Tag Archives: Natural living

Tuesday Tip: Living Green in ’14



Welcome to the December 2013 Carnival of Natural Mothering!

This article is a part of the Carnival of Natural Mothering hosted by GrowingSlower, Every Breath I Take, I Thought I Knew Mama, African Babies Don’t Cry, and Adventures of Captain Destructo. This month’s topic is Natural New Year’s Resolutions. Be sure to check out all of the participants’ posts through the links at the bottom of this page.
Bloggers, visit GrowingSlower to sign up to write for next month’s carnival.

 

December 2013 prompt:
Natural New Year’s Resolutions ~ We will all soon hear people around us resolving to change in the new year. But, one of the keys to natural living is to appreciate that we don’t need a new year for a fresh start. Each day, we have the chance to make better choice and form healthier habits. In December, we want to hear about your natural resolutions, regardless of the time of year you decided to change. Tell us your success stories (e.g., you reduced your family’s exposure to GMO’s), your future plans (e.g., you are going to work to stop yelling) or even about how you embrace each day’s potential for building new habits.

Our step onto the path of natural living started when we discovered one of our children was very sensitive to strong scents and perfumes – bye-bye conventional cleaners, scented lotions, and perfumed products.  Only later did we learn what a huge step that was.*

Next, we discovered he was allergic to the “easy” ingredients that are readily found in processed foods.  He cannot have wheat, eggs, soy, peanuts or hazelnuts.  That pretty much cut out the center of the grocery store for us.

The last event that cemented our commitment to more natural living was a day when I decided to read the labels on our personal care products that were labeled “natural”, and compare them to the EWG’s toxin list.  They were not even close to being as natural as they claimed to be.

The key to our shift in living and purchasing was doing one thing at a time.  If all those things had happened at once, I think I may have crawled into a hole and never come out.  That was not an option, though – it hardly ever is.  Even if you don’t have a child’s needs motivating you to make a change, you can make a list of all the things you want to change for your family.  Then prioritize it, and take one thing at a time.

We started by shifting to the Clorox Green Works line of cleaners (stay with me!), and giving or throwing away all my perfume and lotions. Then we started learning about gluten-free and egg-free eating.  It became easier as I realized that there were still over 2000+ foods he could eat – I just needed to shift my perception.  Since soy needs to be out, too, it cuts out a lot of the food in the gluten-free aisle as well.  Soy lecithin is a popular, inexpensive ingredient across the grocery store aisles.  Hence, the commitment to whole food eating was cemented.  You can’t find chemical additives or preservatives in fresh fruits and vegetables!  You do have to be aware of pesticides – that inspired our commitment to know our sources.

Then started the search for personal care products that were “safe”.  We started by asking our “crunchy” family and friends what they used.  If they made the EWG “cut”, we tried out their favorites to see how they fit our family.  If not, we kept looking.   Hours were spent reading every label on every product labeled “natural” in the natural stores to see what we were going to allow into our home.

Looking around on the EWG site, I also discovered their cleaning guide.  The cleaners that I thought were “green” were tossed out!  We started making our own cleaners.  Little by little, we have been lobbying our cleaning lady to make the switch to our home-made cleaners that use vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, baking soda, and castile soap.  She is coming around.  There is a compromise because I don’t want to lose her help cleaning for our active family of six!

We continue to take baby steps every day.  As we learn more about organic foods, we are growing our own, shopping the farmer’s market, and choosing organic over conventional when it makes sense.  We wash all our produce with baking soda and rinse it longer than we used to.  We take time to cut our own fruits and vegetables for snacks instead of buying packages of gluten-free crackers or pretzels.  We shop local for breads that are made at a gluten-free bakery.  We have found that knowing the source and shopping local is one of the best ways to ensure we are staying true to our commitment to live green.

How does it work in real life?

  • We take time to pour our own water in stainless steel water bottles instead of buying plastic containers on the road.  Each kiddo is in charge of their own bottle in the morning, or sometimes Night Owl surprises us all and has them filled before we need to get going.
  • We always keep fresh fruit and vegetables in the house.  Costco is carrying organic, or we buy from the organic section at Sprouts, or we hit the farmer’s market.
  • We pre-cut fruits and veggies for the week and leave them in containers for the Sweet Peas to help themselves.
  • We grow our own greens – it is amazing what your children will eat if they have had a part in growing it!  Look into hydroponics or a Tower Garden (aeroponics) if you want to grow year round.
  • We make our own juice – KitchenAid has a juice attachment for juicing citrus, or we use our juicer for apples, strawberries, and carrots for the Sweet Peas.
  • We make water infusions to add variety – our faves are lemon-cucumber water, strawberry-basil water, and orange-basil water.  There are so many things you can add to water at night that yield a yummy flavor in the morning.  Go for it – come up with your own family favorites.
  • We travel with a cooler and ice packs for our snacks.  Our favorite road snacks are cut fruit, carrot sticks, hummus, cheese and crackers.  We also buy dehydrated strawberries from Trader Joe’s for road tripping – fresh strawberries can be messy!
  • We have reusable wipes instead of disposable.  They wash right along with our diaper wraps.
  • We have made the switch to un-paper towels.  Even though we can’t use them in the microwave to warm food, we can use them for everything else.  The amount we have cut back on paper towels is astounding.  We have gone from using 2-3 rolls per week to about one-two per month.  We buy ours from Shannon’s Cloth and More.
  • Personal care products: we use Dr. Bronner castile soaps, Earth Mama Angel Baby products for the Sweet Peas (and I love their Angel Baby lotion!), and Puma and I like the Whole Foods 365 line for shampoo and conditioner (she likes citrus, I use mint).  I am not 100% happy that they use soy…there is a little trade-off for a product that cleans our long hair without drying it out or leaving it greasy and stringy.  We recently discovered a local product to replace shaving cream – check out Zoaps !

The next area on my list to “green” is our children’s toys and clothing.  I am slowly finding more organic fabrics to choose from.  We are being more mindful about buying less plastic and more wood, even though to be honest, the holiday season is grinding me…our boys love the plastic!!  To that end, I ordered a modular castle I think they will love from Manzanita Kids.

If you want to resolve to Live Green in ‘14, I encourage you to go for it!  Start with the area that is the most important to you, and just start by changing one thing.  You can change one thing!  Once you do it, and prove to yourself that you can change one thing, pick a new thing.  Little by little, one change at a time, you are living greener than you were yesterday.  By simply choosing one change per month, that will be 12 greener choices over the course of the year.  The great news is you can start your journey to Be Green anytime – any day can be the day you make a choice to do one thing for better health.

* There are thousands of unregulated chemicals being used in the cleaning and cosmetics industry because they are not “food” or “medicine” (click HERE for more info on the cleaning industry, and HERE and HERE if you are ready to start “greening” your personal care products).

 

Tuesday Tips: An Au Natural Holiday

No, we are not running around the house naked – although I admit, you will see an occasional  naked baby bottom streaking through the house!  The title refers to today’s blog post, written as part of the Carnival of Natural Mothering 🙂



Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Mothering!

This article is a part of the Carnival of Natural Mothering hosted by GrowingSlower, Every Breath I Take, I Thought I Knew Mama, African Babies Don’t Cry, and Adventures of Captain Destructo. This month’s topic is Incorporating Natural Into the Holidays. Be sure to check out all of the participants’ posts through the links at the bottom of this page.

November 5, 2013: Incorporating Natural Into the Holidays
As we approach the holiday season, it is easy to get swept up in preparations and anticipation. How do you bring your natural lifestyle into the holidays with you? Whether it’s eco-friendly party prep, special treats that are also healthy, traditions that involve aspects of nature, or the natural techniques you use to stay calm and focused during the busy months ahead, we would love to read your stories and suggestions that focus on all that relates to a natural lifestyle during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

Ahh – the holidays.  I am fascinated that the season of celebrating “holy days” is also the time when we can get the most frazzled, the most frustrated, and the most hurried.  It is pretty much exactly the opposite of keeping things sacred and holy!

The most important thing I try to remember is the “reason for the season”.  Is it really important to have the best looking and tasting food, the prettiest house, the most presents; if along the way you have forgotten to be kind to others, most importantly, your children?  For a lot of us, striving for perfection layers on added stress, guilt and pressure.  By extension, we lash out at the little people who are still needing our attention outside of our huge lists of things we need to do to: shopping, cleaning, preparing, hosting…those lists go on and on and on.

There are several things I have learned along the way that help me to be more intentional and peaceful during the season of hustle and bustle.

1. Breathe.  That simple act can make a simple and profound difference.  Before I don my cape, I aim to take five deep breaths as I start the day, reflecting on the intention of that day.  I no longer carve out time for a full yoga practice in the morning…now I simply use the deep breathing techniques I learned, and I review my mantras.  I want to be sure that Peaceful Mama shows up for my kids this day, not the Crazy Mama who yells her way across the day.

2. Flower Essences.  I can’t say enough about these amazing Lotus Wei elixirs.  We discovered them a few years ago and we will be forever customers.  I keep them next to our bathroom sink so that I can breathe in peace, love and joy every time I wash my hands.  A.Ma.Zing.BLOG lotus photo

3. Simplify.  I read an article this summer that talked about what kiddos remember the most about summer vacation: ice cream and the beach.  What?! That’s easy!  It’s so easy to discount the simple things while we focus on “going” and “doing”.

I think this concept of simplicity is perfect to apply to the holiday season as well.  Sit down with your partner and identify what it is you want your children to remember about the holidays.  Better yet, ask them what their favorite part of the season is, and see if you can incorporate it as often as possible into your days.

Things to consider if you want to simplify your list – how many events will you attend in a weekend?  How can you plan your days so that you do things with your children, instead of for your children?  Do you have family traditions you want them to learn, and if so, how do they become a part of them instead of having them done to them?

4.  Let Go.  Things are transient…I don’t know if our children will remember how perfect I made things. I know they remember that I was frazzled and stressed through the holidays.  Instead of trying to do it all, we pinpoint and do the meaningful things that grow us as a person and as a family.

5. Have Fun.  When I listen to our children, it seems to me that we have forgotten one important aspect of childhood:  they are in it for the fun.  Nothing gives me greater joy than hearing their laughter, or hearing their excitement at all the beauty of the holiday season.  So while we write our lists, do our shopping, make our meals, I try to be mindful that all they want to do is have a good day.  In my mind, a “good day” means feeling loved, sharing a laugh, and having fun.  I would rather not get it all done, and instead put “doing” off for another day so we all enjoy the “living”.

So what does that look like in action?

The breathing and the flower essences mean that I turn down my volume.  When I get stressed, I get loud, and that only serves to scare our children.  That is definitely not what I want them to remember about the holiday season!!  Being mindful of my intention to “make memories” instead of “doing things” helps me to focus on the big picture of wanting the holidays to be full of peace and joy.  To me, this mindset is more in-line with the promise and the hope that was delivered in the manger in Bethlehem.

It also means we take time to read holiday stories, sing holiday songs, and make holiday cookies.  We choose to spend time with our children, each other as partners, and our family.  I think when most of us look back, what stands out is the time with our loved ones, not the gifts they gave us, or the meals that they cooked.  We strive to make the prep time as important as the actual event we are preparing for.

For us, this meant letting go of hosting two holiday parties every season.  We cut our guest list to make the one event we do host more meaningful.  Instead of staying up all night on Thanksgiving night, we hire someone to do our decorating now, and it gets done over a 3-4 day period.  That lets me sleep, which is a much better choice in the long run.  If we couldn’t afford to hire someone, we would do less.  We made that choice with our outside decorating – now we do our own lights, again over more time and with a less ambitious approach.  Less is more, right?  And, it is so fun to have our kiddos showcase “their” section of the yard they decorated.

As they get older, we invite the children to help inside the house as well, and they take ownership of that holiday tradition with pride.  We use artificial trees, which saves a tree.  We use them until they are “Charlie Brown” style to be mindful of the environmental cost of production.  Again, we are not striving for perfection.  To them, it is all wonderful and beautiful.  Letting them place ornaments and other decor where they can see them and enjoy them has become more important than having the perfect show house.

Another “natural” choice we make is to give edible gifts.  Again, the goal is to reduce “stuff”.  Here is a gift everyone enjoys, and food can be wrapped creatively without adding to the mounds of packaging that will be thrown out or recycled.  If we don’t make the treats ourselves, we shop local at a farmer’s market for yummy treats to give to teachers, friends, family, or as hostess gifts.

We also go “au natural” through the holidays by giving back.  Although we all enjoy giving gifts, we also incorporate a charity into every season.  This was a tradition started by our families that we are passing on to our children.  We read through the holiday gift catalog from organizations like Heifer International or World Vision.  We read about parts of the world where people do not live like we do, and the kiddos choose gifts from those catalogs to give to their grandparents, who are in a phase of life where they are paring down.  I think we will start doing this for them to choose gifts for each other as well – we are all toyed out over here!

How do you incorporate natural living into your family’s holiday season?

Bloggers, visit GrowingSlower to sign up to be a part of next month’s carnival.