ECOfreak: Trying Out Some Green Resolutions

By Desiree Parker Tuesday, February 14, 2012

This week, I’d like to share the two eco-resolutions I’m trying to follow more closely this year. Number one: I plan to try to eat more local food and join a CSA, and number two: I plan to buy personal hygiene products with as few harmful chemicals as possible.

Eating food produced closer to home means less carbon expended to store and ship the food, and local food is considered safer, too (smaller farms grow more variety and don’t use as many chemicals, generally). Here are some brief thoughts from Buy Local Virginia on why buying local is a good idea.

I was really excited that Martin’s (where I do most of my shopping) started collecting its local produce in one area in the front of the store. I also am a frequent shopper at local farmers markets in town. The key to eating food grown closer to home, though, is that the food is super-seasonal.

This is where the problem lies for me, and why I have been hesitant to buy a CSA share (that’s short for Community Supported Agriculture) – there are times when I know I’ll get a basket of eggplant and squash, and I have to say, I don’t have too much love for either. Also, food can get redundant after a while (how much can you do with strawberries?), at least in my estimation.

The CSA I have in mind will get us more produce from different nearby farms, and will get us family-sized portions each week. This is a great way to keep local farmers growing, and will mean we’ll eat more locally grown food.

This year, though, I am going to go further than loading up on just what I can get at farmers markets and the grocery store. I’m going to fill out the application I just downloaded for the CSA, and I’m going to be a big girl and try out recipes for food I’m not used to eating or don’t love, just so I can  make it work.

This isn’t a big sacrifice at all, and I think it’s a good thing to do; I promise to let you know how the experiment goes for my family.

As for my other resolution, I feel like I have been really successful with using home-related products that are safer for the environment and the family, but I have yet to do well with personal hygiene products.

The problem here is that a lot of the chemicals that are considered not too safe are the ones that make many of our products work the way we like.

For instance, I find that sulfate- free and sulfite-free shampoos just don’t leave my hair as clean as regular shampoos. I have been washing my hair a little less frequently and alternating between regular and sulfate-free shampoos, but this year I’m ready to ditch the regular stuff.

I understand that apple cider vinegar is a good way to remove buildup, so this will be my new alternate – I’ll let you know if my coworkers complain some days that I smell like salad.

Speaking of smell, I’m also planning to ditch chemical fragrance and perfume this year. I’ve slowly been replacing my personal care items with those that have no fragrance or naturally derived fragrance, and so far this has been going well.

I looked at this list on the Environmental Working Group website on what other chemicals to avoid when buying personal care items – whoa. The list is long.

So, back to the drawing board. I suppose my next step is to compare this list to the products I use and try to make a better list for the next time I need to replace anything.

The point of sharing my process here is just to let readers know that a lifestyle change to something safer and more sustainable isn’t easy (at least not for me), especially when it means taking time out to think about all the little things you do that you may want to change, and then trying to keep this list in mind as you go forward.

Website for the week:

I like to check in on Treehugger.com periodically; give it a read-over and see what you think.