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Steps to simply green living
Everyday parents, including myself, try to make the right choices for our children. Many of us have tried to start raising our family "green". We have shopped for the best of the best produce, grass fed meat, non-toxic body care, chemical free home cleaners and often carry around reusable bags. The problem is that many of us also have a secret stash of our favorite things that we would ever let our children have access too. Today is the day for the sneaking of old habits to stop.
"Do as I say, not as I do" is a motto often used by parents. However, if you are really going to start making better decisions for your home and health by eliminating toxins, this just won't work. Making these daily choices of toxin free cleaners, heavy metal free nutrition and good all-around greener choices needs to happen whether or not your kids are around.
Don't worry, I'm not preaching that I'm perfect in this area. In fact, I have to make a conscious decision everyday to make the same choices for myself that I make for my daughters. Yesterday was a moment when I realized that my teachings to my children are truly carrying over to their lives. Hey, if my daughter can give up the snacks at the neighbors and choose to run home to get an organic apple, there is no more excuses in our house for sneaking the bag of chips left over from the guests at the bbq.
It's just not worth it.
Despite popular opinion, living a greener life is not very hard. Yes, it takes some dedication and requires you to make some conscious decisions, but beyond that, there is really no additional time or energy required on your part to make greener choices. It's that simple - you just need to begin choosing an eco-friendly alternative over the more common, less environmentally friendly option. Here are four simple things that we can all do to live greener at no additional inconvenience to ourselves.
First, begin using reusable bags for your shopping. You can buy inexpensive reusable shopping bags at most grocery stores, or you can shop online to find some that fit your personality a bit better and will likely last longer. Either way, using reusable bags can dramatically cut down on our use of plastic bags, which can be hugely beneficial for our environment. It's simple - instead of bagging your groceries in plastic bags, put them in your own reusable bags.
You can also start using cleaning products that are organic. It is a scientific fact that women that stay at home every day and are exposed to common household cleaners more frequently have a lower life expectancy than women who work outside of home. Many of the chemicals in common cleaners are not very good for our bodies and there are a number of biodegradable and organic cleaners available that are just as effective. Again, all this involves is purchasing a different cleaning product - the actual cleaning is no more difficult, just safer.
Another green living thing that you can begin doing that requires no special efforts is to begin buying locally grown and organic produce, most of which is readily available at your local grocer. These foods are healthier for you (no chemicals or pesticides are used to grow them), and purchasing locally grown food lessens the pollution caused in transporting them to stores for sale as they travel a shorter distance. This is a win/win.
Finally, you can start switching your lightbulbs to energy efficient compact florescent bulbs (CFLs). In fact, switching to these bulbs can be more impactful that switching to a hybrid car or walking more to work. If every house replaces three of their standard 60-watt bulbs with CFLs, we could the amount of energy equivalent to taking 3.5 million cars of the road. Beyond that, CFLs will reduce your energy costs, saving you money in the long run.
"We all know that running a home can be costly
so great savings are essential and helpful
to a balanced home life".
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