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It's hypocritical to advocate and practice environmentally friendly behaviors in some, but not all, areas of my life. Greener living is a relative and evolving state. Being somewhere between the beginning and the middle (there really is no "end") of a journey entailing discovery, evaluation and adaptation automatically means that there will always be questions, more to do and things you could do better. Hypocrisy comes into play only if you give false information about your attributes or demand a standard from another that you won't live up to yourself. If you scold your neighbor for wasting water in their yard, you best be practicing water conservation on your side of the fence. But possessing the desire and intention to live greener, while having made only marginal progress to date, doesn't make you a hypocrite. It makes you imperfect. And aren't we all? Be patient with yourself and your critics who would prefer you abandon your goals to make themselves feel better. Learning to live greener is a process that takes time and you shouldn't have unrealistic expectations that could sabotage your drive and eventual success. What you're able to achieve is a factor of understanding, timing, location, obligations, finances, and so many other things, so adopt a willingness to be a work in progress-it's really the only way to learn and improve.

Nothing I do will make a difference if no one else is doing anything. No one is alone in their concern for the environment and their conscience to act more thoroughly to protect its well-being. Your efforts to walk lighter on this earth, support green capitalism and appeal for better environmental policy make a difference because every act, when multiplied over many days and many people, produces positive results. Remember, even if those changes can't be seen, they are still occurring. So, many people making efforts, large and small, to green their lives adds up to big results for the environmental movement, not only for the cumulative impact of numerous individual actions, but also for the power that one person's example has to bring about positive changes in others. Every day people all over the world exhibit ecological behaviors that raise consciousness and elicit duplication from others who witness them. Change yourself and you will unwittingly change another.

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