June's Change Challenge - Frugally Green Baby Care

Wow, I cannot believe it is June already! My sweet baby boy turns one this month! This year has gone by so fast, but what a blessing it has been to get to know this sweet, funny, lovable little guy.  How can you resist that smile!

In honor of Brenden's first year of life, I wanted to cover frugally green baby care as this month's change challenge.  Whether you have 10 kiddos, or you are just thinking of starting a family, or having a family is not even on your radar right now, it always important to remember that babies and children are some of our most vulnerable, and most affected by toxins in their environment.  Let's work to make changes to make our world a safer place for our kids to live!

If you've read my story, you know that I started being concerned about going green around the time that my daughter was born.  It's amazing how having a little life entrusted to you can change your perspective.  It began with non-toxic cleaning and cloth diapering, and just continued to snowball from there.  While sometimes it can be overwhelming to think of all of the things that our kids are being exposed to and how it may be affecting them, I know that ultimately God is control and that He has called me to this journey, and that I need to be balanced in my approach.

I don't do this right or perfectly all the time, or, more accurately, ever.  I know there are others that do a much better job of limiting their kids exposure to toxic chemicals.  And yes, I do worry about the "what-abouts", as only a mother can. What about the lotion that we slathered on my daughter for the first year (or more) of her life?  What about some of the foods that she's eaten?  What if there's lead, or mold or worse, in the air in this older house that we live in?  What about the coffee I drink on almost a daily basis while nursing my son? Or what about the disposable (gasp!) diapers that my kiddos wear? But, I have learned that dwelling on those questions will not ultimately help anything.  Taking small steps, and making small changes as I am able, can and will make a big difference in the lives of my kids.  

So, let's focus on the positive changes that we can make in our environment at home, and in the environment as a whole, that will lead to fewer chemicals and less toxins in the lives of our little ones.  

If you're just beginning your frugally green journey - here's a look back at some of the past change challenges and posts I've written that would be a good place to start.

Homemade and Green Cleaning
Buying Pre-Owned 
Change Your Mind About Antibacterial Products

How do you limit the exposure to chemicals and toxins for the kids in your life?  Is this an area that you need to improve in? 

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This is the first post for June's Change Challenge - Frugally Green Baby Care. You can catch up on all the Change Challenge posts here.

Are you brand new to being frugally green? Be sure to check out my Frugally Green Fundamentals.

A Telltale Sign...

Photo by jek in the box

A telltale sign that you have been making changes in your life and your home - when you introduce something back into your home that you haven't been using for a while and it is irritating to you.  Irritating in more than one way. 

Here's what happened.  We ran out of our homemade laundry detergent.  I had more stuff to make it with, but just hadn't gotten around to doing it (keepin' it real - I'm not perfect at this all the time!) and Jer really needed to have some of his work clothes washed.  So he did a load with some store bought detergent that we had from when we first moved into our house and got our new HE front loading washer.  We haven't used regular detergent in probably at least 5 months.  I am not kidding you, that one load of laundry "stunk" up the whole house.  I mean, it smelled like regular laundry detergent, it was "Original Fresh Scent", but I could smell it from across the room.  And then I put on a shirt that had been washed in that load and I had to take it off within 5 minutes.  I just could not stand the smell.  My nose was itchy and runny, my eyes were watering, and I had a headache.  

I was kind of surprised, kind of proud and kind of frustrated.  Surprised that I actually had such a strong reaction to it.  Proud of the changes we have made, that we are reducing our exposure to synthetic fragrances and chemicals. And frustrated at the pervasiveness of irritating chemicals, synthetic fragrances and unknown ingredients. 

I guess that's one thing about this journey that has been hard and frustrating to me.  I sometimes get overwhelmed by the amount of junk that is in products that most of us use every single day.  Junk that affects us and we often don't even know it. Or we (or the powers that be) may know it, and still the junk persists because it is easier for the companies to keep including the junk than it is for them to find an alternative, and we as consumers keep buying it.  That is one reason I am working hard to come up with homemade alternatives to things.  I want to lessen the way I am contributing to that viscious cycle in whatever small way I can. 

It is frustrating to me that I even have to worry about the things I am using to clean my home, wash my baby (and myself), make our food, the toys that my kids play with, and the list could go on and on. I want to avoid all that junk as much as possible, but it is just everywhere - and it seems the more changes I make, the more aware I am of all the changes I still feel like I need to make. 

I want to be able to buy products that are safe.  I want to trust that the products I use won't harm me, my children or my husband in some way, known or unknown.  Products that don't contain chemicals and irritants and additives and synthetics. I don't want to have to think about and worry about it all the time.

But the reality is, unfortunately, I do have to.

I didn't really expect this post to go in this direction. It just kind of came out as I was writing.  I guess this is something that has been on my mind for a while and I just needed to get it out.  Does anyone else feel this way?  Does it bother you that companies make things using ingredients that we don't really know the effects on us, or the effects of all of the different ingredients and chemicals together? Does it bother you that they know the effects and keep doing it anyway!?! (Why do I still have to worry about lead in toys?  Haven't we known for long enough that lead is poisonous that we could get it out of our children's toys!?) Do you worry about the different things that you bring into your home and whether or not they will harm you or your family in some way?  Maybe I am overly concerned about it?  I don't really know, and I guess that is what is frustrating too, is that I don't even know what I should be concerned or not concerned about.  I am trying to find balance, but I don't always feel like I know the best way to go about it. It can be so overwhelming at times. 

I'm sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.  I really didn't want this post to be a downer. This is just something that I am wrestling with right now.  I would really love though to hear your thoughts and comments, and how you deal with this in your own life and with your family.

Thanks for listening! :)

Finding Balance - The Practical Stuff

This is the third post in the series Finding Balance. Read the first two posts here and here.

With God's leading, I came to realize that I need to find a better balance in being a good steward of my family's finances, our bodies, my time and this earth. This is when I came up with the idea of being frugally green.

You can be frugal without being green as I talked about earlier. You can also be green without being frugal. Since being green is now so trendy, there are lots of expensive products out there that are marketed to help you "go green", when really there are often cheaper alternatives that are just as, or maybe even more, "green". You could spend a lot of money on "going green" if you wanted to.

Some frugal things are also not what is best for your health. I am beginning to understand that eating cheap, processed, chemical filled food is not being a good steward of the body that God has entrusted me with. And lots of frugal or green things may also take up more of your time. Hanging laundry outside on a clothes line takes more time than throwing it in the dryer. Baking your own bread and cooking from scratch require more time in the kitchen than using pre-made and processed foods.

Let me first just say this... finding balance is a journey. It is one that I am really just beginning with God's help. I am no expert and I definitely have not arrived! I just want to share what I am learning and doing as I go, and I hope and pray that it can be an inspiration and encouragement to others.

How do you begin this journey? Baby Steps! It really is all about making a lot of small changes that add up to a big difference in the way you live your life. Also, baby steps are important because there is A LOT of information out there that can get very overwhelming and make you feel defeated, like there is no way that you could ever do enough. I'm here to encourage you that small changes are good (actually the best) because you can't overhaul your whole life in a day, or a week, or even a month. It takes time to learn new ways of doing things and to form new habits.

So, here is how I am finding balance:
I want to be green more than I want to be frugal. I don't want to sacrifice this earth and it's resources, or our bodies and our health, just for the sake of getting things as cheaply as possible. This is why I call it "frugally green" and not greenily frugal. Fortunately, I am finding that so many things that are green, really can save you a lot of money.

But, sometimes being frugal keeps me from being as green, and taking the best care of our bodies, as I wish I could. I would love to buy all organic produce and free-range, grass-fed, antibiotic free meat and poultry, but it really does not fit into our food budget right now. So I am learning to do my best to feed my family healthy meals on our current budget.

Some things that are both frugal and green are also much better for our bodies. Using natural cleaning methods has eliminated a lot of nasty chemicals from our household. And some of the new health and beauty things I am trying are much better for me than using chemical filled commercial health and beauty products.

As far as my time goes, I am a stay-at-home-mom, God has given me the role of homemaker and home manager at this time. I realize this is not possible for everyone, but if something takes a little extra time, but saves money, is kind to the earth, and is better for our bodies and health, than it is completely worth my time, effort and energy. And I am learning to try to not spend my time on things that are wasting any of those resources.

I still cut coupons for things we actually need, and I still watch the sales at the one grocery store where I shop. But, I am trying a new way of meal planning in which I just buy what we need for our meals for two weeks, and maybe a few other things if they are a really good deal, and I try to use up all the food that we have so that we're not being wasteful. I still have extra food in my pantry and freezer, but it's not a stockpile the way that it used to be.

Finally, I am learning to live more simply. God is showing me that simplicity is central to good stewardship of His resources.

As I said though, this is a journey I am just beginning. And thankfully, by God's grace, I don't have to do everything perfectly all the time, or even part of the time. I worry that if you are someone that knows me in real life you will look at me and think - she writes nice things about living frugally and green and simply, but I don't see that in her life. Oh, that is what I am most afraid of. I don't want anyone to think that I think I have this all figured out, or that I always live this way all the time. I don't. I wish I did. God still has a lot to teach me, and I striving to learn as much as I can as I go, and seek Him first as I seek to find balance.



This post is link to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.
Image by aeu04117

Finding Balance - Faith and Stuff

Image by Anita363

This is the second post of the series Finding Balance. Read the first post here. And look for the final post in the series tomorrow!

“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:25-27, 31-33 (NLT)

I came to a place in my life where I was doing these things that are considered frugal, and trying to live a frugal lifestyle, but not feeling great about the fact that I was still focused on consuming a lot of STUFF. I felt torn between wanting to live my life in a way that was most glorifying to God and still wanting to live frugally, being wise with the resources that God had entrusted our family with.

I began to open up my Bible more than I had been (because I was so busy cutting coupons, searching the internet and trying to find the best deals) and found passages that spoke so clearly and specifically to me about this very thing. The above passage is a really well known passage, and mostly it's quoted when talking about not worrying, but I read it in a new way as I read it in context with other verses around it (Matt. 6:19-21, 24, Matt. 7: 7-8, 11) and as I thought about what it was saying about how I should be living my life, not just what I shouldn't be doing.

I also read a few books (and am continuing to read) that challenged my understanding of how I live out my faith in my life and what it looks like to truly be a follower of Christ. Two of those books were Serve God, Save the Planet and The Irresistible Revolution. I listened to the sermon series God is Green from Mars Hill Church, and since I love to read other blogs, I found several that encouraged me in this area as well.

God began to develop within me a broader view of what it means to be a good steward His resources. Stewardship is often thought of only in the context of our financial resources, but our finances are not the only resources that God has entrusted us with. He has also given us our bodies, our time, and this earth. I believe glorifying God with my life encompasses Godly stewardship in all four of these areas, not only our finances. I realized that while I may have been able to save a lot of money on groceries and household items by cutting coupons and stockpiling, in turn, I was wasting resources in the amount of time I was spending, the kind of food I was buying that was not the best for my or my families' bodies, and the amount of earthly resources I was consuming and the large amount of waste I was creating.

God was laying out a new direction for my life. He was leading me to really look at the way that I was living and began to show me and teach me to live in a way that was more glorifying to Him. I recognized that I needed to find a balance in my stewardship of His resources.

Finding Balance - The Problem of STUFF

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I'm living out my faith in my life and how I can find balance between living as a follower of Christ in a way that is glorifying to God while living frugally, living green, and living responsibly. It's a really big question with probably lots and lots of different answers and I'm sure that I'll always be searching for the absolute best answer, one that I'm completely content with. But, I know that it is important for me to at least try to answer this question, in the best way I can, for this season of my life. This is the story of my search for that answer.

Here's where my problem began. Around the end of last year, I started reading, mostly on different blogs and websites, about living frugally. Cutting coupons, watching the sales, stockpiling, etc. I started trying to play the coupon games of getting food and other household stuff very cheaply by using these methods. I saved a lot of money on things, sometimes things that I might not have otherwise bought, and weren't necessarily good for me. But, it seemed like a good idea because we were in a tough place financially, and I like to save money - who doesn't?

It became apparent to me, after a few months of trying to live this way, that the main focus of this style of living "frugally" was still consumption. Buy lots of stuff, even if you don't really need it, for as little money as possible. And it's okay if you have a ton of stuff that you may never use, because it was very cheap, or even free. I also got very overwhelmed with trying to keep up with all of the deals and make sure that I didn't miss getting things for the cheapest price possible. I started to realize I was being consumed with getting stuff, and I don't care how cheap or free something is - I didn't want to live my life that way.

On top of that - what about all of this STUFF I was getting?! I needed more stuff to keep my stuff organized. And what about the waste that all of that stuff was creating? Sure I got disposable razors for super cheap after a sale and a coupon, but why in the world do I need to be throwing a razor away (not to mention all of the packaging for each razor) after only a few uses, when I have a perfectly fine razor that I can just replace the blade on? Not to mention the environmental effects of the material, manufacturing and shipping needed to produce those razors. Everything about it started to seem so wasteful to me.

And what about the large amounts of (mostly processed) food that I was getting cheaply and stockpiling? I started having a hard time looking in my pantry and freezer and seeing A LOT of food, that it would take us months to eat and knowing that there are people in my community, my state, my country and especially my world that don't have enough to eat today, much less tomorrow.

I decided I was not happy with this way of living frugally. I was not okay with the continual focus on getting STUFF, the amount of waste that I was creating, and the seeming selfishness that was represented by opening up my pantry and my freezer. God was beginning a work in my life, and I started thinking about finding another way of living frugally, a way of living more simply, of not being consumed by stuff, even if that stuff was cheap or free.

This is the first post in a series on Finding Balance. Stay tuned for parts two and three!

Image by dnnya17