I totally get your point, but have made conscious decisions not to go that route.

in hopes of training them to be more energy conscious?

That's the truth not told with a $20,000 guru education.Glad to hear you have a conscious kid, your family is too.

Make a conscious effort to be engaged.

You want to find a group or an individual who can provide the 401K documents, then your mother can find a bank that doesn't have its collective consciousness firmly planted up their debit columns.

. :)One of my coworkers, a Black woman, has felt it necessary to remove her glamour shot from most stuff, and be aware/conscious about when/if she puts it back on some stuff, which she only does selectively.

It loves to focus on your failures, the larger, the better.Firstly, make a conscious effort to not struggle with it.

The promises re graphene solar and alternatives to tree-based "lumber," etc are all wonderful as these buildings would be ecologically ideal. 

I’ve always been a saver, but I had never actually tracked my spending, or consciously saved for anything except the vague idea that I needed to "save for the future."

I wouldn't let the tax tail wag the dog on this one, but good to be tax-conscious always.