There is a pieces over at organic mania today, “Greener than Thou” that addresses a rising dilemma. Well, perhaps not quite a dilemma yet, maybe it’s just the start of a trend.
It is now socially acceptable to chide someone for their lack of “green-ness”.
Now, I admit I have been guilty of this. Perhaps not as much as some, but that could be because I’m not quite as green as some. And, while I have been considered opinionated in the past, I’ve mellowed.
Realistically, going green means giving up some parts of an established lifestyle. Sometimes that is easy and requires no forethought. Sometimes, it's a sacrifice of time or convenience, but sometimes it requires sacrificing another important part of a lifestyle.
It's where this conflict of priorities comes in that it gets difficult.
Do you give up sending your child to a good school because it requires a long drive? How about a job you love that's far away? Maybe buying everything organic means you can't afford to make a bigger contribution to your church. Maybe eating local requires trips to 5 stores to actually acquire all of the groceries a household needs for the week. Maybe living in an area with public transportation means moving to a neighborhood that’s less safe for your child or more expensive than you can afford.
The list goes on.
I believe that the deep green movement plays a very important role. They highlight our wastefulness. They ring alarm bells about our environment, they affect government change at all levels. And, they promote a change in attitude. All of this is good.
Though this trend reminds me a bit of the change in appropriate behavior around smokers – from casual acceptance to verbal outrage, it’s not exactly the same thing. (And, by the way, I’m not a big fan of confronting a smoker rudely about their habit.)
Will it become socially acceptable to confront someone who is not being green? In some ways, I hope yes; in some ways no.
Littering is often laziness, not changing an important part of a lifestyle.
Not recycling when curbside isn’t available and it requires packing up sometimes dripping refuse and driving to a recycling center may be.
Not bringing your own grocery bag…at least most of the time is a habit easy to change.
Driving an SUV, when one’s family is large may not be an acceptable option.
So, I hope those on the activist edge of green continue to set examples, work hard to change government policy (so we can get curbside recycling and reusable packaging and organic foods) and be patient with the rest of us who, through a combination of greater awareness and greater options will follow them along the path to green.
For more green - visit the Carnival of The Green this week at Blogfish.
Did you enjoy this post…or at least found it interesting?
Technorati Tags:going green, how to go green, greener than thou, how green are you
6 comments:
From a parent getting greener who must drive one of those SUV's -- this is a great post. Balance is personal and tough to find.
Debibie
Hey, thanks for the link, MC!
Actually, I have started talking to people about their green choices or lack thereof - in a kind, inquisitive way - and what I've learned is that there are still not enough options out there for people.
Now I'm tipping my hat at an upcoming post - but, for example, I asked someone who was cleaning the sidewalk with bleach if they had tried other non-toxic alternatives. Their answer was instructive. The city made them use harsh stuff! Now I'm looking for alternatives..and I think I've found at least one...steam.
Great post. It is acceptable when a family cannot afford to be green but I am bothered (not to the point of confrontation) when wealthy families continue to flout what is reasonably easy to do.
I couldn't agree with this post more. It's not always easy to live green. There are things you need to learn to give up, and at the same time if you're not green through and through people can accuse you of merely hopping on the bandwagon for trend's sake. I might be considered the latter, although I believe I have the planet's best interests at heart. Whenever I can, I buy products that have been made from recyclable materials, and try to do easy common sense things in my home like switching to CFL's and going from regular oil heat to bioheat, has anyone ever heard of it, or made the switch?
Did you know that if everyone switched to bioheat we could conserve 400 millions gallons of regular oil. That's a huge amount! I wish everyone could see the light. I would love it if you would check out the site on bioheat to read more background info on it. The other thing I love about it is that it's completely clean burning, and is comprised of a b5 blend of vegetable and plant oils such as avocados, hemp, corn, etc. Check out the link! http://oilheatamerica.com/index.mv?screen=bioheat PS I work with Nora to bring this info to you!
There are people to whom I'll comment about non-green behavior (like my parents, and my in-laws), but for the most part I'm not comfortable doing that. Instead, I mention the green things I do and hope to lead by example. I love sharing easy green tips I've learned (like the fact that I use white vinegar for cleaning, and to prevent bug bites). It's hard striking a balance between being green and keeping to a budget/doing the things that life may require. I try to do my best, and I guess one of the most important things is that I THINK about the choices I make. For example, I'm not 100% sure if my new cherry furniture came from a sustainable forest, but I know it's well-constructed, solid wood in a "classic" style, and will last for generations.
I've had to endure nasty comments when shopping at Whole Foods from people who think that to be "green" one cannot have more than a single child. Excuse me????
Because we believe in simple living, our family of 4 (soon to be 5) has a lot smaller environmental footprint than many single-child or DINK families we know. We don't live in a huge McMansion filled with stuff, commute long distances in 2 gas-guzzling SUV's, jet off halfway around the world, etc., etc.
And just who do these anti-child greens think is going to be paying the taxes to fund their Social Security benefits? My kids!
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