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After all of these years of being what I thought was a conscious consumer I admittedly have not been conscious enough.  Yes, I carry my cloth bags, buy in bulk and have certainly become more aware in my purchases.

Plastic is something that I have attempted to limit in our lives for many years.  I would purchase wood or cloth toys for the kids, buy things that were in paper rather than plastic when it was readily available and ditched plastic within my living space.  I didn’t like the vibration that plastics emitted.  I was attracted to natural fibers and all things natural.

However, over the past few years for a variety of reasons I have allowed plastic to creep back in our lives.  Living in certain places the natural choices have not been as readily available, I forget the cloth bags being a busy Mama or the ultimate excuse plastic is cheaper!  But at what cost in the long term?

Well, over the past couple months this has been on my consciousness.  Maybe it has been the walks along the beach and seeing all the odd plastic remains.  Shoes, plastic oil bottles, deoderant containers, hairbrushes, toothbrushes and a variety of other weird things that have helped me realize that there is way too much plastic in this world. Or maybe it was reading some facts recently in a community newsletter that stated “all the plastic you ever consumed is still on this earth.”  Could also be that plastic is linked to many health issues, some of which are touching me.

Several days my toddler son and I would go walking together and he had this excellent idea of picking up the garbage we saw on the shore.  I thought this is so great that he is doing this and what a little environmentalist he is!  Then one day I had a realization. Isn’t this all going to end up back here or on another shore at some point?  Oh, I get it! We like to pick up garbage and send it to the landfill because it is out of sight out of mind perhaps.

What if we just took all the garbage, especially plastic and just dumped it in front of our homes and see what we are really consuming?  How long is it taking all of this stuff to decompose?  Better yet DOES it breakdown and what happens to the environment or our well being?  Somehow sending it to the dump makes it okay in our consciousness.  We do not have to think about it.

Plastics are having an impact on our health, hormones, and well being.  They are having an impact on Mother Earth’s health, hormones and well being.  So, what can we do to make a difference?

Today I am making a challenge to myself and anyone else who chooses to become a part.  The Freedom From Plastic Challenge begins with you and I.  I am committing to becoming a more conscious consumer and will be choosing things that do not contain plastic as much as possible.  This takes some awareness especially with children involved.  I would like to say I will never buy plastic again.  However, I also realize this may not be the reality for today’s modern lifestyle.  Just becoming more conscious and limiting the plastic consumption can have a huge impact.  After looking around it is apparent in some areas this is definitely a challenge.

Here are a few guidelines to follow:

1. When making a purchase I will opt for only those choices that are free from plastic as much as possible. This includes packaging of a product.  If I can live without or there are alternatives those will be my choices.
   
2. I will continue to reuse the plastic that is here for this transition time in a balanced way.  (ex. using containers for planting or composting scaps etc.)
3. I will contact companies that are using plastic packaging for items that are my preference.  I will ask them to consider eco conscious,plastic free choices.

I will keep you posted with my insights, more facts.  As always I welcome your comments or tips.  I would love to hear your experiences with the challenge.

Here are some plastic facts that might prompt you to become a part of the
Freedom From Plastic Challenge.

• When buried, some plastic material may last for 700 years. (Manufacturers add inhibitors that resist the decomposition process necessary to break down the plastic.)
• Over 46,000 pieces of plastic debris float on every square mile of ocean.
• Although polystyrene foam (commonly known as Styrofoam) is completely non-biodegradable, it is recyclable. If you lined up all the polystyrene foam cups made in just one day, they would circle the earth.
• According to Dr. Miligram, a plastics analyst, “Recycling plastics saves twice as much energy as burning them.”
• Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour!-Yet only 1 bottle out of 4 is recycled.
• Americans make enough low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic every year to shrink-wrap the state of Texas. Most of it ends up in landfills.
• Plastics are part of the waste stream: although they account for only 8% of the waste by weight, they occupy about 20% of the volume in a landfill due to their low bulk density.
• In 1988 we used 2 billion pounds of HDPE just to make bottles for household products. That’s about the weight of 900,000 Honda Civics.
• Since the introduction of PET containers in the late 1970’s, the industry has reduced the weight of PET in 2-liter bottles from 67 grams on average to about 48 grams; a 28% reduction.
• It takes 5 recycled two-liter bottles to make enough fiberfill for one ski jacket.
• It takes 1,050 recycled milk jugs to make a 6-foot plastic park bench.
• About nine billion plastic bottles are produced annually in the U.S. about two-thirds of which end up in landfills or incinerators.
• Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60W bulb for up to 6 hours.
• 9.1 billion plastic bottles were disposed of in 2002 with only 360 million of them being recycled.
• In Britain we use about 275,000 tonnes of plastic bottles in our homes every year- that’s about 15 million bottles every day.
• It takes about 450 years just for one plastic bottle to break down in the ground!
• An average 323 plastic bags are taken into our homes every year and it takes 500 years to decay when sent to landfill.
• It takes about 25 recycled plastic drinks bottles to make one fleece jacket.
• Only 2.5% of plastic bottles are presently recycled in Europe.
• Plastic bags are made of polyethylene
• Polyethylene is a petroleum product
• Production contributes to air pollution and energy consumption
• Four to five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year
• Americans throw away approximately 100 billion polyethylene bags per year
• Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1% are recycled
• It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down
• As polyethylene breaks down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain
• Approximately 1 billion seabirds and mammals die per year by ingesting plastic bags
• Plastic bags are often mistaken as food by marine mammals. 100,000 marine mammals die yearly by eating plastic bags. These animals suffer a painful death, the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke to death.

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Do you ever recognize how people have a tendency to vacation or retire in natural areas?  People enjoy camping, the beach, mountains and more because there is a deeper yearning within them.  As children we know that feeling.  Children are naturally attracted to nature and being in the outdoors.  Perhaps it is society that assists them in their disconnection from natural desires by setting them in front of a television, computer or simply keeping them indoors.

Have you ever noticed that people who spend a lot of time in the outdoors have a certain glow about them?  I seem to have a natural attraction towards these folks.

A few years ago I came across a website.  After reading about Project Nature Connect I became more interested and enrolled in the course.

Albert Einstein recognized that we suffer our greatest personal and global troubles because we don’t learn to think like nature’s self-correcting ways work. The critical process to make right what is now very wrong is Educating, Counseling and Healing With Nature, a sensory-ecology book and learning program by Michael J. Cohen, Ph.D.

It demonstrates that we inherit at least 53 natural senses that spiritually enable us to live in balanced, mutually-supportive ways with our planet’s web of life and each other. It lays bare that Industrial Society’s unreasonable prejudice against nature and the natural is the critical factor that socializes us to injure and suppress our natural senses.  Many disorders result.  Educating, Counseling and Healing With Nature empowers us to correct them.

Cohen, a pioneer environmental educator and psychologist, indicates that our undue assault on our natural senses reduces the sensitivity and sensibility of our thinking. This deteriorates personal, social and environmental well-being.

Educating, Counseling and Healing With Nature gives us a remedy for the irrational ways of thinking that pay us to exploit and injure natural systems in and around us, including our 53 natural senses and the renewing powers of their spirit. It helps us refrain from spending, on average, over 98 percent of our time and thinking disconnected from the grace of nature’s peace and healing process. It shows that this monumental green-spirit separation produces a nature deficit in our psyche that leaves us wanting. We sense that we never have enough and that spawns our excessiveness and feelings of inferiority.

In natural areas, Cohen’s nature-connecting activities help us remedy this crippling disorder.  They enable us to enjoy spiritually fulfilling callings from the web of life that help us build cooperative relationships with people and places by co-creating them with nature.

Most leading bookstores carry Educating, Counseling and Healing With Nature ($48.00),  It is also available as a free e-book that you can download here.

Review copies of it are available from Dr. Cohen at 360-378-6313  nature@interisland.net

I believe in reconnecting with Nature and the concept of ecopsychology.  If we would  learn to reconnect with Nature, many of life’s issues would be healed.

If you want to learn more please check out the website or contact Dr Cohen.

When becoming a parent we are bombarded with all the must have gadgets that are out.  What does your baby really need for his or her well being?  Love, nourishment and nurturing are perhaps the most important.  Here are 10 simple tips to consider when choosing to raise a green baby.

1.  Natural Pregnancy and Birth

Choosing a natural pregnancy and birth can be the beginning of a healthier life for your baby. The  atmosphere, the people present at birth, and the mothers well being all have an impact on the baby.  Whether you are birthing at home with a midwife, in a birth centre, unassisted or even in a hospital you can make a conscious birth choice.

2.  Nourishment for Baby

So, baby  is born and the first thing is to offer the breast.  Breastfeeding is the most natural and ultimate nourishment you can share with your baby.  It takes no bottles, no prep time and is ready whenever baby is.  If you choose not to breastfeed or have a situation where it is not possible then I would suggest organic baby formula.

3.  Cloth or Eco Diapers

Natural elimination is a great way to keep from using diapers at all.  It does take patience.  I will be honest.  Most of the time my children ended up in diapers even though I love the concept.  For choosing a green diaper there are many cloth options.  From simple pre folds, all in one and one size fits from birth to toddler you have an array of choices.  If cloth isn’t your thing there are eco conscious disposible diapers.  They are made from natural materials rather than filled with chemicals.

4.  Cloth or Eco Baby Wipes

The easiest baby wipes I have found yet are to take old recieving blankets made from cotton and cut them into pieces.  If you really want to take the time you can sew around the edges. Baby wash cloths work well too. You can just keep them in a convenient space and wet them with warm water as needed.  Another option if you prefer disposible is to use select a size paper towels.  You put these into a container with a natural combination such as baking soda and water.  The wipes are inexpensive and healthier.  If you would like to buy pre made wipes there are cloth and eco disposibles available as well.

5. Natural Skin Care Products

The amount of products your baby needs on his or her skin is minimal.  Babies naturally smell sweet so why cover them with lotions and stuff that they do not need. Washing baby simply with water is enough especially when they are in arms.  For diaper rashes you can make or purchase calendula salve which is excellent for healing.  You can also make or purchase herbal baby powder.  There are many natural baby skin care products if you choose to use them.  They are much better as a green alternative to synthetic choices.

6.  Natural Clothing

Your babies skin needs to breathe.  If you choose natural fiber clothing the skin breathes better.  Cotton, hemp, bamboo, linen, flax, and wool  are some natural choices.  Buying clothing at a thrift or consignment store is a green option to buying new.

7.  Wear Your Baby

We can learn many things from indigenous cultures.  Many have worn their babies on their backs and carry them wherever they go during daily activities.  There are so many baby slings and wraps to choose from.  Choose one that is comfortable to your body.  I highly recommend finding one that does work for you though because this I have used more than anything else.

8.  Natural Toys

A baby does not need to be surrounded by toys, toys and more toys.  After all they are exploring the world and people around them which is a lot.  After a few months if you choose a toy or two going simple is really the best.  It does not overwhelm you or the baby.  There are non toxic wooden rattles and cloth options which are much better than plastic toys.  Staying away from battery operated, noisy toys can keep things simple and peaceful.

9.  Blanket

A nice natural fiber blanket is something that I use often with my babies.  It can be made from cotton, bamboo or silk and something that is soft for them to lay on, cover and cuddle with.

10.  Nature

Aah how could I have saved the best for last!  Spending time in the natural world with your baby can help bring balance into life.  A fussy baby can often be calmed in the peaceful outdoors.  It also helps establish a connection to nature for the future.

These are a few simple green tips for your baby and you.  Enjoy!  Please visit Path to Nature’s Marketplace for your green baby goods.