Is Going Green Really a Hippy, Dippy, Trippy Adventure?
My husband continues to share, without prompting or interest on my part, that people who go green are “hippy, dippy, and trippy.” Now, I think he says this because he fears that one day I will stop shaving, showering, and choose to live in a tree as I continue on my own green venture. But, perhaps he brings up a good point to ponder.
There seems to be a spectrum of green people out there. Just as there is a spectrum of people in any activist ‘category.’ This spectrum ranges from those building homes out of mud and hay and living in them leaving no carbon footprints on a daily basis to those who choose to use cloth bags instead of plastic when they shop to those who volunteer as firefly counters to help to learn more and save them. Now, of course, this spectrum doesn’t include everyone, but it highlights very few examples of how much we can all choose to incorporate green into our lives.
Fortunately, with the huge amount of information and research today on going green there are less and less people who think that they have to be taking extreme measures and pulling a Henry David Thoreau living in the woods experience as the only way to contribute to the healing of the earth – not that there is anything wrong with that, but there are other ways to contribute if you are not able to leave your family behind and take off to the woods with your sandals and tent. There are less and less people that classify or stereotype people who go green as “hippy, dippy and trippy.” In fact, going green has become less hippy and more hip!
So, it is up to me to continue to educate my husband about the green spectrum, the variety of ways we can all contribute to a healthier environment, from the simple to complex, from the everyday to the once a year. All of these ways matter because ALL of these steps make a difference. And, if he wants to continue to call me a “hippy, dippy, trippy” wife, well, perhaps he will just come home from work one day to find me living up in our big, comforting backyard oak tree.
What are some of the many different ways that you embrace going green—not only your own actions, but the actions that you, your kids, and your family do together? Share those here so we can all see the spectrum, and we can all see where our green adventures can take us!
Meredith Ball is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a love of seeing families and nature heal and grow stronger together. She loves to laugh, write, inspire, and work to help keep the earth beautiful, one child and family at a time.
