Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Go Green! Embrace an Earth Friendly Lifestyle and Save an Environment Worth Sharing With the Next Generation.

I’m so excited to report that our family finally took the plunge into 100% ecological, non-toxic, biodegradable, natural cleaning products. We donated all of our toxic, environmentally unfriendly cleaning supplies to friends who wanted to use them as I couldn’t bear to just recycle them (maybe I should have—oh well). I’m afraid it was a long transition; we started with laundry and dish soap and had a hard time finding something we really liked. We’re still cycling through ‘green’ options for dish soap. Our cleaning bucket is now stocked with notions and potions from Earth Friendly Products (http://www.ecos.com/), Seventh Generation, (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/), biokleen (http://biokleenhome.com/), and ECOVER (http://www.ecover.com/us/en/).

Living in Santa Cruz, California, we’re a bit behind the curve; most of our friends switched years ago or grew up with granola baking; make your own cleaning solvent moms. I didn’t find the earth friendly products to cost more than the toxic options but I haven’t seen them in bulk at CostCo yet (come on Jim Sinegal, go GREEN!!). It’s scary to think that earth friendly isn’t yet the norm. Back in the 70’s while I was in elementary school my science teachers were talking about limited resources and the necessity of finding alternative sources of power like solar or wind, and electric cars (My nifty solar hotdog roaster was a hit at lunch time). What happened in the last 28 years? Why haven’t we made more progress? Why do things have to start to fail before we get off our butts and make some changes?

My friend, Tammy Pittenger, launched an online business selling ‘green’ products for the home at http://www.organicabode.com/ (not bad for a part-time stay-at-home mom gig). She’s not alone; a quick Google search will serve up a plethora of options. We’re lucky enough to have two stores in town that focus on providing green solutions for everything from lunch boxes to house paint, greenspace (http://www.greenspacecompany.com/) and Eco Goods (http://www.ecogoods.com/) … and they have websites if you’re stuck out in Oklahoma in an ice storm.

It is NOT easy to change a lifetime of habits and it’s the ONLY way the next generation will have a lifetime to enjoy this planet.

Kiss your babies and count your blessing. Peace to you.

1 comment:

tammypittenger4 said...

Thanks, E for adding my company to your blog! I am really excited about the recent coverage in Growing Up Santa Cruz. You are a dear... and I am pleased you are now using healthy products! We pretty much use "good old", vinegar and water! It works wonders and is cheap!
Love, Tammy
www.organicabode.com