All natural living

JerseyGirlHeart

Just wanted to know if there was anyone out there who is trying to live a sustainable and organic life. Recently I been on a organic kick, where I try to buy every thing organic. I been also switching over to all natural cosmetic and body products. Right now I am vegan as well, and I have always been a huge recycler and re-user as well. The only downfall to all this is I drive a gas guzzling jeep, but I been in many accidents and being in a SUV makes me feel safe. In the Spring I want to start a compost pile and now i am just seeing other ways to live in a better world! Anybody else???

HMonsterX

As long as China is still pumping out the fumes, us doing our bit to help the world is like throwing a deckchair off the Titanic to help it become lighter....

HealthyAcademic

I avoid focusing only on products that can afford to get certified as organic and instead look to being a locavore, consuming products that are produced and grown locally. Many of your local farmers can't afford to certify as organic but can tell you exactly how they farm things. And you reduce the emissions from the shipping of organic goods from around the world to your store.

JerseyGirlHeart

I sacrifice things in order to spend the money on better products

MercenaryNoetic26

It's not just China... Um, personally I try to whenever possible. I definitely am anal about recycling and reusable water bottles and water filters versus a new friggin' bottle of water every time. So when the budget allows, yes.

floweringcurrant

Hey! I am pretty similar. I am definitely not 100%, but I try to eat and buy mostly organic foods and produce. I eat a lot of clean foods, organic unprocessed foods, local raw foods, etc. I also try and use natural body products, like I wash my hair with baking soda, clay and goldenseal on my face, and use honey to keep my from getting sick and for my skin. Although I am definitely not a vegan, my diet is predominantly made up of vegan foods. I am lucky to be able to do this because I am able to get a low income discount at my local food co-op. I am generally intolerant of dairy and don't eat meat or many other animal products.

I also compost and don't own a car. I bike, walk, or take the bus - can be a drain, but it allows me to afford other ways of taking care of myself. I feel better taking care of myself this way than I have in a long time! :

catdoc1

My family has been 100% organic for 4 years. I too am extremely careful about recycling and composting in my home and my business. In August, we added becoming vegan, which according to a study I read, decreases our carbon footprint by 2/3 over the typical American carbon footprint. Regular agriculture and eating animal products uses a huge amount of oil.

I too struggle with the gas thing because I can't afford a Leaf or a Volt yet, and the bus ride would be 90 minutes each way, but that's next. We keep our house at 62 in winter. We combine trips. We carpool, but it's still not enough.

I agree, being lazy because of India and China is about the LAMEST thing I've heard in while. Grow up.

savlyon

As long as China is still pumping out the fumes, us doing our bit to help the world is like throwing a deckchair off the Titanic to help it become lighter....

The United States contains like 2% of the population but consumes like 98% of the world's energy.

ID.10.T.

havalinaaa

Most of our fruits and veggies come from our CSA share, so they're both local and organic (though as another poster noted, they can't afford to actually be certified). We only eat antibiotic free meat, and most of it is also organic/local/free range/allowed to graze. Yes it's more expensive, so we eat less meat than we used to - and a LOT more chicken overall. Our dairy is all local and awesome. My water comes from the tap. I'm working on using more local grains, but not everything is available local.

I've recently been working hard on cutting back our paper towel usage, bought a lot of cloth napkins (enough for us to use one every day for a week before I have to wash them again) and we've gone from going through a giant pack (maybe 8 rolls?) every two weeks to using the same pack every two MONTHS. We also bought a bunch of dish towels and cloths to help with small clean ups. Unless I'm cleaning up after raw meat, I use the other towels.

My next goal is to get a soda stream so I can stop buying seltzer. I don't really drink soda anymore, but the bf does and it would save us not only tons of money but reduce our waste. Sure I recycle the bottles, but that only helps a tiny little bit. Hoping Santa brings me one, if not I'm buying one for myself.

JPDad

We eat organic when we can, but also strive to eat local first. Although we still eat meat we have cut down down our consumption. That being said, due to my son's dairy and egg allergies a lot of our meals end up being vegan. Composting here is easy as we have curb side pickup. Other then that just folllow the 3 R's.

We planted our first garden this past summer. It did pretty good, but we are going to start vertical hydroponic gardening this coming spring as we don't like weeding!

MaraDiaz

When I think of natural living I think of heading into the woods with an axe over one shoulder and a rifle over the other, and a fishing pole and a bag of seed in there somewhere.

I can't afford organic, so the above image would actually be more practical for me! Except, well, I'd probably blow my foot off, chop my hand off, and get a fishing hook in my eye. But the seed might prove harmless.

fitnessmonthly

Truly this topic is so very important since the New Year is approaching some good resolutions need to be made. Americ in2009 the carbon footprint for the average person was 20 tons according to UN.The global average carbon footprint is 4 tons.
There can we 3 steps according to the article I read to reduce the average foot print.
1- become a weekday vegetarian- lose .4 tons of carbon footprint.
2- buy green power renewable energy- lose 4 tons
3- cut 3 flights per year- lose 5 tons
Simple ways to go green and save the planet.

calliope_music

pretty much describes me!

stylistchik

pretty much describes me!

Ditto. My friends/hubby think I'm nuts but it makes me feel like I am making a difference.

HMonsterX

I agree, being lazy because of India and China is about the LAMEST thing I've heard in while. Grow up.

Its also true though. Has nothing to do with "growing up". It's being realistic. You can do all you want, and dream about saving the world, buts just a romantic idea.

Still, if it helps your conscious, then go ahead.

havalinaaa

I agree, being lazy because of India and China is about the LAMEST thing I've heard in while. Grow up.

Its also true though. Has nothing to do with "growing up". It's being realistic. You can do all you want, and dream about saving the world, buts just a romantic idea.

Still, if it helps your conscious, then go ahead.

It's attitudes like that which help make America the 2nd largest consumer of energy on the planet. Also, large amounts of the stuff being made in India and China wind up here. If we stopped buying their stuff or insisted on better regulations they would have to clean up their act.

We keep our heat as low as we can bear during the winter (around 60) and keep the air as high as we can during the summer (around 80). We buy energy efficient products, which are better for both the planet and our budget, and we are planning to purchase a hybrid vehicle when we replace our current car. We live in NYC, so we don't use the car very often to begin with - maybe twice a month, once a week would be the very most. I walk to work or take the bus if the weather is bad.

I don't think any of that will save the world, but it might help extend humanity's survival. The earth doesn't need us, we need it. It's just a rock, it doesn't care if people or animals or plants live on it. It doesn't even care if it gets smashed to smithereens by a comet or three.

Bentley2718

We only eat antibiotic free meat, and most of it is also organic/local/free range/allowed to graze. Yes it's more expensive, so we eat less meat than we used to - and a LOT more chicken overall.

Chicken IS meat.

Bentley2718

We eat a fair amount of organic produce, but not everything. Back when we lived someplace with farmer's markets, we purchased the vast majority of our produce there. (I REALLY miss that.) I'm a vegetarian and rarely eat eggs or dairy. My husband is an omni (eating meat about twice a week, and slowly cutting back on dairy). I take public transit to work. We put on sweats in the winter and live with the heat in the summer (as much as we can anyway, I can't sleep if it's over 90 in the apartment). And I'm somewhat neurotic about recycling. I'm looking forward to getting a water carbonater for Christmas, it will mean a lot fewer plastic bottles to recycle in our household.


Maybe nothing *I* do will change the world, but it makes me feel like I'm creating fewer problems. And if more people did the same, then things would change. Also, as a bunch of people have pointed out already, Americans use a really disproportionate amount of the world's resources--so our collectively cutting back DOES matter.

havalinaaa

We only eat antibiotic free meat, and most of it is also organic/local/free range/allowed to graze. Yes it's more expensive, so we eat less meat than we used to - and a LOT more chicken overall.

Chicken IS meat.

I meant that chicken is now the meat we eat the most of, as opposed to beef or pork. Mainly because organic/local chicken is usually cheaper than organic/local beef/pork.