What Inspired You To Go Green?

[Ivo "I.C." Jackson]

It's very rare to meet a green conservative with conviction. So, the story of his or her journey is more interesting than most.

What inspired you to go green?

[William Kilgore]

What a good question. I would have to say that for me "going green" and the process therein is loosely related to my religious conversion - or lack thereof. I don't have a date, time, or event that i can remember where i devoted my life to Christ. It was (and still is) a gradual process for me.

As for "going green" - i never really decided to. It just recently dawned on me that we are "green" - at least to some degree. I would describe myself as "practically green" vs. "ideally green". There is a huge difference between the two....enough for a couple blog articles.

What i mean by "practically green" is that i live with the mindset that our planet and its resources were given to us by our creator. With any gift - i believe there is in inherent duty to be a good "steward" of that gift. Therefore, its on us to protect and secure our environment; to use its resources wisely; to help replenish them, etc.

On the other hand "ideally green" elevates the environment to a status above man, and creates a religion. This religion - by the way - is the one religion that is actually "invited" to the state - as opposed to separated from it.

I think we all know who is ideal and who is practical.

[Ivo "I.C." Jackson]

Well said!

Practical green vs. ideal green is the main difference I see between green conservatives and liberals.

But then again, practicality vs. idealism a major theme in the difference between conservativism and liberalism altogether.

I, too, just kind of realized one day that I was greener than I had been in the past because I feel obligated to be a good steward over the resources God has given us. We learned a lot as kids about practical conservation, so I started doing more of that as an adult - especially since mom and dad don't pay for my water and energy now. But I really got motivated to do more when I started using the green cleaning products we use. They are so much healthier for us and the environment, that it got me thinking about what more I could be doing. It also got me thinking about the profit there is to be made by going green and serving those who wish to do so themselves...

Also, hearing so much about Al Gore and the pseudocrises that he markets to the American public got me interested in learning the truth. All of these unrelated influences helped to create a collective consciousness that kind of pushed me into taking conservation and market-led environmentalism very seriously.

We can be good stewards and make money at it, too. THAT'S what I'm talking about!

:-D

[Melissa]

The fact that I am pro life for all life...... humans first, then all other species on the Earth God created.

[TheGreenElephant]

I grew up fishing, hunting and enjoying the outdoors. I took some time in college to find a field of interest. I decided on Natural Resource Management. Through my lifetime, I have seen the Chesapeake Bay go from bad, which I thought was good as a child, to devestated.

I bought my Grandfathers Fishing cottage with a view of the Chesapeake Bay. One summer evening I took mny daughter crabbing on the same pier I enjoyed crabbing as a kid. I used to catch a couple dozen crabs in 2 or 3 hours from the peir. We caught 1 small crab. I was outraged. Some of my greatest memories are from that pier. I have been stewing ever since that day. It was when the reality of the environement hit close to home.

I have been a lifetime conservative. I work for a climate studies group making watershed models in the chesapeake Bay region.