When the rest of your household doesn't completely go along with your eco goals...

Goodness knows I love my mom to death, but because she has the final say in my household, I'm still not as green as I'd like to be in some areas. My mom is a bit of a germaphobe, so she doesn't trust that water filters work perfectly well and insists on our household buying and using bottled water. I've told her about the eco issues with bottled water and expressed my desire for us to get a filter, but nope, she's adamant about the bottled water. I feel really guilty because I'm educated about the problems with bottled water and try so hard to be a good greenie, but because of my mom, I'm still drinking bottled water :(. I mean, she tries to compromise by buying only bottled water brands in recycled or plant-based plastic(which helped inspire another thread I started here...), reusing the bottles as much as we safely can, and of course recycling the bottles, but I still wish I could honestly say I was bottled water-free. :( It's one of those "Green Living 101" issues so I feel like such a hypocrite sometimes. I've mostly let go of that issue because I love her so much and don't risk to rock the boat by constantly begging for her to stop buying bottled water.

Also, I'd like for our household to use only 100% all-natural, eco-friendly cleaning and personal care products, but most of the greener products we bought and tried my mom didn't like as much as the conventional chemical-heavy products she's used to using. We bought and tried Bon Ami, an eco-friendlier alternative to Comet, but my mom adamantly swears that Comet works a lot better so she insists on continuing to buy and use it, despite it containing plenty of harmful chemicals that I'd rather avoid :(. We bought and tried Seventh Generation all-natural wet wipes too and she preferred the conventional brand. Although the shampoo I use is not tested on animals and doesn't have a heavy chemical scent, it still contains chemicals, so I'd prefer to use a completely all-natural shampoo, but my mom insists I use the brand I do because it helps with issues with my scalp. When I won the Mermaid Minerals contest she let me use their shampoo for a while but once the sample I won in my prize pack was used up, it was back to the old chemical stuff :(. She is also positive no laundry detergent works better than Tide, although she does use the fragrance-free, dye-free Tide Free, I know it still isn't the greenest option available because it still contains other chemicals and the Tide brand is owned by a company that unfortunately tests their products on animals. :(

My grandparents, who live under the same roof as us, are even worse. We constantly have to fish recycleable and compostable stuff out of their garbage cans, and they're big fans of beef and pork, something I feel really uncomfortable buying whenever we go grocery shopping, knowing the environmental impact and the fact that a pig is supposedly as intelligent as a three-year-child.

As you can imagine, every time we go grocery shopping, I'm always pushing to buy the greenest options available: produce grown here in the US rather than overseas; eco-friendly cleaning and personal care products; no meat or seafood, especially not meat that comes from factory farms or shipped from faraway; bottled water that's at least packaged in 100% recycled plastic; paper products made of recycled paper; the most energy-efficient lightbulbs available, etc.

To be sure, I have still made much progress in helping to green our household. We use reusable bags, we are positively anal about recycling and composting, we switched to rechargeable batteries, we use energy-efficient lightbulbs and appliances when possible, and use all-natural toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, and soap. My mom is also a big fan of Silk soy milk and soy yogurt, and she is supportive of me eating a vegetarian diet.

Anyone else have experiences like this with parents, family, romantic partners, whoever? How did you sold the issue?

My main struggle was dog food... I had an absolute fight because sourcing of the dog food is normally terrible like china and my grandmother insisted on feeding the canned purina cat food to my dog. I had enough fits crying over it they finally relented. We get ziwipeak now which comes from new zealand, and while I don't like the fuel it must take to ship the company is very green and the animals they use are free range under strict laws. The animals live happy lives.
I probably will never be vegan but when I buy meat I buy from farms I know take care of their animals. Maybe try to get your family to buy more locally sourced meat, at some place where you know the animals are healthy and happy. When you buy in bulk from these places and can be even cheaper than the store!

Also plastic water bottles can be pretty bad for your health, talk to your mom about chemical leaching... Sun exposure of the bottles leads to allot of nasties in the water which can be pretty bad for you. You know how they say not to drink water you've left in the car, when they transport water to the store that has already happened allot. In my chem class we tested allot of brands from the grocery store and they had crazy phs like 4-5, I forgot what but one was 3 (water is supposed to be neutral btw, 7). Also there is very little risk of getting bugs from public water they treat it pretty well, unless it is private well water I would say that plastic water bottles have the slight advantage as far as potential bacteria only because the chemicals and high ph would have killed anything in it (not something that would be too good for you either). Compromise and buy a nice alkaline filter instead maybe, a good filter will help take out bugs and chemicals win win!

Anyone have a recommendation for a good brand of water filter that works really well?

Here's a guide for what to look for and some recommendations on alkaline filters! http://alkalinewatermachinereviews.c...water-pitcher/
Some people say they don't always do the most thorough job so you might look at gravity drip filters these don't need any energy to work and are supposed to do a good job!
They can get expensive to be sure to stay budget friendly and not let any of the scare tactics get to you, lots of people drink city water without a filter and are fine just like the many people who drink bottled water.

The best thing you could possibly do is move out with some friends or such. It sounds like you're having a lot of conflicting issues with beliefs in your ways of life.

The rule of thumb in my house is, unless you're the one buying it, don't complain. Requests can be made but it's not guaranteed to pass the thought process of the person who's paying for it. I love my boyfriend dearly but I'm in charge when it comes to our finances and expenses. Even though we have separate bank accounts, in a sense, our money is shared since what the other person does with it or spends it on will affect the other person.

My personal favorite cost effective cleaner?
Bleach! Mix with 9 parts water. 7 or 8 if some heavy cleaning needs to be done. Bleach kills all, is cheap, and effective in cleaning.

You don't have to drink bottled water even though she buys it. You could buy a filter for your faucet, attach it, and buy a reusable water bottle.

You know what? African Grey Macaws are as intelligent as 6 year old human children and some dogs have been tested with the intelligence of a 5 year old and then some. Instead of worrying about the carbon footprint and environmental health so much, I suggest you try to find ways to help it instead of worrying about it. Worry will do nothing and recycling can only do so much when it comes to one house hold. You'll find yourself being able to do more for the environment and the world around you if you do things to begin to help others be more eco-friendly other than just your house hold spending habits.

How I've dealt with being eco-friendly: I started teaching others with common sense and examples of what works, what doesn't, and why they should conform to my standards.

So far, everyone in the house has stopped leaving water running, stopped wearing shoes in the house so we don't have to waste electricity and energy vacuuming, we now turn off ALL the lights on our ENTIRE BLOCK at night. No porch lights, nothing except solar powered stuff stays on at night. Everything that draws electricity or gives out a light when not in use gets turned off, we use reusable bottles, plastic cups, straws, and everything else gets used until they can't be used anymore. And I've created a garden in which I supply my block with tomatoes, corn, and green beans. Because this is my first year fully gardening outdoors, that's all I grow for my community of a street. Also I'm in the process of learning what excess veggies I can donate to the local food banks.

My advice: start gardening and SHOW the world around you why they should change their way of life and follow yours.

Anyone can say anything but unless you show them the true cause and effect of their actions vs yours, no one will listen and follow through.

Oh! And next year I'll be raising honey bees and we're putting up bat houses too to help control the insect population in my garden of which there isn't much. And the koi babies in our backyard are doing great to eat the mosquito eggs. All year I've only been bit possibly 30 times since the fishies hatched.

But yeah, think biggest babe :)

It was pretty difficult for me to when I lived with my parents. Now I'm living with in laws and they are anti Eco militant (refuse to eat veggies, toxic shit being dumped down the drain when cleaning, constantly buying cases upon cases bottledwater...) it's hard :/ I can't even get them to use the Brita filter.
Ill echo what Mei has said and move out if you're able to. Yours truly is Moving out this week hollah!

I second (third?) moving out.
It's hard, but the only thing that will save you distress in the long run.

My parents buy Dasani water that says on the bottle that it was made from 30% recycled plant material...or along those lines. They keep the bottles in the basement sauna because it keeps them in the dark and also keeps them nice and cool for drinking. I tried to avoid drinking bottled water, but I suffer from mild to moderate acne and drinking bottled water is the only thing that clears it right up. I don't know what it is.

We also recycle in my household, so all the bottles, any pop cans, newspapers and the like go in the recycling bin or get crushed and then turned in to the local plant for recycling. It's so easy that it's not even something we think about. Bottles go in the sink, cans get rinsed out and go in the sink. Newspapers go in the cubby by the door and cardboard goes under the sink. On recycling day we just collect it all and put it in the bin. Simple. More people should do it, its so easy.

Sadly at the apartment I live at there is no recycling. So it all just goes in the dumpster. :(

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