October APLS Carnival Topic: Proselytizing Green

I wish I could sit down with all of you and chat over a nice big cup of organic tea...or wine (really, let's be honest). There are so many things I want to ask you and so many topics we could cover. I've finally narrowed down the topic for the October APLS carnival and have selfishly picked the subject of "Proselytizing Green".

I started my Greenhab blog a few years ago so I'd have a place to track my family's progress and ramble on about the ways in which we were greening our lives. For a while I felt like I was preaching the green word until I realized that the people reading my blog (other than my mom I guess) were already like-minded people.

Over time, I became more confident in mentioning environmental injustices to some friends, family and coworkers, but I'm not really an "in your face" type of gal. Now that my kids are in school I'm encountering things like fundraisers, wasteful lunches, junk-filled parties and the absence of recycling. I feel like the stinky hippy parent in a school full of affluent unstinky soccer moms. On the inside I'm throwing up a little in my mouth while, on the outside, I'm all "smile wave".

So, I'm wondering when, where, how, and how much you proselytize living green? When do you just let it go? When is it not worth it to start something? Or do you always speak up? How loud? Are you a tell-it-like-it-is person? Or do you try to take a gentle approach? And, although I use "proselytize" in the loosest way, does living a sustainable lifestyle feel almost like a religion to you?

Okay, I think those are enough questions for now. Talk amongst yourselves! But don't forget to send me your thoughts by Friday, October 16th. The carnival will be up on my blog on Monday the 19th of October. Email me at greenhabgoods {at} gmail {dot} com.

As always, please feel free to interpret the topic loosely. I don't want anyone to feel boxed in by the questions I've asked above, they're just some thoughts that came to mind. I'm sure if we were chatting over tea we'd have lots to share on the subject!

September Carnival Is Up

The round up of the September contributions is now posted at: http://crstn85.blogspot.com/2009/09/does-size-matter-apls-carnival.html

Thanks for all your contributions!
Tina

5 days left!

Just a reminder that there are 5 days remaining until the deadline for this month's APLS carnival. I just got around to writing my post so I now feel justified in reminding you. In case you've forgotten, and are in a reader so you can't scroll down to the other post, this month's topic is:

"When does size matter?"
I read a lot of blogs about families and I occasionally find myself thinking "Sure, that's easy to do if there are 4 of you". For example, I can't maintain a worm bin since I just don't have enough food waste for them to live off of. Other times I will tell someone about a green change I made and they think (or even say!) "Sure, that's easy to do if there's only one of you". Such as when I describe line drying laundry in my laundry room. So, what efforts that you make are easier to do because of your household size? Which are harder and make you wish there were a better way?

Submit a link to your post to tina.cardone1@gmail.com when you're done!

Also, apples season really has gotten off to a great start. I'm lucky enough to have an apple orchard a mile down the street and they also have a farm store/bakery right at the orchard. There's apple sauce and apple pie and apple crumble and apple everything you'd ever want, fresh and local and delicious. So, APLS, how do you like your apples?