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?