EcoWorldly

Coming up with a list of 10 eccentric habits of what she calls “love snobs who try to evoke green passions but miss” shouldn’t have been easy for anyone. But Jeanette, my green-conscious friend, did it with very interesting observations.

Eco-consciousness in many intimate relationships of the boy-and-girl type can be snobbish, Jeanette says, because the lovers who probably kissed on a garden sidewalk for the first time unknowingly tend to outdo each other while emphasizing their green credentials. This is the thrust of her musings:

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1. Getting too animated: Jeanette says a friend walked out on her date the first time they met at a trendy restaurant when he tried to tell her how he conserves his toilet flush water. The problem was he got too animated in his explanation and took her glass of wine to demonstrate.
2. Having a low green gift sense: Another friend was surprised to find an odd gift bag on her front door. One could clearly see the bag was an old sweatshirt, cut and sewn into a bag. Now you don’t give that to a girl; you may keep your old pair of scissors and shaver in there, though, or make a quilt from your old clothes. Find time to browse through online eco-gift guides for stylish and useful items worth giving to a friend you love.
3. Having bad breath: How do you react when the girl sitting opposite you at your dinner table has bad breath and smells of stale sweat because she’s taking the 3Rs of water too far? Good green girls/guys know how to mind their bodies, eco-consciously.
4. Scrutinizing your date’s order: Do you scrutinize your friend’s carbon food print on a first date? It helps a lot if you just let your date enjoy their food without mentioning the environmental impact of its processing.
5. No, not the weather, it’s transport: Arriving late all hot and sweaty then blaming the warm weather for making you a little dizzy while riding your bamboo bike may be green, but isn’t going to score you points. If you detest transport systems because of their carbon footprint, invest in a reliable eco-vehicle to get you there on time. Or, try walking instead.
6. Mistaking pitiful spending for green thrift: Is your spending sense easily translated into green thrift? Don’t spend pitifully on your mate because you think buying cheap and old is green. There are good green, reusable items that clearly tell your romantic side without compromising quality and passions.
7. Boring and dull: Green doesn’t mean boring and dull. Jeanette says a friend refused to go clubbing because she thought the disco was not energy efficient. Beat that. Find out about trendy but eco-conscious places to visit beforehand if you must. A walk under a moonlight is, um, great as ever.
8. Gadget-fingers don’t evoke green passions: You may want to impress by showing off your latest gadget–could be an iPhone or whatever–that allows you to catch up with green news, or an eco-blog. But tuck it away and let your fingers free of any unwanted tap-tapping.
9. Rule breakers: As with any relationship, seeking or having a green-conscious relationship does not mean going around the cardinal rules of romance, love and passion. But you have to be totally green at heart.
10. Greenwashing: Be real. You cannot greenwash your green hack prowess or credentials to a girl who knows only too well that the guy who is trying to impress her is a liar, and a liar and a liar. This is the worst of them all.

Image credit: Pedrosimoes7 at Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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