earthy person?

i'm not really sure how this happened, but i'm continually puzzled at how i've become pegged "earth queen"/"eco-expert"/etc. i don't feel like i know jack-squat about the environment. i mean, i've done a fair number of earthy things now, but i did seriously take a stack of little golden books and a chair out to the yard when my mom told me to go play outside when i was young.

it's not like i grew up with a natural tendency to go exploring far beyond the bounds of our yard, or constantly be helping my dad in the garden, or like we went camping or hiking all the time growing up or even went into the woods very often, or like i preferred active over sedentary activities. i was generally happy sitting where i was, and i feel like i only got tastes and seeds of things over the years - aside from the many jars of ladybugs that britni and i collected, and the many watermelons we ate on the front porch with dad. most of the rest was seeds - living in a rural town, dad himself constantly gardening and hunting, mom canning when we were young, going to camp fire day camp, camping on occasion with the fam, reading the recycling issue of zoobooks, etc. other than that, i generally sat and read, and killed the plants on my windowsills because i didn't open my blinds often enough to notice they were shriveling.

and now people ask me to introduce earth-y films, ask my advice on this or that recycling question, expect me to be vegetarian or vegan, have my own garden, know how they should garden, make my own soap, drive a bio-diesel car, always recycle every recyclable that passes through my hands, and have a wealth of suggestions to offer to them as to ways they could improve their earth practices. ok, maybe not all of those things, but i do feel like i've been given a tall order for some reason. i'm still learning. i can say yes, these are all things we should do. however, i may not always do them myself. i'll applaud you, and i'll hopefully try harder when i see hope for change - but i'm only one little voice and one little person trying to do my thing. entire communities will also have to change.