I'm a mother of two, a freelance editor/content manager, and a wanna-be environmentalist (when I can manage it).
I am not a model environmentalist. On the environmental continuum where a zero is someone who refuses to acknowledge the problems of our earth and therefore refuses to make any lifestyle changes that will benefit it and a ten does absolutely everything possible to reduce their environmental impact, I'd say I'm about a six. I try to be conscious of the effects of my lifestyle and habits and to buy environmentally friendly products, but I'm not willing to completely up-end my life and the lives of my family members in order to eliminate our carbon footprint and I'm absolutely not willing to switch to environmentally friendly products that don't work. I don't own a Prius, I still buy paper towels, I am super appreciative of air conditioning on sweltering days, and I sometimes water my lawn. Yes, we could be so much better, but I am really proud of the changes we've made thus far.
My environmental awareness really began when my older daughter was about six months old and just starting to eat solid food. The thought of making my own baby food was overwhelming, so I started researching baby food and decided to buy organic. My research on baby food lead to a desire to eat more organic foods myself, which in turn lead to an interest in and awareness of the food production industry in America, which lead ultimately to an increasing sense of worry about the state of our environment (influenced too, I admit, by Al Gore). It's more than four years later now, and I've committed to using environmentally friendly products and making small changes in my everyday life that will have a positive environmental impact whenever possible. This blog documents my efforts.
