What does "being green" even mean?!

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Mostly it's because of the debates and discussions I've been getting into with The Husband's BFF (who is quickly losing that title as he continually shows his ass). I'll be honest. He's the most selfish person I know. He will be known as either "The Most Selfish Person I Know" or "TMSPIK" from here on out, so you know who I mean.

What does this dude have to do with being green? Well, since I've been having discussions with him lately and he claims to be "green" it has me thinking.

What does "being green" even mean? To me, "being green" means caring about the planet on which we stand, caring for our fellow humans and yes, even caring for ourselves. It used to be that if you were an environmentalist you were a dirty, tree-hugging, hippie. (My dad called me that once and he didn't mean it as a compliment.) But is being an "environmentalist" the same as "being green"?

"Being green" is such a new term. It's said most of the time in a positive way. It's almost a trend. It's almost the latest, most hip thing you can be. This is a good thing. I mean, I'd rather hear teens say to each other "You don't recycle?! Oh, you are such a loser!" than you know, "you don't drink and have sex with random guys?! You're such a loser!" I think it's great that it's cool to "be green."

But do we really understand what it means as we're rushing to jump on the bandwagon? I mean, it used to be only hippies grew and ate organic fruit. Now, tons of people are in on it and this makes me wonder: are we really being green? I mean, the more it becomes a trend, the more the big corporations can make money from the label. There is now a "green industry" where it behooves Clorox to buy out Burt's Bees and make a product line called "Green Works" and the bottom line is profit - not greenness!

What's more: Can you be "green" and be The Most Selfish Person I Know? Can you "be green" and declare you don't support a universal health care plan? I mean, think about it for a minute. You want government to regulate chemicals and big Pharma, but you don't think other humans deserve free health care? Because you don't want the government to....regulate health care?! No, really, that's what he's said. I think anything President Obama does will be wrong to TMSPIK because I honestly think he's a racist and hates black people. I'm being serious and I'm not just throwing the term around.

Side note: I don't mean that about everyone who doesn't like Obama. My parentals dislike Obama, but that's 'cause they are blood-sucking, hard-hearted conservatives and not racists and I would never accuse them of that.

Anyway, TMSPIK never talks about the Clean Energy Act. He never talks about how President Obama has rescinded most of Bush's harmful-to-the-environment policies. As far as I know, he does not sign petitions to stop drilling in our national parks, he doesn't call Senators to tell them to save the Clean Energy Act or to support keeping forests free of roads, etc.

So is "being green" just about declaring yourself distrustful of the government and taking herbal supplements and shopping at Fresh and Easy and occasionally buying organic? Or is it much more than that? Is it an actual, conscience effort to care for the planet and those around you? To extend past yourself into something greater than yourself? Because I always thought of myself - the dirty, tree-hugging hippie environmentalist- as caring about my planet and other people. I guess that's hypocritical though, because as time goes on, I care less and less about The Most Selfish Person I Know and am seriously looking forward to the day when he and his wife move out of state.

I know this post goes all over the place....but these are my thoughts.