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What's that? Battle-what McLactica? No idea what you're talking about, I'm afraid. You see, I don't watch TV. It uses too much electricity. No, I spend my evenings reading Thoreau.
Or.
Paper or Plastic? You've got to be kidding, right? What am I? A Neanderthal, or some Rush Limbaugh-loving global warming denier? Please. I carry my own reusable canvas bag, which I purchased five years ago, way before green was cool. The proceeds went to a charity that drills wells in Africa, of course.
I could go on—there are so many subjects to skewer: people way too into their Priuses, smug 'green' celebrities who say ridiculous things, and know-it-all green pros who are impossible to talk to without getting corrected on some facet of the environment.
These are the people we need to avoid emulating, for the greater good of the green movement. Even though green has come a long ways, and is successfully pervading mainstream culture, we need to make sure it continues to do so. There are still plenty of people who find people dedicated too green 'smug' or 'elitist'. (At least it's a step up from being lumped in as smelly, grungy, tie-dye sporting hippies, I guess.)
And even though it's a consideration we should never have to make—we should all be free to talk green un-judged to our heart's content—we're still trying to win converts here. And we should take extra care to avoid being pretentious green asses. People don't like it. Why would they?
Avoid Being Pretentious
When people look at caricatures like the ones I described above they do not think: "There before me is a paragon of environmental virtue. I shall aspire to unplug my TV, get a reusable bag, and follow him down the good path of greenness," much as you might like to believe they do. No, they're thinking something closer to this: "That is one pretentious ass."
Condescension, in all forms, sucks. And flaunting your green lifestyle, as positive as it may be in terms of your individual impact (or lack thereof), almost always comes off as condescension.
So avoid being a pretentious green ass with this one simple, handy rule: don't make a big deal of it. Tell people about your reusable canvas bag if they ask, but don't rub it in. Be helpful, not boastful. Because the less that you stick out—the more it means green is making its way further into the mainstream.
More on Green Manners:
Know the Art of Defending Environmentalism: Keep Up with Key Green ...
How and When to Pull Off Re-Gifting
Ditch the Tissue: We're Bringing Back the Handkerchief
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