I'm sure many of you can relate when I say that often others, if not exactly rolling their eyes at me, will at least look at me with an odd or perhaps a confused look. For instance, the woman who tried to give me extra coupons for a certain household cleaner looked extremely confused when I told her I used baking soda.

So, never being a "preacher" to begin with, I don't talk about my environmental beliefs unless asked, and then I keep it brief and (hopefully) non-judgmental. So this week I was happy to see that maybe my actions are having an effect on others.

Yeah, my husband throws scraps in the compost because I have a bin on the counter, and yeah, my kids take a bucket in the shower because I ask them, but this week they did stuff on their own... and blamed me, lol!

First off, at work, we use a lot of scrap paper, so I save every piece of re-usable paper possible and cut it down to scrap size (one co-worker calls me The Paper Patrol). Most others just throw paper away. This week, the second co-worker to do so told me that at home she now saves all her kids' school papers for scrap, even cutting them down to size to leave near the phone. And they now save paper at work too.

Then my daughter took the SAT test this past weekend. Rolling her eyes and telling me that I was "rubbing off on her", she told me that outside each classroom, the teacher collected all cell phones and put them in a plastic bag. My daughter told me the first thing she thought of was just think of all the plastic bags being used, and how they would probably not be re-used, and what a waste it was, and why didn't they use boxes or re-usable bags, or just place the phones on the teachers' desks? And then she told me she thought to herself "why am I thinking this?!"

Best of all, my husband tonight told me that today some of his (younger, single) co-workers asked him about his car (a Jeep) and why he was still driving a 1998. Didn't he want to buy a new car? My DH said that he answered them, "Do you know how many cars go to the junkyard? Do you know how long they sit there? My car is still perfectly good-" At which point I abruptly interrupted him, refusing to believe he actually said this - I thought for sure he was going to give his co-workers the "I can't afford it" speech, not an environmental speech!

He said, no, that is what he told them, and then he said, "you are rubbing off on me" (same words as DD!) and that he really is starting to think this way!

So I just wanted to share that, all of us, with our actions, can hopefully influence others to see things in a different light. I'm convinced that most people are not environmentally-minded because they never really had to be, and that they are just used to thinking one way. But if they are just made aware of other options, most people, I believe, will come to see that with a few changes in behavior, we can make a difference. After all, that's how I started off, and that's how I am still "evolving" - by being made aware of other options and viewpoints.

Are any of you rubbing off on others?

I'm still not sure what impact I am having on others. I know they know I practice a lot of what we talk about out here, but I don't know if anyone is doing or even thinking about doing some of the things I do. I guess I just need more feedback from folks.

Maybe this is one small success: You saw my dryer thread. Well I was telling my sister about the dead beast and my decision not to replace it. At first she thought I was crazy and started to give me all these examples of when I would need one. I calmly explained how I would handle each of the situations she suggested and also explained how little I had been using the dryer already. By the end of the conversation I think she was actually seeing my point of view - a very, very rare event for sure!

Once again, I think you're going in exactly the right direction with your education of others. It's very nice to hear of your success.

Kevin

:)
Dee

My company already does green practices, like recycling plastic, aluminum, paper, etc. In my group I think we're down to nearly zero paper waste. When I first started working as an editor and writer, everything was printed out, edited, and then the edits entered into the master copy. Now most things I work on are edited on screen, sent via e-mail, checked, and then posted on our website. Rarely does ink touch paper. When I do print things out, they go into the recycle bin when I'm done with them.

But there are ways to improve. There are always ways to improve.