I started my journey towards a green lifestyle like many other people of my generation. Vaguely aware of the consequences of human activities and not seeing the global picture at all. Blissfully unaware, like Joseph Campbell's hero(ine) before they receive the call. I believed what I was taught and followed other people's rules without questioning them.

As Don Miguel says in his The Four Agreements Companion Book, “What you believe you are is a distorted image of yourself that came from other people..."

I came of age during a time of great social upheaval. The '60s and '70s were crazy, with many social mores challenged. Racial tension was high as the civil rights movement swept the country. Hippies protested the Vietnam War, called for peace and love, and experimented with all kinds of lifestyle choices. In hindsight, it was a very strange time to grow up!

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, exposed the dangers of the pesticide DDT and questioned humanity's faith in technological progress.

My paternal grandmother was an avid birdwatcher, so I took this human-created disaster personally when I finally learned about it in high school a few years later. This led to further awareness and a lot of learning, often through the school of hard knocks.

Living a green lifestyle is a personal act of being and doing.

Most of the time, I walk the middle path. I have lived and worked with diehard "eco-fanatics." I have also had endless debates with my father about my annoying "green police habits" and the causes of global warming. (His viewpoint as a traditionally trained geologist was that it's all-natural geothermal and volcanic activity, not human activity. Sigh.) However, I convinced him to actively support Habit for Humanity in his neighborhood, so it's not a complete lost cause. Just human, like the rest of us!

My conclusion: It is hard to make substantial progress when there is no middle ground for people to come together. It’s a no-win situation where the planet loses if both sides refuse to understand where the other is coming from.

So, my personal practice is to take whatever little baby steps I can and support others on their own journey without judging.

How to start living an authentic green lifestyle

• Pick a starting point. Make sure it is something you personally care about.
• Commit to turning this into an ongoing habit, like brushing your teeth.
• Join friends, family, and/or community groups to keep your habit growing. It takes a tribe to take care of a planet!

I have a friend in Portland who loves running. Seeing trash along her favorite running trails makes her hopping mad. Every time she goes out for a run, she packs her little recycled bag and collects a small bag of trash. She calls it "plogging." Other friends, including myself, do the same thing while we walk our dogs. It makes my walks a lot more pleasing without the trash. I give myself a little pat on the back for doing something simple without making a big deal about it. And—It feels good. I focus on doing a simple act of kindness instead of ranting about the evil humans who dumped the trash.