Upping My Game

Many wonderful documentaries and literature are out now a days giving us insight into living a better life, making better choices and "Saving the Planet." Two that I have gained a lot of knowledge from are No Impact Man & Food Inc. . I am shocked at the huge differences my family and I have made in the right direction. Shocked because it seemed so effortless, so necessary. I don't feel like a Planet crusader or a Tree hugging hippie, I feel like a person who is just more aware and making intelligent choices for my family.

Some of the simple things we do are recycling, and I mean everything, anything at all that can be recycled we do. Doing this has cut our garbage out take by more than 50%! WOW. Our garbage can used to over flow come garbage day, now... I could go 3 weeks without a trash pick up and it still isn't full :) Part of the trash reduction is using reusable stuff a lot. I always take reusable bags to the grocery store and we reuse some of our things for other purposes. Like mason jars, jelly jars and spaghetti jars. My kids LOVE collecting things in jars, we have a great sea shell collection in the kids bathroom. Simple simple things.

There are difficult things to get used to as well. Like food. I LOVE fast food and eating out, probably because I don't like to cook. Changing our food choices and eating habits has been hard for me. I can't in good conscience eat a lot of the things I used to eat. I know too much now. I know the impact my eating, and the companies I used to support have on my children's health and the Earth they will some day inherit from our generation. But armed with this new found knowledge has also made shopping more fun. It narrows down the choices, makes decisions easier. I'm quite indecisive so this really helps :) We have started getting our produce from local farmers markets and McLeod Farms, My meats now come from Ovis Hill Farms, while I'm there I also pick up my Dairy shipped from Happy Cow Creamery . Oh and I get the best soaps from Harvest Moon Soapworks.Yes I still go to a normal grocery store, but I don't buy much there. It's amazing how many things in those aisles are truly bad for you. Not just for your body or the environment, but the companies they represent. The keys to our new eating habits are knowing where our food comes from and what's really in it.

The benefits are endless with the changes we have made. We all feel better! My kids understand where food comes from, and they are excited to try new things. We have also planted a huge garden in the backyard, I'll be shocked if anything actually grows since I do not have a green thumb at all. But, it's been fun working on it with the family.

I still make mistakes, I don't do everything right... I choose to drive my kids to school instead of utilizing the school bus that passes my house, I can't say no to a Krispy Kreme donut, I use the air conditioning way too much, and I love buying new books to put on my book shelves instead of borrowing them from the library.

This is a long post, I'm sorry. If you stuck around I encourage you to learn about where your things come from, watch Food Inc., it will change your life. And visit Local Harvest to find the farmers and great choices in your area. Oh and by the way, I don't mind if you call me a "Tree Hugging Hippie," I kind of like the label these days :) Thanks for reading!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...