Earth Day & Conscious Consumerism

Happy Earth Day!
I have seen the best and worst of some people today. Holidays have a way of doing this.
It would be my hope that no matter your view politically one would look at the health of the environment and decide we should do better for our children.

The fact that an apple today (that is NOT organic) is half as nutritious as an apple forty years ago causes me concern. There are plastic chemicals in our blood now from all the synthetics plastics we use and wear. If you have lived as long as I have (38 yrs.) you may have noticed more smog and haze in summer. There is less snow now than when I was a kid. Not to far back, only in the early 1980's we would have up to 11 inches of snow on the ground in winter, most winters we had a few days of snow. Flowers bloom during winter now and you can see birds that you never saw 20 years ago. We saw a Pelican in my moms front yard, standing in the shallow water catching fish, not a normal Arkansas Crane but a Pelican. I had never seen one in my life except in books so we looked it up to verify and yup it was a bonafide Pelican that lives in the Tropics!

My husband Blake and I have four children. Our youngest has Autism and Tourettes. It is my belief that environmental factors probably had something to do with this. Maybe in my breast milk (he never saw a bottle,) or maybe in his shots (he showed no symptoms until age three.)
Our daughter grew up in a poor food environment, cheap food, we adopted her at age nine. She had already started her period in third grade!!!!! So we put her on organic milk, we eat very little meat or processed foods. After a year her period stopped and she hasn't had one in two years. This is all the proof I need.

So when we think about the environment lets think about what is the environment? Your back yard, the food you eat, where you live, the air you breath, the lake you swim in, the park you camp in, the ocean that effects our weather patterns, and on and on.


Questions for Conscious Consumers:

Questions to ask yourself in this order.

1. Do I need it?
2. Do I own something else that will work for my needs?
3. How much will I use it?
4. Can I borrow or rent it?
5. Can I buy it used?
6. Can I find it locally produced?
7. Can I buy it from a local small business owner?
   
8. Can I buy a natural or green product?
9. Can I recycle it?
10. How much trash will it make?

Many Blessings on this Earth Day,
Courtney









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