It's Always Worth It

Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory Jul 17, 2007

Talk to enough people, and you're bound to find at least a few lapsed vegetarians -- people who, for one reason or another, once chose to give up eating meat but eventually reverted back to their old ways. Maybe it was too difficult a diet to maintain in social situations, maybe it was the wrong vegetarian diet for that point in their lives (for example, not enough protein when pregnant), maybe it was just getting old.

On the other hand, I think you'll also find that many of those lapsed vegetarians eventually return to some sort of kinder, gentler diet. Maybe it's not 100-percent vegan or vegetarian, but perhaps it emphasizes humanely raised beef, sustainable seafood and organic dairy. Whatever the choice, the end result is clearly better -- at least a little bit -- than a completely thoughtless approach toward eating.

I view green living in the same way: it's hard -- sometimes near-impossible -- to always lead the most environmentally responsible, sustainable lifestyle. Maybe you live in a small community where it makes more sense, from a fossil-fuel consumption standpoint, to shop at the mega-store two miles distant rather than to make twice-weekly trips to the co-op in the next town 24 miles away. Maybe there are times when you're getting ready for a vacation or family gathering, and just can't avoid doing multiple loads of laundry during peak energy hours.

No matter. As long as you're consistently TRYING to live greener, even when you don't always succeed, the results are always worth it. It might be a few quarters saved in your monthly electric bill, or a few less pesticides in your weekly diet of fruits and vegetables, but every little bit counts.

So don't "give up" like so many lapsed vegetarians, just because living green can be challenging at times. Just as it's OK, once in a great while, to join your friends for a night out for pepperoni pizza, it's also OK, once in a while, to grab the most convenient quart of milk at the gas station mini-mart instead of making an extra trip for organic 2-percent from the store on the other end of town. Living green isn't an all-or-nothing proposition, and every little extra bit of green you can add to your lifestyle makes a positive difference, both for yourself and for the environment.