Green Journeys

Erin at The Conscious Shopper is hosting the APLS Carnival for December (I'm jumping the gun a bit here).   Her questions revolved around how we became green and how we are continuing that journey.  Here's my response:

In some ways, I've been trying to live close to the earth my entire life. I chalk that up to growing up in Southern California. As an adult, I've slowly adopted a greener lifestyle. There have been times when I've had a wakeup call that made me realize how far I have strayed from my beliefs. One major turning point was when I took a required class in college. One of the first books we had to read was How Much Is Enough? by Alan Durning. This book opened my eyes to how unsustainable the American lifestyle is and how greedy we appear to the rest of the world. Later, a bad case of food poisioning made me return to my vegetarian roots and got me reading books like Fast Food Nation.


For many years, I was alone in my quest to green my life and to influence others to do so. I've recycled for years and have used recycled paper products or rags whenever possible. Most of my personal care products are all natural and I try to use vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. My husband would roll his eyes at many of my green practices. However, when we moved back to his home town, he began to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle. One of his biggest joys is his compost pile! Now my biggest struggle is plastic. I feel guilty every time I get a "to go" beverage because I know the the plastic lid, plastic straw, and (sometimes) plastic cup are so bad for the environment. I did a bag-free month back in October and am trying to do that as much as possible by keeping reusuable bags in my car. Now I have to remember to bring my own cup with me where ever I go.