(MONEY Magazine) – ''I'm not a nuts-and-berries kind of guy,'' observes John Baldwin, sounding more like a consummate consumer than a rabid environmentalist as he devours a vanilla ice cream cone at the local McDonald's in Eugene, Ore. ''We do all the ordinary things -- go to basketball games, make pizza, drive our daughter to ballet class.'' You won't find John or his wife Diane chaining themselves to a nuclear power plant gate or ''monkey wrenching'' a logging truck to save trees. Nevertheless, in their own quiet way the Baldwins are as deeply committed to the environment as any media-hungry activist. Says Diane: ''We believe that the average middle-class family can make a difference -- by recycling waste and voting with their dollars for environmentally sound products -- and that's what we try to do.'' The only catch is that the Baldwins must also find a way to stretch their $38,166 annual income to cover the price of such virtue. For instance, they estimate that their food bill alone -- some $5,500 last year -- is 15% higher than it would be if they gave up the organic grains and vegetables and chemical-free meats they prefer and instead bought ordinary supermarket-style fare. Indeed, such are the trade-offs often faced by middle- class families trying to live in environmentally responsible ways. For John, however, living right is just a matter of practicing what you teach. The affable and witty 40-year-old is director of the environmental studies program at the University of Oregon in Eugene and an international lecturer on ecology. Still, he credits his energetic wife, 38, with doing most of the work to keep their home ecologically copacetic. ''I try to put into practice on a small scale what John lectures about on a large scale,'' says Diane, who works part time in a preschool and also cares for their two children, Erin, 6, and Ian, 2. John and Diane are not alone, of course. In Europe, environmental consumerism has become a potent transnational political force that often goes under the rubric of the Green Party. And while the so-called greens have yet to challenge the Democrats or Republicans in this country, environmentalism -- as exemplified by families like the Baldwins -- is increasingly taking hold at a grass-roots level and is starting to exert considerable pressure in the marketplace (see page 108). More than half of U.S. adults, for example, say they sometimes refuse to buy a product because it might harm the environment, according to a 1989 survey by the Michael Peters Group, a New York City product-development research firm. And more than three-quarters of them say they would pay extra to get products packaged in recyclable or biodegradable containers. If this sort of data is any indication, environmental issues may top the national agenda in the 1990s as political policy and economics are shaped not only in legislatures and courtrooms but also by the private choices -- and collective purchases -- of millions of families like this one.

If the Baldwins are pioneers of the American green movement, their home, Eugene, is among its spiritual centers. After all, this is a town that has celebrated Earth Day faithfully every April 22 for the past 20 years, and that has declared itself a nuclear-free zone. Surrounded by mountains and forests, Eugene (pop. 109,000) has long been a mecca for alternative life styles. ''It's your basic ecotopian town,'' jokes John, referring to Ecotopia, Ernest Callenbach's futuristic novel -- published in 1975 -- in which the Northwest secedes from the U.S. to form an ecological community. Since Eugene is also a major track and field center (it's home to runners Alberto Salazar and Mary Decker Slaney), the town abounds not only with organic food shops but also with stores selling Nike athletic gear (the company has headquarters in Beaverton, 110 miles north). ''We felt it would be a clean and healthy place to raise our kids,'' says Diane. ''And the move to Eugene prompted us to adopt a life style that would be more ecologically sound.'' Still, ecological commitment can entail financial hardship. The teaching profession is notoriously low paid to begin with, and by moving to the Oregon community 10 years ago after a one-year stint at UCLA in Los Angeles, John doomed himself to pay that's low even by academic standards. With an average salary of $35,200, the University of Oregon recently ranked 14th from the bottom in the American Association of University Professors' survey of average faculty pay at 117 comparable institutions. Last year, John's teaching earned him $34,350, to which he added $900 from speaking fees and royalty payments from a 1985 textbook, plus $2,424 in rental income on land in Upstate New York that he inherited after his parents died in 1988. Diane's part-time work brought in only another $500. Despite a $182,944 net worth (much of which owed to John's $89,823 cash inheritance), they have only about $800 in checking and savings accounts, and thus they often find themselves strapped at month's end. Seeking to save for retirement and their children's education, they quickly put most of the inheritance to work in a variety of long-term investments, about which we'll say more later. Despite their cash woes, the family manages to live comfortably. Consumer prices in Eugene are slightly below the U.S. average and fully 26% less than those they left behind in L.A. Housing expenses are even lower: Eugene's average home costs $67,053, compared with $118,100 nationally. And at times, being environmentally conscious can even be profitable. Take energy conservation. The Baldwins live in a three-bedroom electrically heated dwelling, perched on a wooded hillside, that they bought 10 years ago for $84,250. Monthly mortgage payments: $680 on an 11.75% loan, which has a $61,551 balance that the Baldwins are trying to reduce quickly by paying an extra $130 a month. ''We liked the house because its southern exposure helps cut heating bills,'' Diane says. To improve that exposure, John removed several dozen pine seedlings that threatened to obscure the sun. They also took advantage of a weatherization program offered by the local utility, Eugene Water & Electric Board, which paid more than two-thirds of the $2,048 cost of installing additional insulation. As a result, says John, ''we probably pay about 15% to 20% less in utility bills than some of our neighbors.'' The monthly tab: about $70. That savings is offset, however, by their healthy (in more ways than one) food bills. On a recent shopping trip, for example, organically grown russet potatoes were 79 cents a pound vs. 49 cents a pound for the commercially grown variety. Organic whole-wheat bread, made from pesticide-free wheat, runs $1.89 a loaf, compared with $1.29 for an ordinary loaf at Safeway. And chemical-free bacon -- from hogs raised without hormones, steroids or other additives -- was a steep $3.69 a pound, compared with the supermarket's $2.49 a pound for regular packaged bacon. Diane cuts these costs by purchasing food in bulk and buying milk in returnable plastic containers, which are slightly less expensive than disposable ones. In the summer, the family dines on veggies from their backyard organic garden. ''We don't use pesticides,'' she stresses, ''and we fertilize it from our compost pile.'' Diane also grows bean sprouts in jars in the kitchen and cans an average of 300 tomatoes annually as spaghetti sauce. ''We must save $300 to $500 a year by raising our own vegetables,'' says John. And to keep expenses down, Diane will occasionally buy commercially grown produce. ''You can't eat only organic food on our salary,'' she admits. Despite the higher costs, the Baldwins insist that their preference for chemical-free meats and produce is worth the price. Diane, who grew up in Sun Prairie, Wis., notes that her father, a meat-processing plant employee, died of cancer of the liver and colon in 1984. ''I believe he was affected by the nitrites they put in the meat, which are known carcinogens,'' she says. ''He was exposed to them on his job, and then he brought home meat for us all to eat -- so he got a double whammy.'' Diane avoids commercial cleansers and detergents, using mild soaps like Amway's SA-8 Limited Phosphate detergent -- which costs $1.43 a pound, vs. only 66 cents a pound for powder All -- for their laundry and simple vinegar and water for household cleaning. Two years ago, when their house became infested by carpenter ants, common pests in the Oregon woods, she and John hired an exterminator who used boric acid and synthetic versions of natural botanical insecticides, such as cypermethrin, instead of standard pesticide. ''The problem with pesticides is that most of them have not been thoroughly tested,'' says John. Their research into the subject led Diane to persuade the neighborhood contractor who cuts the roadside weeds to stop using one of his herbicides. And Diane has even started wearing mostly natural cosmetics such as Kallima ($8.95 for a candelilla and beeswax-based lipstick, for example, compared with only $3.95 for a tube of standard lipstick such as L'Oreal's Gloss Glossique). The Baldwins are also avid recyclers. Most towns in Oregon offer a curbside recycling program, in which citizens separate reusable materials from their garbage and leave them for special pick-up, and Eugene is no exception. With about 10 minutes' extra effort per week, the Baldwins cut their garbage bill by 20% to just $11 a month. They keep bins in their garage for recyclable glass, steel cans, aluminum, newspapers, cardboard and plastic. As a result, the family produces only a single 32-gallon can of garbage a week -- which John says is about half as much refuse as the average Eugene family of four throws away. Last fall, the Baldwins were among some two dozen local residents to receive a recycling all-star certificate from the county solid-waste agency. The recycling ethic has also saved the Baldwins money on children's wear and toys. Diane frequents what she calls a ''recycling store'' that sells secondhand clothes, toys and books. ''Children grow so fast that you can find clothes here that are barely worn or brand-new,'' she says, poking through a rack of toddler shirts priced at $1 to $2. She and John estimate that they have spent only $300 to $400 on new items for the children since they were born. And by donating outgrown items to the store, she receives cash or credit for additional purchases. Diane jokes that Erin sometimes resists giving up her favorite clothes. ''Sometimes I have to wait till she's asleep to get them out of the closet,'' she says. Replies Erin, ''I'm going to put an alarm in my room so I'll wake up.'' Like many Eugene residents, John and Diane do not spend much on movies and restaurant meals, opting instead for low-cost, outdoor activities. On weekends, they go bike riding or pile into the family's occasionally balky 1985 VW Vanagan -- bought used last year for $4,800 -- for a day trip to the Pacific coast. And they regularly visit the local YMCA, where the children learn to swim and John relaxes in the hot tub. ''I'm one of the founding members of the Society for Environmentally Benign Hedonism,'' laughs John. Despite their efforts, the Baldwins readily admit that they do not achieve complete environmental purity. For instance, since Ian started toilet training last year, Diane has stopped their $40-a-month cloth diaper service and switched to Bunnies disposables (about $20 a month), which are touted as biodegradable. ''If you're going to use plastic, you might as well use these,'' she says. But she adds, ''I know there's controversy about whether they're really biodegradable.'' They are also dependent on their two vehicles -- the van and a 1987 Honda Accord. Although the Baldwins drive as little as possible, choosing to walk or ride bikes when they can, both autos have only average fuel efficiency (18 miles per gallon for the van and 23 mpg for the Honda). ''We're just as guilty of things as anybody,'' says John, who notes that he has yet to take many other conservation steps, such as putting a dam in the toilet tank to save water (doing so conserves about 2,920 gallons a year, if you flush the national average of about eight times a day). Says Diane: ''You just have to aim for a happy medium.'' In the long run, the Baldwins think public education will be the key to cleaning up the environment. John is doing his part: he's traveled to more than 20 countries to lecture and teach on such global issues as agro-forestry in India and water resources in the Soviet Union. Last year, for example, he taught in a three-month Semester at Sea program, taking his entire family aboard a cruise ship that visited a dozen countries, including China, Japan and Spain. But he also works closer to home, suiting up as a volunteer to dispose of hazardous materials on the county garbage facility's annual Toxic Waste Amnesty Day. Originally from Jamestown, N.Y., John got hooked by environmental science when, as a biology major at Buffalo State College, he helped to track the pollution sources of Ohio's notorious Cuyahoga River, which caught fire once in 1952 and then again in 1969. After getting a B.A. in 1972, he joined the doctoral zoology program at the University of Wisconsin. There he met Diane, who was working as a secretary in the environmental studies institute. (It was that job, she says, and later her romance with John, that kindled her dedication to environmentalism.) They dated on and off for the next four years. After completing his dissertation in 1977, John was headed for a one- year teaching post at Trinity University in San Antonio. ''That's when I proposed,'' Diane says. ''I realized he was leaving Madison and told him I didn't want him to go without me.'' They were married in June 1978. < John and Diane stayed only two years in Texas, where they became embroiled in a battle over a nuclear power plant. ''Coming from one of the most progressive states in the country, we were concerned with the lack of environmental awareness,'' John comments. Next came the UCLA job, but neither he nor Diane felt it would be easy to raise kids there. ''I hated riding on those eight-lane freeways,'' recalls Diane. ''I would just close my eyes and tell John to let me know when we had arrived.'' In 1980 they leaped at a tenure-track position in Oregon, despite a competing offer for $2,000 more from a major midwestern university. ''It meant a sacrifice in pay,'' says John. ''But Oregon had a terrific environmental record, and Eugene is so livable.'' While happily ensconced in Eugene, however, the Baldwins are becoming increasingly concerned about meeting their financial goals. Right now, their priorities are saving for retirement and their children's college education. John has about $27,000 in the state public employees retirement system; the money is mostly invested in annuities. He's also got a $16,000 Individual Retirement Account in Phoenix Balanced Fund, up 24.9% during 1989. Diane's $6,000 IRA is in the Oppenheimer Total Return Fund, up 19.3% in the same period. Through savings and the inheritance money, they have also stashed away $13,863 for Erin's college education, mainly in zero-coupon U.S. Treasuries yielding 8.75%. Another $7,600 has been put aside for Ian in Oppenheimer Equity Income Fund, up 18.6%. Last year's inheritance made them into investors on their own behalf. On their broker's recommendation, they put $27,000 into VMS Mortgage Partners, a real estate investment trust that owns mortgage-loan receivables. They've also got $33,662 in stocks. Among the shares they own are those of IBM, Waste Management and Maytag. By means of short-term stock trading, the Baldwins racked up $4,188 in capital gains last year. An exception was Exxon, which they sold for a $100 loss after the Alaskan oil spill. ''We got rid of the stock out of environmental principles,'' says John. But they are concerned that their other investments may not be completely socially responsible. ''We just haven't had time to investigate them,'' sighs Diane. And indeed, the Baldwins confess that they aren't the best at tracking their investments' performances. ''Since we're tying up so much of our cash,'' John adds, ''we want to make sure we're getting both security and good returns.'' On the liability side, in addition to their mortgage the Baldwins owe $8,063 in auto and personal-loan and credit-card debt at rates up to 18%. And with their limited income, they worry about any increase in their fixed costs, such as the $42-a-month bill for their $250,000 group term life insurance policy. ''I love teaching and seeing my students go on to make important contributions to saving the environment,'' he says. ''But they also go on to make three times what I earn.'' John notes that Diane may eventually have to work longer hours when Ian starts school. Diane is reluctant, however: ''I want to be home while the children are so young.'' Still, the Baldwins want to maintain their life style. Says Diane: ''The first two priorities for us are health and a clean environment. Financial matters come after that -- because if you don't have those two, then the money doesn't matter.''

THE ADVICE -- THE PROBLEMS: Improve cash flow, save for college and retirement, and invest ethically. -- THE SOLUTIONS: Cut insurance costs, build a cash reserve, invest in a 403(b) plan, and diversify with socially responsible mutual funds.

MONEY asked Eugene certified planner Fred Sittner of Holbrook Roehl & Sittner and Carsten Henningsen, head of Progressive Securities Financial Services, a Portland-based ethical investing firm, to counsel the Baldwins. Their main points: Cash reserves. Like all families, the Baldwins need liquid assets equivalent to three to six months of living expenses -- about $9,000 to $18,000 in their case. To avoid draining their retirement nest egg or college savings, Sittner suggests they build this fund slowly by tightening their budget. For example, they can pick up a few extra dollars by switching from their current $42-a- month group term life insurance to an individual policy such as Jackson National's 10-year term ($34 a month for the same $250,000 coverage). That will lock in their premium, which otherwise would have risen to $67 a month in a few years, for the next decade. They should also watch for opportunities to refinance their 11.75% mortgage. ''They missed a chance three months ago, when rates dropped to 9.75%,'' Sittner points out. ''But rates may come down again in six to nine months.'' Both advisers also urged the family to stop making their excess mortgage payments of $130 a month. ''Cash reserves should be the priority now,'' Henningsen says. With these changes, John and Diane can increase their cash flow by $2,000 a year. Retirement savings. With more than half of their retirement funds in fixed- income vehicles, the Baldwins should put more money into equities, which offer greater growth potential. Sittner urged John to start contributing to a mutual fund through the university's 403(b) savings plan (the rough equivalent of a 401(k) plan) instead of his current IRA. ''A 403(b) plan offers full tax deductibility, as well as an opportunity to invest as much as 16.75% of salary -- far more than an IRA,'' he notes. Investments and college savings. The advisers had bad news for the Baldwins regarding their real estate investment trust. VMS recently ran into liquidity problems and cut dividends. With the stock trading at $2 a share in early March, down from the $10 the Baldwins paid, Sittner recommended selling out and taking a tax loss of about $22,000. But Henningsen says the REIT's book value could be significantly higher than its current share price. ''One option might be to hold on and see if the price recovers,'' he said. ''And you could also participate in one of the class-action suits filed against the company.'' Both advisers also urged the couple to lighten up gradually on individual stocks and move into mutual funds. The Baldwins simply aren't the types to devote the attention needed to research and monitor individual shares. Moreover, several of their current stocks have histories that might make them edgy, Henningsen points out. Waste Management, for one, has been cited several times by the Environmental Protection Agency for alleged violations of hazardous-waste laws. A spokesman admits that the company has paid fines, but says it tries to fix problems when they arise. As alternatives, Henningsen recommends several socially responsible mutual funds, including Calvert Ariel Growth (4.5% load; 800-368-2748), Pax World (no load; 603-431-8022) and New Alternatives (5.6% load; 516-466-0808). ''John can contribute to Calvert through his 403(b) plan without paying a front-end load,'' he points out. They should also diversify their children's college funds, Henningsen adds. For greater growth, he suggests they should sell about $6,000 of the zeros they invested for Erin, take the capital gains and put the money in a stock fund like Calvert Social Investment Equity Portfolio (4.5% load; 800-368-2748). The Baldwins were dismayed at their loss in VMS, but they did not criticize % the broker who sold it to them. She is a friend. John was also alarmed at the news that several of their stocks were ''environmental Black Barts,'' as he put it. Several days later, they were still debating whether to sell their position in VMS. But they did plan to start putting their money into socially responsible mutual funds. And they were enthusiastic about the ideas for improving their cash flow. ''We have to get on top of our financial situation,'' says John.

BOX: Bottom Line

An $89,823 inheritance last year provided a big boost to the Baldwins' net worth.

INCOME Inheritance $89,823 Combined salary, fees and income 38,166 Interest and dividends 3,242 Loans and credit-card advances 2,774 Tax refund 353 Total $134,358

OUTGO Investments $86,301 Taxes 10,135 Mortgage payments 9,720 Van purchase and car expenses 7,804 Food and clothing 6,400 Loan repayments 3,677 Payments to savings 2,000 Medical and child care 1,948 Miscellaneous and business travel 1,946 Utilities 1,635 Household expenses 1,015 Gifts, contributions and dues 756 Insurance 661 Entertainment 360 Total $134,358

ASSETS House $85,000 Investments (after VMS loss) 60,591 IRA/pension 53,051 Personal property and cars 37,000 Inherited land 16,036 Savings and checking 840 Total $252,518

LIABILITIES Mortgage $61,551 Auto loans and personal debts 6,639 Credit-card balance 1,384 Total $69,574 NET WORTH $182,944