On this week’s So You Think You’re an Adult, one man admires his wife’s commitment to going green – but says not changing her underwear is too far.
“My wife and I have been married for two years now,” he told Moncrieff.
“We're both very environmentally minded and are active campaigners for a cleaner and greener world.
“However, over the past year or so, my wife has started to reflect her activism more and more through her fashion and appearance.
“She no longer wears skirts or dresses, she refuses to buy new clothing... just last month, she announced that she is no longer going to wear her underpants just once.”
He said his wife often wears her underwear three days in a row and is encouraging him to do the same.
“The trouble is I admire her passion, but I’m starting to find her unattractive,” he said.
'Is she unhappy?'
Writer Barbara Scully said it’s admirable to be environmentally-minded – but there’s a limit to the sacrifices you should make.
“Wash at cooler temperatures, don’t use your tumble drier if you can manage, but wearing dirty knickers?” she said.
“I don't understand what difference that's going to make to the planet.”
Barbara pointed out that some of his wife’s behaviour, such as refusing to wear dresses and skirts or change her underwear often, could point to a different issue than climate change.
“I’m kind of wondering, is she unhappy, if this is a sign,” she said. “If somebody is depressed, very often one of the first signs are you don’t really care how you look.
“I'm not saying you have to wear a skirt or a dress and present yourself to the world in any kind of particular way.”
'Doom and gloom'
Broadcaster Declan Buckley said people can feel very “bleak” when they try to address climate change in their daily lives, which could explain why the listener's wife doesn't change her underwear often.
“The people who might take it on board have a propensity to be doom and gloom about it,” he said.
“There’s a danger if you go too far down the crusty hippie route.”
He said “something has gone wrong” in the wife’s environmental intentions, and it needs to be addressed.
