Why I am a 'Going Green Mama'

My friend Sach e-mailed and asked why I started this blog and what prompted me to grow green. Let me share. I am sure many of us are in a similar boat.

I've always tried to do stuff, recycle cans and newspapers, reuse the backs of paper through the printer, hit the farmer's markets.

In the last year, I just thought it was time to do more. For me it's about balancing reality (costs, time, resources) vs. environmentalism. I can't justify $5 quarts of organic whole milk for my kids or $30 cleaner (seriously! I saw it once) with our lifestyle.

My decision to reduce my impact on the environment became more intense after the cake incident when I was pregnant. It made me think about what I was injesting, and I decided then to start looking at when organic products made sense for us. It's been a slow process as our town doesn't have many resources, whether farmer's markets, natural food stores or other shops. If it's not at Target or Wal-mart, it's going to require a significant drive, which makes it, once again about balancing resources. I have to decide whether it's worth the 25-mile drive to the closest winter market, for example.

The blog? It has been something I've kicked around for months. I have had lots of problems locating even basic stuff like natural cleaning recipies online. There are a lot of junk Web sites out there. My hope is to provide a clearinghouse of ideas for regular parents, working or not, like me.