No, I’ve not gotten hippy (well, I have, but that’s beside the point), I’m turning into a hippie. I have a tie-dyed dress that I love, I am trying to be environmentally aware as much as I can be and still get homework done, I’m a vegetarian gardener, and I’m listening to 60’s music. OK, I’ve always done the last one, but it counts. I’m strangely OK with it. I will never be a pot-smoking, free-love advocate, but I don’t disagree with some of the stuff the hippies stood for.

I’m part of a new breed of modern hippie though. It seems there are more of us than there have been at any time since the 1960’s. Vegan and vegetarian are becoming popular, more people are homesteading or living in tiny houses, and environmental awareness is taking hold again. Some of us haven’t really figured it out yet, but our hearts are in the right place. Buying green products and trying to buy your way into environmentally friendly practices is well-intentioned  if wrong-headed. I am as guilty as the next person. But, as people buy those green products, demand soars and prices fall. That’s not a bad thing. As prices fall, they become affordable for more people and whole industries are affected.

Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle, but the tide is slowly turning toward more eco-friendly practices. People are fighting for change and every little bit helps.