Bit of a family weekend, what with it being Canadian Thanksgiving and all. And with an Ontario election on, talk at times naturally turned to that subject.

Both my Dad and my sister expressed surprise that I was not voting for the Green Party.

Dad also commented that he was surprised I didn’t have those cloth shopping bags. Well, in this case I could assure him I did, but still needed to gather some plastic bags to put cat litter in, because nothing else will do.

But the point is… I’ve somehow developed the reputation of being the family environmentalist.

This is a bit alarming, as I was feel sorry for environmentalists. They have an important message to impart, but their opponents can always attack something they did as being “harmful to the environment”. David Suzuki had too many kids. Al Gore drives a big car and lives in a big house. Stéphane Dion flies a lot. Cameron Diaz’ shirt is politically insensitive. Etc.

I do care about the environment. I think it’s the most important issue of our time. I get frustrated the more isn’t being done about it, faster.

But… I’m also conscious that I live in a pretty big house for two people, that we each have a car, that I drive to work even though it’s well within biking distance, and we like to fly places for vacation…

We do all the “easy” stuff, certainly. We have the fluorescent light bulbs, the programmable thermostat (never set to extreme temperatures), the composter, the recycle bins. I do cold water wash when I can. I walk to the store when I’m not getting more than I’ll be able carry back. (My husband says we should get bonus points because we’ve been doing most of this for quite some time, well before it become trendy.)

But all in all, I’m sure the ecological footprint isn’t the greatest.

Maybe it would help if I voted Green…