My Green Journey

I did not grow up being green! I honestly am not sure how this all started, all I remember is being disgusted by how we as Americans abuse the Earth. From a faith perspective, as a Christian I strongly believe that we were put on this earth to love God, each other, and our planet. When God created Adam he told him to tend the earth and care of all the animals on it. When you take a look at the earth today it's obvious we are not doing our job.

The ice caps are shrinking, animals are dying in a mass extinction the likes of which we haven't seen since the end of the dinosaurs, we are dealing with the biggest oil spill in history, we throw so much away that children in cities like the bronx are afflicted with asthma which is caused by the massive amounts of garbage that is incinerated almost in their own backyards. You tell me if we are being good stewards.

Yes, you can get angry and point fingers, you can say laws need to change (and they d0), but the most important actions lie with the individual. Nothing will change if we don't make it change. Put your money where your mouth is! Now, I understand that this is a HUMONGOUS change to make, it took me a long time to get where I am now.. But you can do it. You MUST do it! This is yet another reason I am beginning my consulting work; besides Americans destroying their bodies with unhealthy lifestyles, we are destroying our planet. I want to help people make the transition to a sustainable lifestyle. For ideas, here are some things my family is doing right now:

1. For a family of four, we fill one small trash can per week (no liner, they impede things from breaking down), one recyclable size-d bag of recycling a week, and we compost our food scraps.

2. Cloth diapers

3. Hang our laundry to dry

4. Garden

5. Eat locally and in season

6. Purchasing sustainably - this incorporates used as well as eco-friendly companies

7. No air conditioning unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, which is usually for long enough to cool down the upstairs so my boys can nap.

8. Cut down on water and electricity usage

9. Eliminated all harsh cleaning/beauty products and use only natural products.

10. Houseplants to clean and filter the air inside

11. Driving much much less

12. Walking to the grocery store and places that are close for entertainment

13. My husband drives a scooter instead of a car when it's nice out. We own one car and one scooter

14. Talk it up to try and get others involved!

15. No disposable paper products. (For the gross factor we do have a roll of TP for our guests, and I am using organic products for that one week a month..)

16. Make things from scratch so you don't need to buy more.

These are the short list of things my family is doing to be green.. If you want help "going green", let me know! I'll give you a free consultation and will help you transition to a green lifestyle. :)