I have been spending time recently away from home I have been thinking about how you share your green values without causing a rift between you and the people who matter most especially when you are sharing living space.So if your dad is buying the shopping because 'you are my guest so I wont let you pay' its kind of awkward to ask if the chicken is local, free range, organic and wearing a knitted jumper in the winter.
It seems that whenever one makes an ethical choice whether it be vegetarian eating or refusing to fly, others will start to defend themselves as though you had directly asked them why they are eating a melt in the mouth bacon sandwich or wanted a to go on holiday where it was guaranteed not to rain.
It reminds me of when I went on a detox for a while (Gillian McKeith has a lot to answer for) I would enter someones house and be offered a drink and end up with a glass of hot water with them looking on thinking 'there must be something I can offer her, I wonder why she is drinking water, maybe its a lesbian thing'.
Of course if you are writing a blog you are expected to be greener than a very green thing and so the slightest whiff of a tescos bag and eyebrows are raised. People are less judgemental of cycling, they will just assume you are poor or an exercise freak or both but if traveling with your elderly parents they probably wont accept a 'backy' as we used to call it.
I hope you are not expecting any sort of answers at this point, this is just me thinking aloud and if you are wondering what that picture is then its my very good friend Joan Woods who has a farming project in Ireland called Growing Connections and I havent managed to alienate her but then she does drink hot water and raise free range organic chickens with woolly jumpers....
Posts
We're all on our own journey's and at various stages of it. Some go further than othes, and that's fine, because the difference we each make counts as a contribution towards the whole. We do what we can.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about other people buying the shopping, it's awkward if the prospect of eating an unhappy chicken is unthinkable, but then, such a strong feeling (or if it is trong enough) might provoke a more determined reponse 'No thanks, I will have this one instead, and I'll pay for it'.
However if it's really about the fact that THEY bought a sad chicken, and you wish they would change their ways, well, that was THEIR choice. You cannot be responsible for everyone and everything, just yourself and your own choices. And you do make and live by the majority of those choices. x