The Marriage Factor

So, this week, I had a little victory with my husband...

I've been a vegetarian for about a year now, and wish my husband would follow suit. I wish that for a couple reasons. First, his health. Second, the health of the environment. And third, it would remove temptation for me.

Temptation? Yes. Temptation. There are very few meats that I still crave, but it does happen. Most frequently, it's for bacon and fried chicken. So it's quite the bit of torture to watch him eat either; regardless of the fact that I doubt I could make it more than a couple bites in before feeling repulsed and nauseated.

But, we've made a small step. The other day, I just flat out asked him, "So, would you be willing to give up meat?" (Note: I knew to treat this like any negotiation. Start at the extreme, then meet in the middle.) His reply, as expected, "No way." I countered with, "Well, what about only organic meats?" He paused and squinted in thought. "Hmm.. I'll think about it." So, I went in for the last offer. "Sweetie, how about just agreeing to buying your meat locally? That means no meat at restaurants, but you can eat anything at home if you get it from a local farm/butcher." And he agreed!

Sure, he'll probably slip up occassionally.. but it means a lot that he was willing to do that because he knew it was important to me. And the next day, he went and bought some local meat for our freezer. =)

Which brings me to the 'Marriage Factor.' We have long known that getting married causes both parties to share and shape their routines and habits. In our case, things are only getting better. We've talked about going to the Farmer's Market more often when it's open again. He's now eating local meats. He's also on board for starting to recycle; which we hadn't been doing because they don't offer curb side recycling where we live. But he just brought it up one day, "We should just buy some bins and take them to the plant ourselves."

I was eladed. This was not something he would have cared about before meeting me.


Truth is, this doesn't have to be a "Marriage Factor." It could be a "Parent Factor" or a "Friendship Factor." I think we often miss the opportunity to initiate change by starting with those closest to us.

Have any of you also noticed a marriage/relationship factor, especially on environmental issues, for better or worse?