Live a 'slightly' greener life

Being a busy mum, who works from home with a fire cracker of a little girl and boy buzzing around me all day, I appreciate that trying to 'go greener' in your home and lifestyle is really hard. It's another thing to 'do' that can be added to the long list. Lets face it - if its convenient - I'm going to choose that option. Our family pre child was such a different place, we recycled EVERYTHING, had about four different types of recycling, rarely allowed plastic (single use) into the house and acted super judgmental to anyone carrying around a plastic water bottle.

While some of those things have changed, especially the judging others part, we try to do our best but I'm going to be real - it's sometimes just way to hard-basket for me. Being a mum is a flat out job as it is! There are a few little 'deal breakers' I like to call them that we won't budge on however and I find its a pretty good little list to start with when you're entering the journey of low tox living and creating a greener home environment.

There is one golden rule to this however, there is absolutely NO MAMA GUILT allowed in this space!

Every mother and parent I believe is doing the very best with what knowledge and power they have at the time and the 'baby safe' isle can be a bit of a minefield. So here are my top tips to 'slightly green' up your life, without the overwhelm.

1. Plastic containers. Get rid of them. They contain very harmful chemicals that leach into our food every time we heat food in them and each wash creates a tiny bit of extra plastic into our environment, which in turn is ingested by us. If you have lots (we did) start by swapping out the top most used containers first to glass, then go from there.

1. Eat organic, as often as possible. I know this isn't easy for everyone it isn't for us that's for sure. Most of the time just a trip to the local shop isn't going to provide you with a full array of organic fresh food, nor will it be cheap. However, the pesticides in foods act as hormones disruptors to our bodies and keeping that to as much as a minimum as you can is really important. Hormone disruptors affect our endocrine system the system responsible for lots of functions within the body. Like your thyroid for example and these hormones control so much of how we feel on a daily basis. Moods, blood pressure, nervous system function, digestive health are all tied to the endocrine system. Pesticides in foods come into the body and act as hormones or block our natural hormones from doing their job properly. The easiest way to avoid as much as you can is to avoid the foods that are most heavily sprayed, buy those in the organic section. Get the rest as you normally would.

1. Fragrance! A word you will hear so much on your low tox journey and I will talk so much about on here. This little term can be code for hundreds and hundreds of synthetic chemicals, some of which are banned in other countries and most of which are known to cause health issues. Your air freshener plug in, your scented candle, anything you buy from a store with fragrance as an ingredient listing needs to be avoided. It will feel like its everywhere once you start looking and that's because, it is. Start choosing products that don't have this listed and replace your candles with a pure essential oil. Diffusing oils purifies the air and doesn't damage your health, they then can be sued in so many other areas of your life and the home. If you can't find products without that ingredient or a company you trust - get some essential oils and make them yourself!

1. Dust, this one kind of shocked me. we all know dust is no good, nobody wants a dusty house but I sure didn't think it was such a health issue aside from maybe irritating asthma. Dust is actually being found to contain heavy metals (a big no no) such as lead, flame retardant chemicals and all manner of nasties. Coming into our homes via our shoes much of the time, so its a very good practise to not wear shoes in the home, or at least have an inside and outside pair.

Addressing these few changes will have you well on your way to a cleaner and greener life, not only does it not need to be overwhelming it can be very fulfilling, knowing you are stepping into the role of gatekeeper of your home.