Why I love a New Year's Resolutions

I'm a freak about New Years Resolutions. I love to make them and have done it for years. When I used to keep a journal I would have pages worth, one on my spiritual self, my physical self, and one on the world around me. Now that I'm a busy momma of 2, run an organic lawn care business, and take care of this crazy household I don't have the time to put into those journals...but I still make resolutions. I know one for the new year FOR SURE is to spend more time on myself. These last few years I've put alot of energy outward and not enough inward. I'm going to re-focus alot of energy on Healthy Living. Eating better, exercising more, and taking care of Momma Bear.

As I'm imperfect and love to be so, I know that I may trip a bit along my path...but the goal is the resolution. Its to put it out there in front of you to focus on every day. If you can do one thing toward your goal each day you are on your way.

And as always I'm constantly looking for ways to Green our lives...so here's a little article that is right up that alley.
Happy New Year! -

Raising healthy children in an unhealthy world
How we care for children now will not only affect the rest of their lives, but will also shape future generations. It's up to us to help them thrive in a wholesome environment and teach them what a healthy lifestyle looks like. Making simple choices about what we consume and how we live day-to-day can help our little ones become tomorrow's world changers.

Give children a healthy start in everyway

Raise recyclers
Point out the difference between trash and recyclable items and involve children in sorting and managing recycling. Visit a local landfill to help them understand the impact that our waste hason the environment and to help them understand why it's time to simplify.

Choose to conserve
Be a model for energy-saving activities - turn off the TV and switch off the lights when they're not needed. Limit water use when brushing teeth and remind kids to do the same.

Cultivate Gardners
Give a child a small space to grow something of his or her own. Whether you live in the city or country, offer a small square of land or an indoor potted garden for them to care for. Choosing and planting seeds, regularly tending and enjoying the fruits of their labor will empower children with responsibility and encouratge them to live sustainably in the future.

Limit Waste
Find creative ways to reuse items around the house. Povide a bin for collecting things like old buttons and jewlry pieces, shoe strings and clothespins for kids' craft projects. Old Christmas cards and wrapping paper scraps can be saved for next years holiday crafts.

Get Moving as a Family
Before climbing in the car, consider walking or biking together to your destination. The whole family can experience sights and sounds that are often missed when speeeding along with the windows rolled up. It takes a little extra patience and planning, but the investment in your family's health and the environment is worth it.

Cut Out Clutter
Cut household clutter and simplify choices by limiting the number of toys your child has on hand. Well-made, durable toys - those made of wood with notoxic paints or organic cotton - are the most earth and child-friendly. Solar-powered (instead of battery-operated) toys are also growing in popularity and available right here on the internt (just a short search away). ENCOURAG childrn to donat xc playhing to oth who may not have their own.

Go Local
Instead of heading to the super market all the time, seekout local growers when possible. Visits to the farmers market or a local farm are excellent opportunities to teach kids that food doesn't grow on grocery store shelves. When you do visit the grocery store, take time to point out things that are grown and manufactured locally.

Opt for Organic
Not all budgets allow us to choose organic everything. However, offering children natural food choices as often as possible is worhty investment in a healthy future. Opt for whole grains, hormone-free meats and dairy products when you can.

Here are the "dirty dozen" - 12 fruits and vegetables that should be top priority when it comes to buying organic.

Peaches
Apples
Bell Peppers
Nectarines
Strawberries
Cherries
Pears
Grapes
Spinach
Lettuce
Potatoes
Many food additives and preservatives have been linked to hyperactivity and other abnormalities in children. MSG, high-fructose corn syrup, food colorings and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil are just a few of the culprits.

The Internet is a wonderful place and a powerful tool for today¹s society to teach children about the environment. Please feel free to check out the recommended sites for teachers, parents or caregivers of today¹s youth.

http://www.earth2kids.org/ http://www.earthforce.org/ http://www.edugreen.teri.res.in/ http://www.planetpals.com/ http://www.nwf.org/kids http://www.epa.gov/kids http://www.greenscreen.org/ http://www.kidlink.org/ http://www.kidsforsavingearth.org/ http://www.epa.gov/recyclecity http://www.inspectorgreen.com/ http://www.wattsnew.com/ http://www.howstuffworks.com/landfill an educational site on how landfills operate.

Why I justify my real Christmas Tree!

Traditions are Traditions....but a person is a person no matter how small (says the Lorax)....so what's a REAL Christmas Tree lover to do. I put my mind to rest when I came across this:

National Christmas Tree Association estimates that 40 to 45 million trees are planted each year. Christmas tree farms are natural habitats for bird and animal species. While a natural tree is growing it removes CO2 from the air, provide food and protection for deer, ground hogs, rabbits, bears and song birds. Purchase of natural trees supports local farmers. Once the trees are no longer needed they can be mulched or used in the garden to attract nesting birds. The trees are harvested and then replanted make them carbon neutral.

Artificial trees are neither carbon neutral nor environmentally friendly. They require fossil fuels to produce them and they are imported from China. A Life Cycle Assessment of an artificial tree found that the fake tree needs to be used for 20 years to leave an environmental footprint as small as a natural Christmas tree.

Whew! I can keep our tradition alive!

Eco-Smart Consumer: Bring Recycling With You!

Eco-Smart Consumer: Bring Recycling With You!

So we moved in....

So we moved in to our new house. Whew! what a whirlwind of boxes and debris. What can I say proudly.... we used Zero VOC paints for all the rooms which I can say was a total pain in the bottom! The coverage was awful...many rooms needed to painted 3 times, but what I can say is that there was absolutely NO paint smell, no air quality issues for my little noses to inhale. So it may have been a pain for us, but its good for them. What I can say I'm not as proud of is how much we couldn't get rid of through re-use. I tried, I posted on FreeCycle, Craigs List, but noone seemed to want my old curtains. So to salvation army they go....where I think they'll end up in the landfill because they are not really re-usable in their current form. They'd be better used for stuffing of some sort for crafters. Maybe I can find an art supply re-use house. We have stuck to our guns on environmentally friendly cleaning products and carpet cleaning....yeah for the GREENER CLEANER a local environmentally friendly cleaning service. Where we need to really improve is embracing the older products we have and not immediately go out and get new ones.... alas I'm no perfect. Those pretty shiny new refrigerators and dishwashers looked awfully nice on Black Friday.

Eco-Smart Consumer: Bring Recycling With You!

Eco-Smart Consumer: Bring Recycling With You!

Procrastination

I keep hearing Rod Stewarts song in my head...Fascination...but with the words Procrastination....oh no...not again...

Halloween Festivities for the Imperfect Environmentalist

So my family is participating in a variety of Halloween activities and as a more holistic sort I trend on the more natural of things, but for Halloween all that absolutely flies out the window and for 7 days its utter sugar coma chaos. I took my children to the Boo at the Zoo here in Detroit (btw was a WONDERFUL family friendly experience, accept for the few smoking parents for which I nearly tangled with until my husband forcably removed me from the situation, all while I was video taping our children...you tube upload to follow) my son and daughter were in a state of euphoric delight running from treat station to treat station at the Zoo, in the dark, with the animals....they LOVED it. I did too. My environmental spin, we took re-usable candy bags (pumpkin buckets) and my son wore a costume he's had in his box for years (a cheetah so he could fit in with the animals) and my daughter forever a princess (Halloween or not) wore some of her existing jewels and hair gear to match her new store bought Barbie Princess Bride. A mom has to cave in to things so sweet as a daughter wanting to look like their momma as a bride.
So once again, a few little things to balance out the guilt of the candy, pumpkin waste (although I did toast seeds and feed the squirrels the guts) you do what you can, and you try harder tomorrow. Happy Halloween!

Home Renovations

So today I proudly packed up every screw and bracket that held up a vintage metal curtain rod, for every window of the home we just purchased and took it all to the scrap metal bin at SOCCRA. Along with vintage, and when I mean vintage I mean 1950s chemicals and paints to the Household Hazardous Waste drop off. It felt good to do it the right way when it would have been so easy to put it in the trash. (Especially since it was such a cruddy day of drizzly non-stop rain) but the angel on my environmental shoulder was louder than the devil. Another great green thing we were able to do is use no-VOC paint for all of our painting. Sherwin Williams and PPG both carry a very high quality product and the side effect- no stink. Got to love it.

On the imperfect side of myself today, my son and I used aerosol spray paint to decorate his foam balls (meant to look like Dunkin Donut Munchkins) we used glow in the dark glue (who knows what kind of chemicals are in that) and sprinkled Halloween sprinkles on the exterior. Needless to say I've been craving munchkins all day.

Day One in the life of the imperfect environmentalist

After much ado about, well nothing and the continued need for self-expression in a creative and fun (funny) way. I decided to embark on my own little blog. I was going to call it graceful like a chicken...but my friend has that blog already...btw its hilarious. So I fell upon the imperfect (that would be me) environmentalist (that would be my ultimate goal). I love the imperfection because I think its the most relate-able thing about me. I'm just so imperfect, it makes me rather appealing in a way. I am striving to raise my family in the utmost GREEN fashion. I serve only organic fruits, vegetables, and juices when I can. I buy organic or free range meats. I recycle up the wazoo, I use cloth towels and napkins, I rarely use chemicals of any kind in my home... but there is where the imperfection lies... on my quest for the lofty goals of being GREEN...I skip, trip, and stumble along the way. I hope that this blog will give those of you on the quest for a greener lifestyle something to chuckle about, relate to, and possibly give you some tidbits of my lived upon wisdom.