growing up green
Becoming green is something I acquired am acquiring more and more. I wasn’t born to “hippies” who live off the grid and wear clothes made of hemp (and I in no way mean anything negative about those ways of life ). I grew up on the edge of the woods on the country outskirts of a growing city. People threw their bag-o-burger trash ~ and their cigarettes ~ out of their car windows or into their yards, often down in the woods behind their houses.
The Triangle apparently is not much better. Look at one (of many) pictures I took at Lake Jordan this Labor Day.
So the truth of it is, I didn’t exactly grow up green. I did, however, grow up lucky enough to have parents who were conscientious of beauty and peace, and thus taught their kids that respecting nature is important in preserving that beauty.
We got our first recycling bins in my (now famous) hometown (Hickory) in about 1990. Water conservation didn’t really mean much to me, except when Mom pointed out that if I felt so passionate about recycling, I needed to turn off the water between rinsing as I washed the dishes.
My dad grew up in the wild nature, up in the mountains and on a riverside in WV. He taught me to respect all animals, including the snakes he would save from on the highway and bring home to release into our woods. Dad also pushed us to step up and save nature by doing our part.
I remember many times that Mom would meet me at the bus stop afterschool, garbage bags in hand, and we would walk and collect all the drink cans, cigarettes and empty chip bags littering the highway. I remember equally all the times we’d go camping and Dad would have all of us pick up all the beer bottles, soda cans and empty cigarette packs scattered throughout the woods on our hike. One time, we even ran across some guy’s briefs (we chose to step over those and let them biodegrade in nature).
Living in a way that leaves the smallest footprint on the earth doesn’t come easily to all of us and wasn’t necessarily taught to us from our family or neighbors.
Then again, I think if we all look around in our pasts and at our families, we’ll find those couple of people who let you know it does matter to take care of where you live, for your sake and others. Then, it’s up to each of us to let *that* message be what we carry and live by.
I am by no means as much of a “Green Goddess” as I would like to be. And to be honest, with the life I lead, I’ll not be “off the grid” for a long long time ~ if ever. But I want to grow and do more, so if you have any topics or ideas for living green, teach me. And hopefully I’ll be able to share some info and ideas with you too. 
