This month I am participating in the nester’s {31 Days} challenge. My topic for the month is Back to Basics. If you would like to follow along, you can find all of my posts here.
Since I started blogging at Townsend House, I have been focused on helping my family live a “greener” lifestyle. But, what does that mean? Well, to me, first and foremost that has meant local food and eating seasonally. So I can see that the next 30 days will have a large focus on eating locally and seasonally.
However, local eating is not the only aspect of “green living.” To me, green living also includes removing toxic chemicals from our lives. That can be in the form of cleaning products, hygiene products, reducing our usage of paper products and utilities. There is a lot that can fit into living a “greener” lifestyle.
This {31 Days} project of Back to Basics is just what I need to help get my family back on track with the changes we have made over the past several years. It is amazing how easy it is to back slide when making green changes. They are typically against the norm, and you (at least I do!) will have many different excuses to fall back on what is normal.
Living a green life is certainly not easy, but it is definitely rewarding.
I think that green living also lines up with the simple living movement I see going on right now. Getting back to what is most important for our family. The choices that we make need to be made with purpose and without apology to others. If we fall back on old ways, that is not the end of the world. There is always the next choice you will make to move back towards what is important to you and your family.
I hear you about the backsliding. The beauty of it is, you make those choices on an almost daily basis, so it's easy (enough…sometimes) to go back to the greener choices. ie/ I decided a couple of years ago to never.ever.again. by prepackaged granola bars, cookies, etc to reduce excess packaging BUT with two very active boys, we need to keep snacks on hand especially for cross country practice. Sometimes we just don't have time to make our own. I used to feel guilty every single time I bought another package, but I have decided that as long as I continue to make the effort to make our own on a regular basis, the three or four times a year I have to buy them is not that huge a deal. If I focus too much on it, it's just too easy to get discouraged and stop trying. Carry that through to all the changes we have made and the consequences would be huge. Sorry, long comment, but I will be following this series. It's sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
great topic! i hope to learn more here, too! glad you will be following along w restoring jane. this is just what i sense… we try to so hard -living green, being healthy, creating a healthy life for our families- that we just get worn out. what a great blend we have here. 🙂
patty@www.findingserendipity.com
I'm excited to read about your journey! Great topic!