from local gossip to news items on what can only be called morning talk shows after World War Two,

The series of drop-ins on KSVR has a far less innocuous agenda than those ancient coffee klatches. Dave and Ann's conversations are "green" to the core. In one of them Dave grouses that it's been raining cats and dogs, only to hear Ann's lecture about how run-off rainwater could be stored in barrels and used to water the garden in drier weather. In another convivial jousting match about a potluck dinner they've been invited to, Dave agrees that it would be better to bring cloth napkins and real plates, rather than litter up the environment with paper.

Dave and Ann's most recent four-minute yak session deals with Dave's using the same hot water for pasta as Ann has been using to heat chocolate frosting. Wasteful Ann -- naughty, naughty -- has boiled a large pot of water when she needs only a few teaspoons for her frosting. As penance she must listen to Dave's lecture about conserving water he will use for his pasta. Then, tit for tat, Dave must bend an ear while Ann reminds him to cover his cooking pot with a lid to save energy. The beat goes on, with a little help from Dvorak's jocular "Humoresque" as theme music for the series.

I don't want to make a mountain of how the slightly crotchety interaction of Dave and Ann is a sort of revolutionary setback for radio. Most listeners under 60 never heard of Patti and Ray, let alone "The Breakfast Club."

All I want to say is that Dave and Ann's series repackages a "green" agenda cleverly if sometimes a tad stodgily.