It's Not Easy Being Green: The Introduction

When deciding whether or not to write Earth Day-themed posts for the next couple of weeks, I struggled with the implications that might accompany this task.

“I don’t want people to think I’m a liberal,” I said to my husband, Dan.

Now, I realize I have written this same statement in my blog before. That's because this comes up a lot in discussions with my husband. I live in Idaho, a state plagued by ultraconservative ideals, and many of my family members and friends whom I truly respect adhere to these conservative ideals. So, I go on with my life, a closeted, oppressed Idaho liberal.

Dan responded, as he always does, with: “You are a liberal."

“I just try to do the right thing.”

"Actually, you do the left thing, but the left thing is usually the right thing,” he said.

And that's when I discovered that Dan, too, is a closeted, oppressed Idaho liberal.

It's unfortunate that in deciding whether or not to write about my (possibly futile, occasionally silly) attempts at green/socially conscious living, I feel like I have to consider the fact that I might offend some of my more conservative friends and family members. I mean, shouldn't taking care of the planet just be a given, regardless of political/religious background?

I guess not. I recently heard an anecdote about a missionary who didn't think we should be concerned about taking care of our environment because Armageddon is on its way. (What the . . . ?)

Not every Christian shares this man's opinion. At my church, our minister said one Sunday that Christians should take care of the Earth out of respect for God's creation.

So what I'm saying is that my next two blog postings will focus on my efforts to decrease my so-called carbon footprint (whatever that means) and the ridicule (much of it brought on by my own silly ideas) I have had to endure as a result of my (somewhat) socially conscious living.

Next Week: I'll talk about the little changes I've made in trying to be socially and environmentally conscious and the question I ask myself on a daily basis: am I really making a significant, positive impact on our planet, or am I just doing it to feel good about myself?

April 22: I'll talk about my obsessive recycling habits and how those have caused me (mostly good-natured) derision from fellow Idahoans on more than one occasion.