I spent the first 20 years of my life terrified about what other people thought about me. Like， lay-awake-stressing-about-whether-or-not-my-classmates-hate-my-backpack kind of terrified. So， I tried to minimize my inherent1 nerdiness as much as possible， especially when it came to my closet2 obsession3： saving the world.

My eco-geekiness started when I was 13 and my favorite teen magazine arrived in the mail with a “Save the Earth， Girl！” cover. I remember it so clearly！ It was filled with all sorts of easy tips to go green.

Among many of the dork4 facts I learned that day： turning off the water while you brush your teeth saves 200 gallons of water every year—per person！ Lets just say I started doing that right away. I mean， it is kind of a big deal considering Earth doesnt have an unlimited amount of fresh water （converting5） the ocean into drinkable water is super hard and expensive， I found out）.

My hippie6 parents were all too eager to start recycling and reusing， so we became that family. The ones who washed out I Cant Believe Its Not Butter7 containers and used them for storage. The ones who carried canvas8 tote9 bags to the grocery store and our own mugs to the coffee shop long before it was even remotely10 cool.

I knew it was the right thing to do for the environment， but I cringed11 every time my mom would dig a plastic bottle out of a public trashcan and put it in the recycling bag she kept in the trunk of the car.

One day， the most popular girl in school， Julie M.， called me out12 in front of my entire AP13 English class for drinking out of a reusable Thermos instead of a store-bought water bottle.

I honestly thought I might die of shame. I slunk14 home that day and told my mom all the humiliating details.

“Well， which do you like better，” she said nonchalantly15， clearly used to this kind of public scrutiny16. “Julie or the planet？”

And right then， something clicked17. I actually hated Julie—she was vile18 and ridiculous. Why did I care what she—or anyone—thought about my eco-ness？At the end of the day I was proud of myself for helping the environment and I knew I was doing the right thing.

So—finally—I began to let my freaky green flag fly！ I called out litterbugs19， collected magazines from my friends to recycle， and brought my own cup to Starbucks. And then the strangest thing happened： people started copying me.

One by one， my friends began to flick20 off the lights， buy recycled notebooks， and feed paper back into the printer to make use of the other side. Its not that they were oh-so-passionate about the environment， but they were drawn to my confidence.

The most popular people （not only in high school but in life） are those who stand proudly and say “Yeah， this is what Im into. WHAT.” Even if they dont share your enthusiasm， they will envy your confidence and want to be like you， and that means following your example.

在我人生的頭20年，我總會(huì)因?yàn)閯e人對(duì)我的看法而擔(dān)心害怕。比如，我會(huì)躺在床上睡不著覺，為同學(xué)們是不是不喜歡我的背包這類事情惶恐不安。所以，我盡可能地讓自己身上那種與生俱來的古怪顯得低調(diào)，尤其是我最隱秘的“嗜好”——拯救世界。

我熱愛環(huán)保的怪癖始于13歲那年。那天我收到了自己最喜愛的一本少年雜志的郵件包裹，雜志的封面上赫然寫著“拯救地球吧，女孩！”。時(shí)至今日，我都清楚地記得這句話。那本雜志里列出了各種各樣簡單易行的環(huán)保小貼士。

就在那一天，我了解到許多關(guān)于環(huán)保的菜鳥入門知識(shí)，其中一條是：“刷牙時(shí)關(guān)上水龍頭，每人每年便可節(jié)約200加侖的水！”這么說吧，我當(dāng)時(shí)立馬就開始那么做了。我覺得，這樣做太重要了，因?yàn)榈厍蛏系牡⒉皇侨≈槐M、用之不竭的（我了解到，將海水轉(zhuǎn)化為飲用水超級(jí)困難，而且耗資巨大）。

我的“嬉皮士”父母也都熱切想要開始回收再利用行動(dòng)，我們仨就理所應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)爻闪恕碍h(huán)保之家”。我們會(huì)把 I Cant Believe Its Not Butter牌黃油的罐子洗凈用來儲(chǔ)物；我們?nèi)ナ称返陼r(shí)會(huì)帶上帆布手提袋；我們?nèi)タХ鹊陼r(shí)會(huì)帶上自己的杯子，即使這樣的行為在很久之后都算不上很酷。

雖然我知道我們這樣做對(duì)環(huán)境有利，可每當(dāng)媽媽從公共垃圾箱中扒拉出一個(gè)塑料瓶并把它放進(jìn)她在汽車后備箱準(zhǔn)備的回收袋里時(shí)，我總是畏畏縮縮的。

一天，我們學(xué)校最受歡迎的女生朱莉·M.在AP英語課上當(dāng)著全班同學(xué)的面嘲笑我，說我喝的不是從商店買的瓶裝水，竟然是用可重復(fù)使用的保溫瓶裝的水。

說實(shí)話，我覺得自己當(dāng)時(shí)都快要丟死人了。那天，我偷偷地溜回家，把這件讓我倍感羞辱的事詳詳細(xì)細(xì)給媽媽講了一遍。

“那你更喜歡哪個(gè)呢？朱莉還是咱們的地球？”媽媽若無其事地說，顯然對(duì)這種來自于公眾的審視早已習(xí)以為常。

就在那一刻，我恍然大悟。我其實(shí)很討厭朱莉，她很壞，而且很可笑。我為什么要在意她——或任何人——怎么看待我的環(huán)保愛好呢？那天晚上，我開始對(duì)自己的環(huán)保行為感到自豪，而且我知道，自己是在做該做的事。

于是——終于——我開始讓自己“環(huán)保怪咖”的旗幟盡情飄揚(yáng)了！我會(huì)當(dāng)眾制止那些在公共場所亂扔廢物的人，從朋友那里收集雜志進(jìn)行回收利用，并帶上自己的杯子去星巴克喝咖啡。漸漸地，最意想不到的事發(fā)生了：人們開始效仿我。

我的朋友們一個(gè)接一個(gè)地開始隨手關(guān)燈，購買再生紙做的筆記本，將用過一面的紙放進(jìn)打印機(jī)再用另一面。他們這樣做并不是因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)環(huán)保有多么熱衷，而是被我對(duì)環(huán)保的那份篤信吸引了。

最受歡迎的人正是那些始終保持驕傲的姿態(tài)宣稱“嗯，這就是我喜歡做的事，那又怎樣？”的人。不僅在高中校園是這樣，在生活中也同樣如此。即使別人未必有和你一樣的熱忱之心，他們也會(huì)羨慕你那份篤信，進(jìn)而想要成為你那樣的人。這就意味著，他們會(huì)以你為榜樣，并效仿你。

注釋

1. inherent adj. 固有的；內(nèi)在的

2. closet adj. 秘密的，私下的

3. obsession： n.著魔，縈繞；使人癡迷的人（或物）

4. dork n. <口>笨蛋，呆子

5. convert vt. 使轉(zhuǎn)變，使轉(zhuǎn)化

6. hippie n. 嬉皮士，20世紀(jì)60年代出現(xiàn)于美國的青年頹廢派，反越戰(zhàn)，對(duì)社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)抱不滿情緒，信奉非暴力或神秘主義，穿奇裝異服。

7. I Cant Believe Its Not Butter： 美國植物性黃油的一個(gè)品牌

8. canvas n. （制帳篷、船帆、畫布等的）帆布

9. tote n. 大手提袋（或購物袋）

10. remotely adv. （程度）最低地，極小地

11. cringe vi. 畏縮

12. call sb. out： 把某人所做的事公之于眾

13. AP： 大學(xué)預(yù)修課程，全稱Advanced Placement，美國在高中階段開設(shè)的具有大學(xué)水平的課程

14. slink vi. 偷偷摸摸地移動(dòng)（或行動(dòng)）

15. nonchalantly adv. 無動(dòng)于衷地

16. scrutiny n. 密切的觀察

17. click vi. <口> （在頭腦或記憶里）變得明白

18. vile adj. <口>極壞的；惡劣的

19. litterbug n. <美口> 亂扔廢物的人

20. flick vt. 啪地開動(dòng)（開關(guān)等）