Embrace the different shades of green

Some like to hike, others like to bike. Embrace your shade of green and let your friends find their own.

Since the resurgence of environmentalists - shall we say since the premier of An Inconvenient Truth - people have been more actively changing their daily habits. I'll admit that I am one of them. Though I was raised to be aware of politics, care about human rights and be good to the earth, the amount of attention the media has been giving the environment has helped keep me über-aware of my own impact.

So slowly but surely I have been changing my habits. I eat less meat (I am contemplating going back to being a vegetarian, but have not yet made the move). I don't buy bottled water. I use my travel coffee mug religiously. I recycle. I use my own bags for groceries. I ride my bike to work or take public transportation. I am in the process of setting up my compost bin. This compost bin is taking longer than I would like. I seem to be quite tired at the end of each work day and I need to set aside some time to put this together. In the meantime, I will admit that I have been hording veggie scraps in old Chinese take-out plastic containers. I am hiding them from my husband so that he does not get grossed out. So don't tell him.

I have learned that it is easier to change one habit at a time. Taking on too much change all at once can lead to frustration and failure. So once I get the compost bin up and working, my next step is to take on a volunteer job. I am trying to work my schedule so that I can spend some time on ReVision farm. I love what they do, and want to be a part of it.

I am inspired by people every day, and that motivates me to change much more than having someone tisk-tisk me. At this point I would say my shade of green is a sea foam green. I am not a light green, nor am I a grassy green nor a dark emerald green. I have made some great strides in the past year, but I have a way to go.

So back to letting everyone be their own shade of green, Beth Teitell was doing a story for NPR on green shaming/environmental harassment. She called me for some information. I mentioned to her that while attending seminars to learn more about sustainable business people were shaming the fact that we all had to meet instead of having a webinar. I can see their point, but we are human and we still need to interact. There are times when a webinar is appropriate, and there are times when we should meet face-to-face. Anyone that has had to run their own business knows the importance of networking.

You can hear the story, titled "Is an enviromaniac loose in your office?", on
the Marketplace website. Check it out - I'm sure there are many of you out there that can relate.

In the meantime - keep up the good work.