Living green and eating green and figuring it all out

Get comfortable...

Ever since I became a mother my outlook on life has changed drastically. Okay... that is probably the most obvious statement for anyone with a new baby, but it really goes beyond that. Besides all the typical changes in my life (you know, like anything that involves taking care of a baby 24/7!), I have begun to make other changes as well. I want the world to be amazing for my daughter in the future, and I need to do my part to make that happen, while hopefully inspiring others along the road to do the same. I need to be a friend to the Earth to teach my daughter to do the same, because if enough people make a change, there will be change.

It started out with no longer buying bottled water. When you think about it, that's just ridiculous right? It comes out of faucets in our own homes, why would we buy it in yucky plastic? So I purchased some water bottles for on the go (and to be honest, I use them more at home then glasses!), and that's all I use now. I never leave the house without a bottle of water whether it's an afternoon out or just a quick trip to the store. I rarely forget it, but on occasion I do, and have bought a water bottle while out, and have thrown it away when it's empty. Then I feel horrible. A year ago this would not have crossed my mind, and now I actually feel guilt when I do this! But this is a good thing! I am lucky enough to have good tasting tap water, but if I didn't, I would buy a few of those giant water jugs and a dispenser, and I'd go fill them up when I ran out. Easy cheesy. So really, there's no excuse. At first it was difficult to remember,

but it's second nature to me now. Keys, cell phone, water bottle. And on the plus side, since switching to this habit I am drinking way more water then I used to. If you want to start using water bottles, make sure if you buy plastic ones that they are BPA-free. Stainless steel ones are great but are around $15 for one! But if you buy one here and there you'll have plenty. Check out my line up (pictured)... 6 between my husband and me (actually only 1 is his haha!), and 1 for the little one (that she hasn't figured out how to use yet...) is what I've got, and I don't need more. They have a wide variety of stainless steel ones at Whole Foods, and great plastic BPA-free ones at REI. If you don't know why BPA is bad... go to google and look at the loads of articles that come up!

My next step? Re-usable grocery bags. I have many reasons why these are so great. (And again, I feel the sting of guilt when I forget them in the car as I'm getting rung up! Agh!) So, re-usable bags are great because they are larger (most of the time) then normal grocery bags, way more durable, and are easier to carry. Most are made with really long straps which enable you to throw them over over your shoulder (makes unloading groceries into the house much faster cause you can carry way more!). Plus since these bags are bigger/more durable,

you can pile them to the brim and have less bags to carry. I have some cloth ones, which are even more durable, but I prefer plastic ones made from recycled plastic bags (like mine pictured on the left) cause that's a win-win, right? One thing I'll notice though, some baggers won't fill them up even half way sometimes, so I tell them, "Oh you can fill the bag up all the way, I don't mind." That way I don't come across as bossy... I hope. IF I don't remember to bring the bags in to the store with me I will opt for paper bags (since these can just be tossed into the recycle bin). However, places like Target and Walmart don't have that option sadly =( I started the switch to re-usable bags when we lived in Monterey, but built up my stockpile a few months ago and finally have enough for a full cart of groceries. We use to shop at the Commissary there and the baggers would literally double bag everything! REALLY?! I nearly started to hyperventilate! My point is... make the switch, you'll be glad you did. I hang mine on the hallway closet to remember to take them out to the car before shopping. Oh plus, most places give you 5 cents off per bag haha. I could care less about that, it's about being earth-friendly! Still not convinced to make the switch? Read this article. Plastic bags cannot be tossed into your curbside recycling!!! Most recycling plants WILL NOT be able to recycle them! You can call your recycling company to see if they can accept them, but this is rare. Apparently "most" grocery stores have drop bins to put your bags, but I've never seen these displayed (though I've never intentionally looked) so I doubt very many people know about them. And if you are going to go through that effort, why not just pay around $2 for a permanent re-usable bag?

Ok, those were two easy ways to go green. But what about "greening" your body? This is the thing I've been thinking about a lot recently. And I mean a lot. Even more after I read an article found through this amazing blog titled Blogcrumbs. I look at my little girl, who is just a year old, and I want her to have the best start in life and teach her the best habits. I see her body as a tiny machine that I want to take care of just right so she'll live a long and healthy life. For this reason, I stopped drinking soda and caffeine when I got pregnant and still don't (well, very rarely). I'm breast feeding her and don't plan on stopping until she's about 18 months, I always gave her organic baby food, she never has juice, and rarely eats anything with added sugar. This was all easy until she decided no one gets to feed her anymore. Organic baby food in a jar was perfect, but now I have to find healthy finger foods that she can feed herself... not so easy! She eats fruits with every meal and loves them. Veggies are off and on. She likes them from a can, so I buy organic, unsalted ones. Sometimes she'll devour peas, other times she throws them on the ground. She'll eat green beans only from a can at room temperature, not if they're cold from the fridge. She likes avocado and carrots too. I'm going to try making healthy sweet potato fries this week, and I'm sure she'll love those. She'll munch on her "Purely-O's" cereal and loves cut up mozzarella cheese. But what else do I give her? She needs a wide variety of foods that are healthy! Sure I could easily cook some chicken nuggets, but I know those aren't good for her. I've had her try my own chicken when I make it but I think it's too seasoned. What should I season hers with? I just don't feel like I'm giving her enough different things. And yes, I want these things to be quick and easy to make! Meal time is long enough as it is!

Now to worry about my own body. Much more difficult. I eat pretty well but I have a damn sweet tooth! I make a smoothie every morning (unless I'm out of fruit, like right now) with mostly fresh fruit (some frozen to make the drink cold), pure orange juice, carrot juice, and a scoop of super food. Great way to start the day huh? Mmm =) But after reading that article I just got overwhelmed and worried. Changing my eating habits would be all fine and dandy if I knew exactly what to change them to! Yes, more veggies, less sugars, yada yada, I get that. What about what breads to eat? Apparently wheat isn't really that great for you! And microwaving food is actually really bad and produces carcinogens (see here). How am I supposed to heat up leftovers? Not everything is soup that you can just put in a pot and heat over the stove! I guess I need a toaster oven. But won't that burn some things if they've already been cooked?

Basically, I need to start from scratch and revamp my eating habits. Research and research more, make a healthy grocery list, and cut the sweets. I can't know everything all at once so I gotta take it one step at a time and just do what I can to get healthy. It scares me to think about the stuff I've put in my body in 24 years. It's actually quite terrifying. Who knows what health problems I've had that have been caused by what I eat. I've had two benign tumors removed (one from my hand, the other from the opposite wrist), and my gall bladder was removed a couple years ago because of gallstones, could these things have been caused by what I've eaten? And who knows what it's going to cause in the future. I suppose I can't do anything about the past, but I can change the now. And from now on, I am going to eat healthy! And I can raise my daughter with great eating habits so she can be healthy too. Going green really is a life-style, not a few random acts or habits. This isn't going to be easy, but it really has to be done.

Wish me luck! And sorry for the terribly long post. If you've read to the end, thank you, and leave a comment why don't ya so I know it benefited someone ;) It's nearly 1am and I've stayed up way too late completing this! *Please sleep in Evie...*