Tiny Choices Q&A:
By Karina | November 21, 2007
Welcome to Tiny Choices Q&A, where we open the floor for discussion on questions which y’all have submitted (read the first list of questions here).
Let’s face it, it’s Wednesday before Thanksgiving and odds are, you’re not getting a whole lot of work done. So let’s have an interactive day!
Ruth asks:
I’d like to hear if any tc readers are trying to live green with someone who isn’t. I’ve lost all my good green habits from having a husband who just doesn’t see the point of even something basic like recycling.
Well, Tiny Choosers? What do you think? have you got tips for living green with someone who doesn’t?
I’ll start: I am very very very fortunate in that not only have most of my roommates (including my family) agreed with my recycling ethos, if they didn’t, they were kind enough to humor me. I’ve mentioned before that at work I am trying to recycle and while I get a lot of “oh, that’s recyclable?” everyone pitches in to help me out with my harebrained scheme. But your question isn’t how to make the other guy live green, right? It’s how to keep your own green tiny choices. So I guess I’d say to go ahead and do your best, and don’t worry if he isn’t keeping up. Maybe you’ll inspire him by showing how incredibly simple it is to stay green!
Updated! Check out how Ask a Brokeass handles this question over at Grist.
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Topics: Q&A | 4 Comments »
4 Comments
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be persistent. have patience. don’t “argue” but try not to back down. focus on the “bigger” tiny choices first before tackling the “tiny” tiny choices. ;) nagging will probably get you no where.
calmly discuss the importance of recycling (for example) to YOU (make it personal, not just for the environment). i’ve found that generally your friends, family, significant others want to understand and respect you and when they do, they just might get on that recycling wagon.
I think it’s just like any of the other living-with-someone rules:
1. Accept that they might keep putting the empty Tetrapaks into the wrong recycling bin
2. Also accept that you might have to do more than your share, but if you’re the one who really cares about these issues then that’s ok
3. Keep the lines of discussion open and talk about why these things matter (both to you and the earth… but also know when to stop talking. People who don’t really care about these issues don’t really care about these issues. So just keep on keepin’ on. And keep the faith!
I had this same problem with a boyfriend of mine…we eventually broke up because of that (of course, not the only thing, but it was definitely part of it). Don’t argue about it, and realize that just because it’s important to you, doesn’t mean it’s important to him. I spent too much time trying to get him to care about my ways, and in the end it only made us miserable.
Tiny Choices. Not gigantic choices. Realize where your wants end and his begin.
Be persistent! Do this by making things a routine, i do things such as having separate bins for your rubbish, recycling and compost bin. I do all of the shopping so i never buy harmful cleaners but make my own including laundry soap, my husband has no choice but to use these things. I changed the shower head to a water saving one, changed all the light globes to energy efficient ones etc. It’s more work for you but if it’s important to you it won’t matter and eventually it should become second nature to him and he’ll start to understand your reasons behind it all.
I even recently managed to get my husband to join me on a ‘Walk against warming’! And i only had to ask, no nagging necessary :)
Good luck!