Countdown to Earth Day: What does it mean to be green?

The word "green" in the transport context has been tossed around quite a bit over the years and has garnered for itself a host of connotations, some of them negative. There are people who might conjure up images of unwashed hippies in a 30 year-old biodiesel rust bucket when they think of green car, but others might imagine smug-looking suburbanite Prius drivers. As we approach the 41st Earth Day we thought it'd be a great time to ask ourselves our readers, "What does it mean to be green?"

We'd love to hear your thoughts in the (new) comments section below, but first we'll take a shot at it ourselves: First and foremost, being green means caring. Caring about the planet we depend on, caring about the people we share it with and yes, caring about ourselves. It doesn't necessarily mean you have have to drive a hybrid. Or always ride a bicycle. Or walk everywhere whilst adorned in sack cloth. Being green simply means taking a moment consider your many transportation choices – and their consequences – and give a damn.

[Source Image: Paul-in-London]

Note: To mark the 41st anniversary of Earth Day* this year on April 22nd, we're running a series called Countdown to Earth Day that we want to be very welcoming to new readers, both in topic and tone. We'll be returning to our Greenlings series for inspiration here, and if you have friends who you'd like to introduce to AutoblogGreen, perhaps these posts and the coming "holiday" will provide the final push to get their green car interest up.

*Ironically, the apparent traditional gift for a 41st anniversary is land. Since land – earth – is something we can't easily create, perhaps this Earth Day we can give ourselves the gift of stewardship of the land.