Annoyingly green

There is a question I have asked myself several times lately: is it possible to be green without being incredible annoying?!
The fact is that the more you become involved with green living the more you start noticing the behaviour of the people around you and sometimes I need to bite my tongue.

For example today on my way to pick up my daughter from holiday club I walked past a parked car where the driver had just got in. He switched the engine on, but to my amazement he didn't drive off, instead he got out his newspaper and a pie and started reading/eating. When I walked back again 15 mins later they guy was still there engine still running. Why? Why did he have the engine running for more than 15 mins if he wasn't going anywhere? I seriously considered knocking on the window to ask him, but eventually decided against that, especially considering I had 2 children with me.

The question I ask myself now is '12 months ago would I have considered speaking to the guy?' No, definitely not. 'Would I even have noticed that he had his engine on for that amount of time?' Probably not. Then why do I care now? I set the challenge for our family to be greener I didn't suggest going on a mission to save the whole world. Is this what being green does to you: you become this annoying person on a crusade who wants to challenge everybody about their behaviour?

I am not quite sure where to take it from here. The fact is I have never been the missionary type of person and I don't really fancy becoming one, but all the knowledge I have collected in my head about the environment, our planet, our ways of wasting and consuming and lots of other things make it difficult to just stay silent.

Ideally I want to be one of the people who do green things just because that is the most natural thing for them to do. There is one mum that I always meet on the walk to school on rainy days (trust me there are not many of us) and she doesn't make her kids walk due to some green anthem, she just thinks walking is the best way to get there.

I know a family who would definitely live up to the green label on many fronts e.g. they grow lots of there own food (and keep chickens), they often choose the ferry when going abroad rather than the plane, they don't use the car much; but I don't think they see themselves as green - it is just the way they are.

I wonder how things will look for us in 15 years time. Will I then be able to be completely relaxed about our lifestyle and just plod on with my vegetables, bike rides, solar panels and zero waste lifestyle without feeling the urge to challenge everybody about their choices (to which they have every right). Or will I have turned into some green eyed monster that annoys everybody with endless rants about vegetables, bikes rides, solar panels and zero waste. Fingers crossed it will be the first one.