I Jumped: My Fall Toward "Greendom"

There's a chance I jumped right off the deep end, but I am going to reveal that recently I made a HUGE change toward becoming green in our house. I literally trashed EVERY cleaning product, soap/lotion/shampoo/etc. and plastic (sippies/bottles/storage containers) I own, in favor of green, natural, glass, BPA free and organic stuff. Am I nuts? Or am I a day late and a dollar short? Maybe neither, maybe both.

I have always been one to shop in the organic aisle. I'd breezily stroll down that "cool person" aisle and grab organic goodies for us. Sweetpea practically spent most of her toddler snack time eating that nasty, puke green, kale Veggie Booty. I buy organic yogurt. We eat organic 100% whole wheat bread. I buy fresh and local. I switched my light bulbs. I taught Sweetpea how to turn the water off while brushing. We recycle (duh.) and try to conserve energy. I have reusable bags. All great steps, right? We were living a happy green (in my mind) life. Well, then I had my, shall we say, "meltdown".

It all began when I started getting a tad freaked out with all the reports on the chemicals in the baby lotions and baby products. How could you not? Then it was the toxins, the BPA ridden plastics that my children were ingesting water and milk from, the hazardous chemicals in the detergents and on and on. I literally just lost it one day and I know, it might have been a bit extreme to run around my house like a nut and get rid of every last chemical containing product in my house, but I was getting really worked up and I figured I'd just go for it. My sister in law is pretty up on this stuff and had made many changes to her lifestyle a while ago that she feels have really benefited her and her family. She has been telling me to get a Sigg water bottle for 2 years I think. I almost feel like a loser that I am only making changes now.

I guess one part of my panicky feeling was related to my fear about what are 'they' are going to find out is wrong with us (meaning our generation). I wonder as we age, as the first generation truly exposed to chemicals and chemically made products for most of our lives, what will they find? What will they tell us? And in turn as things started surfacing about these chemicals and toxins, I decided I wanted to attempt to make a change for the girls. I mean, this stuff cannot be good, right? How dumb was I to think putting chemicals on my kid's head is OK? Ugh.

So, I started looking for lists for BPA free sippies (click here for link) and out went the sippies and bottles. I looked on the bottom of my plastic water bottles and storage containers- triangles with 7s, 5s, 1s, 2s, AHHHHHHH! Not being able to figure that out and remembering heating soup in one, I tossed them all and went to Target to buy PBA free sippies and glass Pyrex storage containers. Then, I threw out bottles of my toxic cleaning supplies. The same supplies that I sprayed on the surfaces where Bunny eats her snack! UGH. I have since stocked up on Babyganics and Citrasolv and plenty of Seventh Generation stuff like dish detergent, laundry detergent and baby wipes. I spent a lot of time on the Cosmetic Database and tossed all my beloved lavender lotions, sweet smelling shampoos and horribly toxic sunscreens and replaced them with and order of California Baby products.

Now that I have calmed down, made my changes and have been living this way for a little bit, I do not miss chemicals and toxins. Did I think I would? I have been perusing lots of neat green mommy sites and the options are truly endless. As I mentioned I found fab products for the girls and awesome sunscreens with no toxicity. My cleaning lady showed up today and I nervously sprung my green concept on her and she was totally with me! By the time she had finished and tested out my new goodies, I think I may have converted her as well! Hmmm... maybe I'm not alone.

I do no want to come off sounding "holier than thou" (because I am not) and I am certainly not knocking anyone who thinks this is a bigger load of garbage than what I just threw out. I am just a mom who had a revelation of sorts. I am just a mom who wants better for my kids. I am just a mom taking it one step (or three trash bags of stuff) at a time. And now that I have come out of the "green" closet, I'm running outside to hug my tree and flip my compost pile. Joking, I do not ever think I will just be that kind of mom.