My mother tends to do some things that irk me. For her, the best weapon is money. She is super frugal about SOME things having been born during the depression. If I tell her how much $$$$ she can save by giving up X product she will sometimes listen. It's difficult, though. She likes the easy route having raised six children and having always looked for short cuts.

Even though I have bought greener type plastic storage containers and cloth napkins she still insists on paper towels and glad baggies for everything. She even puts leftovers like mashed potatoes in glad sandwich bags rather than in a reusable container!!

I have found that those who grew up in the Depression tend to be very frugal and no-nonsense. They won't spend $5 on a eco-friendly cleaner because they can get 2/$5 on a conventional one. But they usually use fewer paper towels, paper napkins, and such.

They also tend to consume less overall. Buying fewer clothes and home furnishings, buying fewer non-essential items on impulse, and not eating at fast-food restaurants. My grandfather was composting thirty years or more before it became "trendy." If there was anything he could repair or reuse, he would. My husband's grandmother would reuse her paper grocery bags for storage and luggage. Tacky, yes, but her household consumption was 1/4 of mine.

Many of that generation still have plenty of good ideas that wouldn't exactly fit in with our eco-consciousness, but they can be valid. Perhaps if you told her how much money she could save by using reusable containers, it would make sense to her. Or you could give her some as a gift. Things that can go into the dishwasher, of course.

To someone her age, this environmentalism can seem just like one more trend in a culture full of them.

The Proselytizer's Dilemma is tackling this same issue...

I noticed this article on this topic today.