A Simply Green Lifestyle

Hello!  I'm starting this blog to share things I've learned, tried, and want to do in order to live a simply green lifestyle.  I decided that I can't sit back and let the earth fall apart without doing something.  Part of doing something is sharing something...even just some facts or simple DIYs.

It can seem pretty impossible to reverse the damage done to our planet by greed, negligence, and ignorance.  One person can't do it all and it certainly can't be done over night, but everyone can find at least one reason to make a change, even if just for their own benefit.  Living green sometimes entails doing a little bit extra...or even a little less.  Either way, it's the healthiest for the earth and therefore, healthy for us. 


My reasons for going green are:

• Do my part to save the environment
• Be healthier
• Be happier
• Not be as wasteful as society conditions us to be
• Make an impact on others who may not be aware of environmental issues
• Be a role model for others and for my future children so that hopefully they will go on to help save the planet

Maybe growing your own vegetable garden is a small way to reduce your carbon footprint (the transportation of the produce, the transportation of the chemicals to "protect" the food, the fuel for the planes that spray crops...the list goes on and on).  Or maybe your own garden is a way to eat healthier for free, plus it's much easier to pick a delicious tomato, squash, herb than to drive to the store and buy food that was picked days, possibly even weeks, ago.  Another  benefit of working in your own garden is the exercise that goes into it.  The initial work can be difficult, especially if you're creating a new garden space.  Getting all the grass cleared, the rows set up, and the seeds sewn (or plants planted if you buy baby plants or if you started seeds inside) is definitely a workout, but working in the garden actually makes you happier and healthier, so the slightly sore muscles the next day don't feel so bad.

I'll talk more about gardening in the spring :).  The point here is that one small (okay, growing your own vegetables is kind of big) green activity helps you be happier, healthier, feel more rewarded (there's no feeling quite like watching the fruits of your labor come to life), and is very environmentally and socially conscious. 

Here are a few of my favorite films on living a green lifestyle:

• Food Inc. 
• An Inconvenient Truth
• Yert: Your Environmental Road Trip
• Dive
• Hungry for Change
• Forks Over Knives
• Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
• Chasing Ice
• Hot Coffee
• Tapped

These are ones I'm planning to watch in the near future:

• Food Fight
• Addicted to Plastic
• Garbage!

These all either talk about the attrocities that occur daily against our planet, how to get back at corporate and greed-fueled destruction, and how to take care of yourself...since no one else will!