Guess who's back?

I want to continue this monotonous blogging subject of living more sustainably. Life's Fruit is too much of an integrated passion of mine. There have been too many passed up opportunities that I have seen something that I wish I would have written about.

Everyone has different things that drive them… green can mean protecting your health and environment. For some people, they may only have concern over certain part(s) of our ecosystem. Making new choices in how we live our life's can be overwhelming. Therefore, when we make lifestyle changes it is a good idea to do this slowly so that we don’t get discouraged with our new “inconveniences”. Since people are convenience and money motivated, I've seen where this has prevented them from incorporating green practices OR people simply turn a blind eye. Ignorance is not bliss.

Before getting into a general overview of areas of our life’s that may need examined, I'd like to add that I realize we all need a strong foundation. For my family it begins with Cornerstone Builders, Inc. We have a strong belief in building green and our company not only supports our family through ethical practices, but has the potential making changes throughout community.

With family in mind, please remember to educate your children! Keep in mind that with each change you make it is an opportunity to teach your children and get them involved. Whether it's hands on teaching or reading them a book such as Wangari's Trees of Peace or The Lorax, I have found that my children are very receptive.

Minimize Garbage
• Recycle everything- Plastics of almost all kinds can be recycled. Visit Far West Fibers; they take more than curbside
• Compost- Metro Paint on Swan Island has program or a home-made one
• Cloth Diapers- search Craigslist
(This saves money because we have very little garbage to dispose of.)

Food may seem expensive, but once you learn a new shopping system you will find a new way of looking at food and a new ease in buying. Although quality food seems expensive, this is the true price of what it cost to make food. In the end you will pay less financially for your health and environment. Cheap food is only cheap because we pay taxes that subsidize farmers, but only benefits agribusiness. All the while the environment, public and farmers suffer the consequences. If you want to educate yourself some more, a great and easy read to begin with is In Defense of Food although there are lots of great books out there!
• Eat Local
• Join a cooperative market
• CSA’s (community supported agriculture)
• Farmers Markets
• Eat family farmed animals
• Grow a garden
• U Pick- fun for the whole family
• Eat in season
• Learn to can/freeze

Organic? Sometimes you have to make a choice. Do I eat strictly for my health and not for my environment? Organic is not always better if it means buying food that had to be shipped from afar. You won’t get the same assurance if it’s not USDA-accredited, but local means it’s going to be fresher and grown in much smaller crops than industrialized monocultures (Monsanto.) This makes the crops less dependent on chemicals. What’s my pick give the option? Local, organic and family farmed animals of course!

Air Quality… Rid of Toxins:
We are exposed to a lot of toxins and synthetic products in our homes. Some may not seem extremely harmful, but when you are exposed to them in multiple facets on a daily basis and can prevent it, why not? Remember that we need to properly dispose of chemicals.
• Change cleaning products in home;most can be home made.
• Rid of plastics, but at a minimum, do not use with food especially in microwaves.
• Change and check on safety of products: hair products, soaps of all kinds including laundry/dish, make-up, toothpaste and lotions.

This very basic beginning to changes that are available. No matter whom you are or where you live there is always something that you can be doing that is more sustainable.

Here are few additional resources:
• Eat Wild The #1 Site for Grass-fed Food & Facts
• EWG (Environmental Working Group)
•Organic Consumers Association
• Earth911
• Oregon Environmental Council