It's Not Easy Being Green

Both of my parents have had open heart surgery. My mom has had cancer twice. My brother has MS. Needless to say, I am high on the list for some health problem.
The last couple of years, John and I have been taking some very proactive steps to make our lives healthier.
All along, John has been a BIG advocate for getting rid of chemicals from our home and our lives. I grew up using every chemical cleaner known to man. I thought, "If they sell it, it must be ok." I finally have seen the light. Now, if you check out out home and the way we live, there's still a lot that's not completely green, but (here's the difference) we are making wiser choices.

Here's some of the things we do:

1. We raise and eat our own meat. We know what the cows have been fed (no growth hormones, good feed, essentially organic) and we know how long ago that cow was breathing. We also only eat meat about once a week. One night is fish night (John HATES it, but eats it) and I do chicken a night or two. I would love to get our own chicken, but that's another task for another day. We also eat our own eggs, well, when the chickens are laying. I often have to buy eggs at the store, and try to find the most "organic" they have.

2. We have tried to get away from as many extra chemicals as possible. When buying laundry detergent, I always buy "free and clear, no perfume, no phosphates". Instead of cleaning chemicals, I use 50/50 water/vinegar for everyday cleaning (grandma's solution was the best!) and I use denture tablets to clean the toilet (drop a tab or two in, wait 15 minutes and then scrub). We do not use weed killer. Ok, if you've seen my yard you can tell that's obvious, but that has more to do with not having time than chemicals. Did you know that if you spray plain white vinegar on weeds and let the sun bake them, they will die. I LOVE white vinegar...

3. We try to open the windows for at least 5 minutes a day to get fresh air in and toxic air out, and I went out and bought a bunch of houseplants. If I had it to do over again, I would not put in carpet (very toxic as it breaks down) but would do all hardwood floors. Of course, on a cold winter morning, it is so nice to step onto a warm floor...wait a minute, we live in an old farmhouse, our floor is cold no matter what!

4. Most of the food I make is from scratch. The majority of my grocery shopping is for staples, not prepared foods. That's the way my mom cooked and that's the way I cook. Now, if you look in my cupboards, you will see prepared things, but we try to balance out what we have. For instance, I (try) to only have one goody in the house at a time (if it's here, we eat it). We will have either chips or Cheetos (kids' fav) or cookies.

5. We try to make healthy eating a daily thing. My kids drink only milk (BGH free) or water (from our well, tested yearly). They've only ever eaten brown bread and Multi-Grain Cheerios. We always thought, why start them out on something we don't want to continue with?

6. Because of Rachel's Spina Bifida, she is more susceptible to a latex allergy, so we have been latex free for her. Her pacifiers and bottles are silicone, but we've also gone BPA free. We have tried to get rid of plastics # 3, 6 and 7 (look on the bottom of your plastic for the number in the middle of the recycle triangle). I am also attempting to make her baby food.

7. I bought most of my fruits and veggies from a local stand this summer. Because of the baby, I didn't do a garden this year, but am already planning next years'. My dad is going to help me set it up, and then I hope to freeze most of my goods. (I would love to learn how to can, but I am a hands-on learner. Reading about how to can doesn't cut it with me, and because it's food, I am too scared to try it myself.)

8. We don't go automatically to medicines for what ailes us. For runny noses, we use plain nasal saline spray and an aspirator. We take ibuprofen or acetemediphen after a day or two of the pain. I often have not filled the doctor's prescription of antibiotics, waiting for the sickness (often an ear ache) to run it's course.
**** This is part of the reason why I feel so responsible for Rachel's birth defect. I had Strep Throat and a high fever, but I waited a few days to take anything to bring my fever down, waiting for it to run it's course. Did my not taking Tylenol cause her Spina Bifida?

9. We don't wear shoes in the house (umm, bring animal feeces and toxins into where my baby lays on the floor? No thanks!) and we don't keep animals in the house. I am NOT an animal person, so it's not a big deal to me.

So, these are just a few of the things we are doing to make our lives healthier. There are so many more changes we need to make, but, for us, it's about changes that work for us. Yes, you will see me in the drive thru line, but not every day, and when we do eat at home, it's fairly healthy.

There's a commercial on TV for Lysol or some other chemical cleaner talking about how you need to clean every surface so as not to expose your kids to the germs that cause a cold. I looked at John and said, "Hmmm, would I rather my kids get a cold now, or cancer twenty years from now by being exposed to these chemicals?" I know what my answer is.

I would love to know what kinds of things you do...