Today is Earth Day and as everyone thinks about the choices they make today, I believe it is important to make smart choices all year long.
Although there is a lot of attention on Earth Day to conserve and recycle, I feel it is even more critical to focus on reducing and eliminating chemicals in our homes and our food. Many stories talk about what the government is or is not doing in this arena. Although I agree our government is not taking the necessary steps to protect us, we have to make choices for ourselves. Ultimately we can create change without legislation by voting with our dollars when we buy organic, buy from local farmers, buy green and safe/non-toxic products for ourselves and families. For me, being green is more about being healthy. Yes, we recycle and reduce plastic products when possible but if I had to list my #1 most important thing we can do for Earth Day, I would say hands down... eliminate chemicals in the things we buy whenever possible. I admit, it is a challenge to keep up with all the latest from BPA, VOCs, PFCs... you need a dictionary to keep up. But I hope we will all decide to go beyond recycling this year and be aware of the ingredients in products and remember we really can make healthy choices and changes to be Green and Healthy.
