Celebrate Earth Day Every Day By Going Green!

Celebrate Earth Day Every Day By Going Green.

Going green isn't just for hippie, organic, mother earth, loving granolas! (As i've been called)
It's for anyone who wants to live in a healthy world.
Here's my simple checklist for going green!

• Use non toxic cleaners. "According to a five year study, the air in an average American home has chemical contamination levels 70 times greater than outdoor air" The Naturally Clean Home. Karyn Siegal-Maier
• Use cloth napkins.
• Donate your used clothing to your local Good Will or womens shelter.
• Clean up trash around your neighborhood.
• Use less plastic! There's a giant garbage patch called "plastic soup" twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean.
• Recycle
• Reuse  -One of my favorite items to reuse is glass candle jars with lids, they make great decorative storage containers.
• Before you toss anything into the trash ask yourself is you can recycle, donate or reuse the item.
• Bring your own bags to the grocery store. You could even go to a local craft store pick up some cloth shopping bags and decorate/personalize them for your family. This is great activity to do with your kids.
• Use reusable water bottles.
• Lunchskins reusable sandwich bags are handy and easy to use. Easily fits into your lunch box.
• Buy in bulk, less packaging to be recycled or put into the landfill.
• Learn about GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms) and what's really in the food you are eating. Read my previous post What's on your plate?
• Shop local, by shopping local you are stimulating your local economy and you know where your food came from. Buy organic seasonal produce.
• Buy sustainably grown and produced foods. Look for locally organic ethically raised beef/poultry.
• Request locally ethically grown/raised products from your grocery stores. Consumers have the power! If enough people start demanding healthier food choices, foods without a long list of unpronouncable ingredients that your great grandma would have never dreamed of eating, foods that are wholesome and healthy, without GMO's, sustainably and ethically raised. Companies will provide them. Let's unite our voices and demand change!
• Plant a garden, grow some herbs/vegies in pots inside or join a local community garden. Gardening is very grounding and balancing. Run your hands and feet through the dirt and reconnect with Mother Earth. Talk to your plants, thank them for the substance they provide you physically and spiritually. Invite the Elemental Kingdom into your garden world. Ask them for assistance.
• Carpool, walk or ride a bike whenever possible.
• Buy free range eggs. Chickens raised in confined unhealthy living environments are under a great deal of stress and can create the Salmonella bacteria in their bodies and eggs.

These are just a small handfull of ideas that have worked for me. Get creative! Remember your children are learning by watching you. By watching what you buy, how you cook it, what you throw away, your actions do not go unoticed.

Change starts with us. One consumer, mom, dad, grandparent, student, blogger, inspired writer at a time!
Written by: Carol Lawrence
http://www.intentionalconsciousparenting.blogspot.com/





Additional Resources:
Join a discussion course at http://nwei.org/discussion-courses
Rainforest facts http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
Twenty minute talks by experts on food and various topics. http://www.ted.com/
Jamie Oliver talks about our food crisis right now.