It’s Not Easy Being Green

But it is getting easier.

1970 was a very important year for old mother Terra.

The first issue of Mother Earth News was published in January.
Joe Raposo wrote “Bein’ Green” for Kermit the Frog of Sesame Street.
On April 22, the very first Earth Day was celebrated in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began operation on December 2.
And I was born, an Aquarian no less.

I was born and raised in Washington state, to a retired teacher and disabled Navy veteran who had survived the Depression and World War 2 and his young wife. His dream had been to build an underground house and live more self-sustaining on the 5 acres they had purchased in the beautiful town of Sequim. Sadly, the underground house idea was scrapped  (which still makes be sad – growing up in a  Hobbit house would have been cool!) when it was discovered that there were numerous underground springs all over the property. I guess they decided an underground swimming pool was a bad idea. I often wonder whether my father every really got over the loss of that dream.

I cut my teeth reading Mother Earth News (really, the back issues have teeth marks) and other literature that was often considered “hippy” or “survivalist”. We had a garden, a number of fruit trees, raised chickens, goats, cows, pigs, rabbits, horses and even sheep for a time. I mention the sheep last because they stank the most. Don’t let the old wives tales about goats fool you – they really do not eat tin cans – I tried.  I joined the local 4-H club when I was 6 and was very active until my teen years. I spent my early years understanding how to be self-sufficient and sustaining. I was raised to be a good little Donna Reed. Somehow that backfired, but anyway…

When my mother started going to school and then working full time, we became much less self-sustaining. Animals were butchered, sold or given away. The garden and chicken pen became horse pastures. The compost bin, well, it composted itself. Over time only the fruit trees and horses remained.

I grew up, life happened and before I knew it, I had developed a lot of very bad habits of which I pleed the 5th.

But green’s the color of Spring.
And green can be cool and friendly-like.
And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall like a tree.

I began finding my way back to the green path out of necessity. I had developed severe allergies to chemicals while in the Navy. Commercial cleaners leave my hands blistered. Many scents and food additives cause migraines. Most soaps and lotions, synthetic materials and even female hygiene products cause rashes. I even developed an allergy to latex (which really sucks, trust me). I kept trying to convince my husband that we needed help of the domestic variety but we never could compromise about whether it should be a cabana boy or a French maid.

My husband also has allergies to food additives and dyes. Liquid Tylenol with codeine is not supposed to make you bounce off the walls for 36 hours. We began to incorporate more organic and hormone free foods in our diet as we could find them. When our son was born in 2006, we made the decision to feed him organic and hormone free, when possible. My husband is 6′6″ – our son is already the size of most 5 year olds, he does not need growth hormones! You just cannot depend on coffee and bricks to stunt their growth anymore.

Since we were married in 2003, we have been progressively becoming more eco-conscious. In the last couple of years we have become more frugal which has really turned it up and we are embracing the green . If nothing else, it helps us feel better about being so darn cheap. Someday we want to live on a piece of property bigger than a postage stamp and be self-sustaining. Our dream is to completely live off the grid.

I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!
And I think it’s what I want to be.

One year from today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Today I embark on a year-long challenge dedicated to decreasing my ecological footprint  (and I have really big feet – 10.5 – try finding that size in a store!) while teaching my son how to be respectful of the Hostess with the Mostess, Mother Nature. I don’t want Mom to get mad about the mess we keep making and decide to throw us out to teach us a lesson, ya know?

One day at a time, baby steps, I will find a new way to make the world a greener place without the use of crayons – whether it’s giving up my beloved Coca Cola (sobs), trying to only produce one can of garbage a quarter  (I am insane, I know) or making my own sausage (insert your own joke here) – and I will babble about the trials, tribulations, mayhem, chaos and hilarity. I will even be taking pictures! Oooooh! Aaaaah! I am a fauxtographer at best, so do not get too excited.

As an added bonus, my husband (henceforth known as The Rogue) will be posting on the rare occasion, giving his opinion on the lack of pizza delivery (shhhh… I haven’t told him about that yet), documenting toddler blackmail to be used when he is a teenager (Bwahahahahaha!) and the likely kicking and screaming. Did I mention he is a soda fiend? BIG soda fiend. Huge.

hmmm… is there green duct tape?

This post brought to you by the number 6 and the letters A and M.