What hits home the most?
There is a direct and visible impact on our family's health and well being from what is going on in our environment- from what we eat to the products in our homes to the air we breathe. If you love your family and friends, going green is the absolute best thing you can do for them, even if its hard to change your habits. Just remember, it's a lot of LITTLE habits you can change one by one.
Why?
In general, our organs have a hard time handling foods that don't occur in nature, or toxins in our environment. Our bodies have to strain to process these elements. That means our cleaning systems, like the kidneys and lymph nodes, and our pumping systems like the heart, lungs and veins have been getting a mean workout. And the extra energy that this takes depletes secondary systems in the body- the ones that aren't critical to survival. And sedentary lifestyles, where we're cooped up all day, don't give the body a chance to do it's cleaning, either.
How did we get here?
The way we live now is unique to our era, it's a byproduct of cars and highways and mass production and packaging and agribusiness- and all kinds of other things. Plentiful, diverse and inexpensive food- any where any way you want it- never before have we had so many amazing choices. It's quite a miracle in terms of human history to have the opposite problem- so much food you don't know what to do with it. It's just time for the pendulum to swing back into balance.
Many of the connections between the products we surround ourselves with and our health are just becoming known. We won't point you to cancer rate sites, or known links between specific "inputs" and specific diseases — it's enough to know the links exist. Adopting a green lifestyle isn't about getting depressed because we've let things go this far. Instead it's about learning how to trust the natural order of things and trust what feels healthy and what doesn't. Get in tune with your body — not only your taste buds!
So what does it take to live a green lifestyle?
Going Green is a gift you give to yourself - greater consciousness about what goes into your body- throught the mouth, through the skin- and the impact of your choices on the planet. From a family health perspective, that may mean more fresh air into your lungs, more leg stretching, better eats- and generally more mindfulness around the general care of you, your family, your home and your community.
There's no authoritative checklist to a green lifestyle, but here's a start that will help your family health:
- Walking and biking more; less time in a car and more time in nature
- Eat local organic foods as much as possible- but if you can't do that all the time, follow these basic rules:
- Eat more slowly and intentionally
- Water water water
- Peruse the labels of cleaning supplies and skin care products to make sure that they are free of synthetics, chemicals and toxins that could do inadvertent harm (look up products here)
Learn more about the specific effects of:
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