Health, Parenting, and Time Benefits of Going Green

(3) Health Benefits of Going Green

By cleaning with homemade cleaners and carefully disposing of hazardous household waste, we removed many toxic items from our home very inexpensively. By eating organic, local produce available through a CSA and avoiding plastic in our kitchen, we are ingesting fewer pesticides and harmful chemicals. And we have seen the difference in our health.

Richard used to get show stopping migraines on a regular basis. Those have ceased. I used to get a sinus infection several times a year. Those have also ceased. We feel better than we did when we first met, even though we are now ten years older. That is a true benefit!

(4) Parenting Benefits of Going Green

Although our family approaches going green together (thus our tagline!), I was really surprised by the parenting benefits of going green. Making our life more eco-friendly has allowed us fabulous opportunities to talk about important concepts like sharing or taking turns in a real world context. Empathy, patience, and thoughtfulness — skills that parents want their children to have — get lots of practice when going green.

I’ve also treasured the opportunity to slow down and experience nature with my children. There is an amazing world all around us. Taking the time to see it and talk about it with my children has been incredible.

(5) Time Management Benefits of Going Green

When we think about how our weekends used to be so rushed, we wonder how we maintained that pace for so long. We used to rush from store to store, running our errands and preparing for the week. There were groceries to be bought, drycleaning to be dropped off, items to be purchased. I get tired just thinking about it!

Now Saturday mornings usually start with buttermilk pancakes, made from scratch. (Try Alton Brown’s recipe – it is our favorite!) We hang out reading library books or playing games. If it is a nice day, we work in the yard while the girls play. No more racing from store to store for us!

And less stuff inside our house means less to tidy up and less to clean. Reducing our consumption has given us more time in several ways!