You know, my husband is very into conservation--both materially and financially (I am too, but he's more into it than me) and people tend to make fun of him as a cheapskate. For instance, he drove an old beat-up car for several years because it still ran fine...and some of our "friends" and neighbors would constantly complain and say "how can you have that thing parked in front of your house" and "arent' you embarrassed?" (God forbid)
Sorry if I am not driving a spankin' new Beamer or a gas guzzling Suburban. But then again, I'm not in debt 50-100K...lol! The car was a little embarrassing...but it did annoy me that they felt a need and had the gall to express that kind of crap to us.
People we know (including relatives) also hassled my husband for composting food scraps in our yard, and for wearing "unfashionable" old clothing. They think we are hippies or something. I think some of them are dumb-asses.
Then again, I live in Fairfield County...home of the Stepford Wives (and husbands). Appearances here are everything, apparently. You want to see the throw-away society? It's in full swing here and it's disgusting.
Imagine trying to raise a child w/ good values under these circumstances. It's not easy! But we do stress "recycle, re-use, and don't be wasteful" and so far our son appears to do the right thing. For instance, his job is to collect all the cans and bottles after parties we have and he takes them w/ his grandfather to the redemption center. He gets to keep the cash. But we've been called "slave drivers" and just plain whacked-out for having our 10 yr old earn his own allowance in this way. Whatever, we don't care and our son seems to like us anyway!
Sprite
"I call it reveling in natures finest element. Water in its pristine form. Straight from the heavens. We bathe in it, rejoicing in the fullest." --BZ
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