I've always considered myself someone who cares for the earth. James has helped me to be even more concerned and proactive about taking care of our environment. He is very big on recycling, and even though glass is not collected here, he takes it to recycling centers himself. We try to use paper bags when we can, take plastic bags to recycle at the store, and do not use paper products such as plates, cups, and flatware. We are now looking into composting. Aside from home, when I taught second grade, we always focused on things we could do to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We even celebrated Earth Day with a two-week-long unit that ended with a "Recycling Party."
That being said...
I am not extreme when it comes to buying organic. There are many levels of organic opinions out there, and I fall somewhere in between the third and fourth bullet point.
- "It's organic or nothing."
- "I buy most things organic."
- "I buy organic when I can afford it."
- "I don't know much about buying organic."
- "Organic? What a crock. What a waste of money."
There is a head-spinning amount of organic items out in today's markets, whether it be for food, clothing or cleaning products. There are different levels of "organic certification" and some things, I've come to find, are supposedly just not worth it to buy organic. Not to mention, buying organic can be very expensive. I did, however, in the past year decide that I would do my best to buy fruits and vegetables that are on what the Environmental Working Group (EWG) deems
"The Dirty Dozen." This is a list of fruits and vegetables that are the worst when it comes to amounts of pesticide residue. There is also a link on the page I linked above to what the EWG calls "The Clean 15." These include vegetables and fruits that are safer to buy non-organic. I am sad to say that while I've always cared about what I put into my body, I've only recently become concerned with the "Dirty Dozen" once I began feeding my offspring solid foods.
Aside from food, I've been taking steps to be organic in my cleaning methods. Again, I'm not nutty about it, but hear me out, all you anti-organic people!
I am nearing the end of a book entitled
Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck. It is a book about how to clean your house organically. It also scares the heck out of you by telling you horrible things about chemical housecleaning solutions. The first bit of this book is a bit preachy, but gets across the point that we have got to take care of the multitude of environments we put ourselves in, from our kitchens to our cars to the outdoors.
Aside from admitting the initial 'preachiness', this book is a treasure trove of cool suggestions of how to clean your house using mainly five ingredients: baking soda, white vinegar, borax, dishsoap, and lemon. I have had so much fun trying out these recipes for healthy housecleaning!! Well, as much fun as you can have while cleaning. It's not like I'm Danny Tanner, or anything ("a clean house is a happy house!"). Yes, I'm a child of the nineties.
If you are even remotely into making this world (and your house!) a healthier place, I'd recommend checking this book out- it's a great reference tool. Aside from the helpful hints when it comes to cleaning, there are also some fascinating facts you may not have known. For example, Sandbeck states in said book that through her research, "scientists were more likely to find dangerous bacteria in kitchen sinks than they were to find bacteria in and on flushed toilets." And that kitchen sponge you use? The dirtiest thing in your house, apparently.
GROSS.
Anyway, while I may not harbor organic obsessions, I am definitely taking a few tips from those who do!
