color me green

happy luck o' the irish day to you!

in honor of st. patrick's day, i am talking about all things green. green in terms of the biggest buzzword of late-greening your home, your body, the environment. last february, i attended the monthly meeting of my mom's group, where we talked about green cleaning and greening your cosmetics. i came home and started to turn out the cupboards and medicine cabinets, looking for all things toxic and vowing to do better for our bodies. here's a brief list of things that have changed in the last year for the 3 of us:

• burt's bees shampoo and body wash for harper
• burt's bees lotion
• california baby sunscreen and bug repellent
• burt's bees face wash and facial scrub
• alba body lotion
• trader joe's cream shave
• tom's of maine sls-free toothpaste
• crystal body deoderant stick
• trader joe's tea tree tingle body wash
• burt's bees daily facial moisturizer
• clean well all-natural hand sanitizer
• vinegar and water cleaning solution
• bon ami scrub
• hydrogen peroxide and water solution
• baking soda
• borax and oxi white for the laundry
• kirkland free and clear laundry detergent
• mrs. meyer's clean day
• dr. bronner's liquid castile soap
• earth friendly products dishwasher gel

some of the items take some getting used to, but i feel a million times better knowing that i am doing what i can to keep us healthier. i can't control what's outside my front door, but i can manage my home. and of course i am nowhere near perfect, but we try to do the best we can. there are definitely things we can improve on, and my motto has been slowly, but surely andone day at a time. i still have yet to update my makeup, which is next on my list.

as far as greening the environment, we try to use glass whenever we can (and of course, this also supports michael's company, so it's positive two-fold). i also recycle everything. michael has been known to take out what cannot be recycled and throw it away on several occasions. it's worth trying, right?

greening our foods is a whole different post, so stay tuned.

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harper and i enjoyed some sunshine in today's beautiful weather. for a few brief moments, her crankiness from this weeklong half-illness subsided and it was heaven. i soaked in the warm rays, and the smiling irish (rather polish and german) eyes from my wee little one.

she clearly wanted me to stop with the pictures!

here's to wishing you enjoy your wee little ones, whatever they may be.

~e