Happy to Live a Green Tinged Life

I really try to live a green life. I make my own cleaners. I cook and bake from scratch to avoid too much packaging. I recycle and compost everything I can. I am really trying to do my part.

But, like everything, I am not perfect at it. Which is why I claim to be green tinged and not just green. There are times I have let my car idle in a bank drive-thru so I wouldn't have to get the kids out of the car while I got money out of the machine. There are times when I use disposable plates and cups, though I do try to make sure they are paper (they can then go in my city's greenbin program then). Sometimes when I clean my fridge and come upon a yogurt container that has been forgotten and turned gross, I just toss it instead of dealing with it. See my imperfections! These things are not common occurrences, but they happen enough that I do not feel correct in calling myself green. And, there is a lot more I could be doing.

picture from lds media files

Despite my greenness foibles I am so happy to be living my green tinged life. It is amazing how much safer my home is because of the green choices I make. This was brought home to me a few weeks ago when Miss V. brought home a science worksheet. The worksheet was all about liquids and the last activity was about dangerous liquids. She had to (with an adults help of course) find a liquid in the house that had a hazard symbol on it.

Now, thank goodness for this assignment because I don't think I ever sat down and discussed hazard symbols before. I vaguely remember pointing them out, but that's about it. This was a great reminder to me that I really need to educate my children about this.

Anyways, Miss V. and I looked and looked and looked for a container with a hazard symbol and it wasn't until I reached into the back of a really out of the way cupboard that I found some oven cleaner. (This was either from the previous owner of the house or before I started making my own cleaners. )

It was an eye opener to me about how living a more green life helps us keep our families safe. I don't have to worry about my children drinking windex or some other harmful chemical. The worst thing that would happen to them is that they would drink vinegar, and I think one sip would cure them of that. I guess this is one reason why I might not have gone over the safety symbols as rigurously as I probably should have. There wasn't a huge pressing need for it as we don't use those kind of products. Also, it is nice that hazard symbols are pretty self explanitory. I showed Miss G. a poison symbol and she said, "don't eat it or you will die." All right! I think she's got it!

Living a green tinged life isn't just for the planets benefit. It is for ours as well. By doing so, we have less chemicals in our life and less chance for horrendous mistaken liquid identity to happen. Doing little things does add up to a safe and happy existence. So while I am probably more a pale seafoam on the greenness scale, I am hoping to, at some point, be a dark shade of green. As I keep on doing little by little I know I will get there.

What makes you happy to be living a green tinged life?