This study aims to develop a qualitative typology of environmental orientations among Iranian citizens, focusing on the metropolis of Mashhad. Unlike previous studies that have primarily examined environmental orientations through quantitative assessments of environmental attitudes and behaviors, this research adopts an interpretive approach and employs thematic analysis to identify and explain the meaning structures, value systems, and social logics underlying citizens’ environmental practices. Data were collected through 64 in-depth semi-structured interviews with citizens selected using purposive sampling based on the principle of maximum variation and analyzed following six-phase thematic analysis framework. The findings reveal that environmental orientations are constituted along a continuum of diverse and sometimes contradictory patterns, ranging from environmental denial and indifference to active, committed, and hybrid forms of pro-environmental engagement. Accordingly, six major types were identified: Environmental Deniers, Paradoxical Greens, Light Greens, Technocratic Greens, Religious Greens, and Hybrid Greens. Each type reflects a distinctive configuration of values, cultural capital, social position, lived experiences, and ways of interpreting and responding to environmental crises. The findings further indicate that environmental orientations in contemporary Iran are not merely products of scientific knowledge or formal environmental education but emerge through the complex interaction of cultural, economic, religious, identity-related, and structural factors. The principal contribution of this study lies in developing an empirically grounded qualitative typology of environmental orientations and providing a context-sensitive explanation of the social logics underlying their formation, thereby offering a valuable foundation for environmentally informed policymaking, participatory governance, and culturally responsive environmental interventions in Iranian society.