Green Love?

I just had the randomest thought.

But it's rather interesting, so I thought I'd share.

First of all, I will shamelessly admit to you that I have been sitting here watching The Big Bang Theory, knitting, and drinking hot chocolate (or hocho, as I call it). And watching Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj bumble through their nerdy little lives has gotten me thinking about dating.

Typically, in any of the hard sciences or engineering, a strange thing happens -- for which I will coin the term The Nerd Phenomenon -- where  the ratio of men to women is extremely high. That is, there are about 100 nerdy guys for maybe 1 or 2 girls. Thus, the boys of the physics and egineering department find themselves hung up over Penny. And, finding this amusing (as well as my sad appreciation for science jokes) I continue to watch the show.

However, I just realized that the same situation seems to happen in the environmental sector. It seems to me, through my meetings with other environmentalists and people of the like, that the opposite occurs. We shall call this The Green Phenomenon. Everywhere I look, there are young single ladies such as myself striving for environmental solutions and sustainable living. But there aren't all that many young suitable males...

I read a green dating post over at Grist, stating that the same Green Phenomenon has been happening elsewhere! The general consensus seems to be that there are tons of young green women, and few men. One poster stated that at his local Green Drinks events, there is a huge abundance of single women, and only a few men, who happen to bring their wives...

As environmentalist and secondly a nerd, I have to say it seems my chances are pretty slim.

In response to the poster from Grist, I have to say that, in my experience, all the green men are so attractive that they get snatched up quick. I mean, what's hotter than a guy who enjoys hiking and wants to live sustainably, too? The thing is, environmentalism isn't just a department, like physics. It's a lifestyle. If you're into climate change and the outdoors, every life decision you make is going to be influenced by that --  so it's only inevitable that environmentally-minded people are going to hitch up fairly quickly!

I wonder why there aren't more men in the environmental fields? It seems that there are many older men working in the field, but who knows, maybe they jumped on the bandwagon while it was empty, back when environmental fields were just starting out. Now, I'm looking around my classes and I'd say there about 70-80% women. Where are all the guys at? Seriously...there's a whole world of active, fun, and  tanned environmental ladies out here in the boonies.

Well, you'd say to me, head on over to the physics department and bag yourself a Star Trek loving theoretical physicist!  It would make sense, after all, if the Nerd Phenomenon and the Green Phenomenon met up and made little nerdy green babies...our kids might even come up with a theory for mitigating climate change.

But is there something wrong with wanting a like-minded life partner?

It would only make sense for two environmentally-minded people to fall in love...they would have similar values, which would probably extend beyond their discipline, such as a love for nature, a particular outlook on children,  a need for exploration and fun.

But, at the moment, there are a whole lot of single men in suspenders hanging around somewhere, and a whole lot of single women with hiking boots.

Guess I'll just have to revert to my animal instincts and hunt a green man down. But with the trend I'm seeing, it would seem futile. I might as well just sit at the end of a trail and wait for him to come to me...