Eco Friendly Driver

Is Perfectionism Holding you Back?

by Hilary on May 21st, 2008

Gabrielle over at Daily Tomorrow asks the question, “Is Going Greed Good for Your Mental Health, or Just Making You Crazy?” I’ve been thinking about it off and on because it seems so ridiculous that people would suffer from “eco-anxiety” but it still seemed so familiar somehow. I didn’t get it until I read this in a post at an organizing website:

I’m celebrating the purchase of a paper shredder. Until recently, I would starch and iron all tired-looking gift wrap scraps floating around the house; I couldn’t bear to just discard these old pieces of wrapping paper. Never mind the cost of the starch and electricity and the time and effort involved, I was determined to utilize every last scrap!

Laugh away, but several people mentioned having done the same thing! I don’t think it has anything to do with recycling, but wanting to recycle “the right way” or no way at all. In other words, perfectionism!

I have suffered with this perfectionist bug which is why I try to emphasize how easy being green can be, what a difference little steps can make. There is always something more that could be done, so do what you can. Seriously, what is worse for the environment - doing one or two things (instead of fifty) or doing nothing at all?

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