Is my greenness fading ?

I'm trying to be green.. I really am. But buying products needs to be easy.. and for some reason our local supermarket appears to be cutting back on Seventh Generation products. We had changed to 'green' toilet paper and dishwashing liquid... these actually happened to be two of the green products I was really, really liking.. and suddenly, poof, gone from the shelves.. so what's a girl to do.. revert back to cottonelle and dawn?.. there were no other attractive alternatives, so for this week, yes... we are living a little less green !
So far our life on the light-green side includes:

• CFL lightbulbs (with one already replaced... didn't they say they were supposed to last for a really long time?)
• groceries (usually) carried in reusable bags
• natural body lotions (sorry Juice Beauty but after about 4 weeks my face broke out, and wouldn't clear-up.. so I'm back to Bliss)
• the 7th Generation cleaning products that are still available locally
• tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers from our garden
• increased amount of recycling
• a lot less plastic water bottles

I guess we are greener than when we started out.. maybe another read through one of my green books will enthuse me again - and help brighten up our green!

My little non-green secret!

Wow is it hot !! It's over 100 degrees, humid too.. and much as I am trying to go green, I just can't see trying to go green under my arms ! In this heat I'll be sticking with my non-green secret... maybe in the winter I'll be a little more open to green underarms.

Have I been green-washed ?

Yesterday I just made a quick decision in the grocery store on what new dishwasher cleaner to get (based on the usual brand recognition, packaging.. I'm so easily swayed by all that !).. anyway I chose Palmolive eco+, and was happy with the results. Later, I did decide to do a little look online and see if anyone else was complaining about dishwasher cleaners.. and after a few reads I'm now thinking I may have been green-washed.. it seems many 'green-experts' out there think Palmolive eco+ is not exactly green - still got unpronounceable chemicals. Oh well, maybe I was green-washed - all part of the going -green process I guess !!.. and on the plus-side, I figure even a little green is better that no green at all. But with my new-found knowledge, it does mean Palmolive cannot remain our forever green dishwasher cleaner.. once it's finished, another test will have to done.. any suggestions out there, on what one I should try next ?

A smelly green experience..

Dave got the plates out for dinner tonight, and immediately screwed his nose up.. whoof he said.. what is that smell ? Fortunately for me, I have a cold and can't smell a thing ! But he tried to describe a pungent earth wormy type of smell.. at first we thought something may have died in one of our kitchen cabinets.. but on further 'smelling' Dave narrowed the culprits down to the plates, mugs and glasses that we use everyday and wash regularly in the dishwasher.. hmmm.. with our new green dishwashing powder ! Could it be ?.. surely not..
My green self didn't want to jump to conclusions - afterall it could just be the dishwasher - so I bought a different eco-friendly dishwasher liquid - rewashed all the smelly dishes in the dishwasher.. and all came out as good as new... smell gone. Hmmm.. I guess just as in everything else, there are products that agree with you and others that don't.. we love the rest of the Seventh Generation products we use.. but our dishwasher powder, has now been replaced with Palmolive eco+ gel.
Tonight was the only time this weekend I was thankful to have a cold !

Pink toes !

Teagan loves her nails being painted.. and I love painting them.. but all those chemicals do worry me. It just doesn't seem right to be using formaldehyde on a 3 year-old (or myself for that matter !).. and I never have liked the smell of nail polish.
So, Domino magazines 'Going Green' issue came to the rescue - they mentioned Acquarella nail polish and remover in their beauty section.. so I've placed my order for two shades of pink - and at $18 a bottle, I think it's safe to say that Teagan and I will have chemical-free toe nails this year, but our choices will be limited to light or dark pink !..

Green Beauty ?

The skin area is one I had no problem going green with Teagan - a neighbor created a fantastic line of natural creams for kids - Stuff for Sprouts - and it really is fabulous ! Teagan has had little 'bumps' on the tops of her thighs and arms since she was pretty young.. after a week or so with the lotion her legs were free from bumps.. yeah ! ... and on top of working well, the lotion smells so good.. we use the lemon scented one, and just love it !
As for my change to green in the cosmetic category - my face moisturizer ran out last week, so in green spirit, I knew I had to replace the cream with something green.. but with what ? My Green Chic book recommended Juice Beauty, and given I had nothing else to go on.. I figured it was a good start. Sephora carries it - and while ordering I (of course) browsed through the other 'natural' brands - and found some other little green treasures !...
So, it's now 4 days after my order arrived.. and my report back is 'everything is great' ! I like my Juice Beauty eye cream, moisturiser and serum - actually I'd go so far as saying I really, really like it.. and I'll expand to their cleanser and night cream once my others run out. Hey - who knew it would be that easy !.. plus.. my other finds turned out to be fabulous too...

• Tarte 'Lock & Roll' creaseless eyeshadow - at the end of the day my eye-lids are still with shadow... very impressive !
• Korres black mascara - gives long lashes, and no black eyes.. what else do you need ?

One more area converted to green... wouldn't say this one saved money.. but to be honest, overall I don't think it cost anymore... so that's a good thing !

One shop - two goals.. yeah !

Teagan and I enjoyed our first shopping trip to Trader Joes yesterday... now maybe that makes it seem like we have been living in a hole.. but the closest one to us is about 30 mins away, and 30 mins for groceries is pretty far.. so we just never went before. But.. in light of our spend less money and go green goals we made the trek. The best thing about it - my 'greener by the day' toddler, did her part to make the shopping a marvelous experience - she asked to sit in the cart, and stayed there the entire time.. normally unheard of ! Green-wise - I felt like I was buying greener !.. lots of 'no preservatives', 'organic', 'natural', 'raw' labels on the food. Money-wise - definitely good value for money - total was $107.. I don't know when we last went to a grocery store and spent less than $200 for a decent amount of food. The selection of easy-to-prepare dinners (ok some are just heat-up !) was really good.. so Dave and I are now looking forward to a few things other than pasta and pizza !.. hopefully our waistlines will like it too.. tho' the bite size brownie bites (that were for Teagan) have been devoured.. and the 'reduced guilt' pita chips and hummus are rather tasty too !.. oh well.. meeting 2 out of 3 goals in one trip is pretty good.. and we will catch up with our third goal by exercising tomorrow. As for Trader Joes - we will definitely be back !

I don't want to be green today mummy

I bought my first pair of vegan-friendly shoes today (ok, so vegan is not necessarily green, but it's a step in the green direction)... and the reason this purchase is significant, and that I'm taking the time to write about it - is that my energetic 3-year old was largely responsible for it ! ..and not only that, I now realize that my 'I don't want to be green today mummy' daughter could end up being the biggest positive influence, in my biggest going green challenge.
You see.. I love to shop.. and shopping isn't very green (reduce, reuse, recycle). My main past-time pre-Teagan was shopping, and during the first nine months of Teagan's life, shopping continued to be a fabulously fun thing to do (the stroller holds so many bags !). But, as Teagan learned to walk, run, shout, jump.. and finally today, loudly sing while energetically jumping on the chair next to me in the shoe department.. well, lets just say shopping is not such a treat any more !.. unless she is asleep of course, like last week, when the shopping trip returned to near fabulousness - emm, that is, $500 worth of fabulousness ! So, quick summary.. energetic Teagan = short shopping trip = $70 vegan friendly shoes; asleep Teagan = looong (super-fun) shopping trip = $500 not-so-green purchases.
...then I guess I have no choice - to be green, Teagan must be well-rested before all shopping trips (and suggesting a day of shopping sans Teagan for mothers day would be way out of the green question!).
BTW, in case you are wondering - even though the shoes were purchased in a hurry, amidst lots of 'please sit down's' - I LOVE them !!... so I think it's only fair to say, that after today, my toddler is turning me a wee bit greener !

What color will we be today mummy ?

Going green really doesn't translate well for 3-year olds ! My daughter (Teagan) looked at me with a confused smile when I said that mummy, daddy and her were trying to go green... and after a little thought, responded with 'ok - but what color will we be today mummy ?'.
I try and bring the green conversation into everyday things we do.. the one green challenge we are going through now is related to potty training.. it's very green that we have no more diapers (yippee!) - but toilet paper is the newest greatest thing in Teagan's life ! While sitting on the toilet she is capable of unrolling half a roll, and tearing it into lots of confetti (if I stay with her I can control it - but for some reason she likes privacy !.. where do kids get that.. leave now mummy.. just step a little bit farther away.. but thats a whole other topic..).. anyway so we have now converted to Seventh Generation toilet paper - so at least what she does tear up is recycled to start with.. and she is improving, we are down from half a roll to 10 squares of waste.. the concept of waste is lost on her - cos there is lots of toilet paper left, and she is making something with it (albeit confetti or a toilet paper card!).. any tips on how you get a curious 3 year-old over the fascination of unrolling and tearing up toilet paper ?..