Guilt-Free Green

I have to admit, I love shopping! I also adore getting my hair done, designer shoes, creamy lattes in paper cups and pedicures. So my passion is in creating a lifestyle where women like me can have their cake and eat it too.
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I have to admit, I love shopping! I also adore getting my hair done, designer shoes, creamy lattes in paper cups and pedicures - I just do! So my passion is in creating a lifestyle where women like me can have their cake and eat it too. I have discovered that eco-friendly living isn't about having to "go without". It doesn't have to be a dreary, dingy, recycled life of composting toilets and burlap purses either. On the contrary, green living is about gain: losing weight, saving money, boosting your immune system, strengthening communities - the list goes on and on. There's also nothing greater than the thrill of knowing as you buy your beautiful non-toxic nail polish, that you are helping to make a difference.

Trying to fight global warming and the demise of the frozen north can be a little outfacing for most women, like myself, who are simply trying to get through a manic day of car-pooling kids, housework and the gazillion other things that the modern girl has to figure out. When faced with these catastrophic ice-cap-melting scenarios, we tend to switch off and totally lose the connection between screwing in a CFL light bulb and reducing whatever amount of tons of CO2 we are not supposed to be emitting. Instead I like to think about "Health". I can immediately relate to this word: my daughter's health, my health, and yes, the health of the planet. It's a sobering to realize that our health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked; we live on a living, breathing organism and as it suffers, so do we.

I can handle the concept of Health much better than the concept of "saving the planet" because I know that I can do something about it in my own home, right now. I love to feel in control: I make the decisions about what food we buy, what cleaning products we use, how we recycle etc. It's empowering to make the choice to eschew the use of toxin-laden skincare products too. Every single aspect of "green" living relates directly to becoming healthier, whether it's eating organic food or walking instead of driving, it's a win-win. Eco-friendly living is simply a matter of common sense and I'm absolutely passionate about getting this message through to every single woman on the planet. Men as well, however, I am a mother, housewife and working girl, so I feel more qualified in sharing my experience of how easy green living is, with like-minded girly girls!

I also found that much of the eco-information that is flying around in the media and cyber-space could be overwhelming and confusing. This is the reason that I created an 8-step program, which is super-easy and fun. A course, or program helps me to commit, even if its checking off just one action that I will take this week, putting pen to paper seals the deal with myself that I will do something, however small to improve our situation.

I encourage women to pick their shade of green too. Many of my friends wouldn't dream of line-drying their clothes, much less composting. These girls are fall into the light green category and that is just fine; they'll recycle their paper and plastic and occasionally eat organic - Good for them! Other friends of mine are taking the whole thing very seriously: they eat organic and locally produced foods, drive hybrid cars and pack no-waste lunchboxes for their kids - this is the bright green gang (probably me); and then there are the dark greenies who live in yurts, grow their own sprouts and pick up rancid fat from diners to power their cars. There's no shame in your shade as long as you have one.

Green has to be accessible, not just to the Whole Foods-shopping, Prius-driving gang. We need to encourage everyone to come out into the light and assure them that being eco-friendly doesn't mean that their have to feel bad about continuing to do some of the things they love. We can have our guilty secrets and still be Green.

Sophie Uliano is the author of Gorgeously Green. www.gorgeouslygreen.com

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