Last October something flipped a switch inside me. Suddenly I was seeing the world in a whole new light. My husband and I had been trying to conceive for two years with no success. After extensive testing and one failed IU fertilization, I started searching for answers. That's when I stumbled across EWG's Skin Deep Database. I obsessively entered every shampoo, soap, toothpaste, lotion, cosmetic and other miscellaneous personal paraphernalia we had in the house. I was horrified!! Why would the government let companies sell this stuff? Why was I so naive to believe it was safe? Cigarettes....who knew? Someday we may be saying, "Pantene...who knew?" From that moment on my life was irrevocably changed. Since then I have taken control of my family's well being, whether they like it or not. Heavy on the NOT. I started by replacing a few of the daily products we use with more natural, eco-friendly versions. Hubby refused to give up his toothpaste. Then we started recycling. This one actually wasn't too difficult. Organic food followed. Much to the children's dismay. Paper products were next. Paper towel and napkins went all together. But, it was when I switched the ultra plush Charmin for a recycled non-chlorine bleached version of TP that hubby nearly served me with divorce papers! We made it past that one, bums and marriage still intact. Whew! Planted a garden, started composting, reuse our own bags, drive less - bike more, switched to cfl's, put everything on power strips, line dry, adjust the thermostat, forgo the AC, the list goes on and on. So does the plight of the remaining household unit. Hubby tells outlandish stories about his "hippy" wife, the children seize every opportunity to chug "real" soda while cramming handfuls of crap down their throat - usually supplied by Hubby while outside the "green-zone", friends ask, "Are you still doing that "green" thing?", and my extended family believes I am on a slippery slope to birkenstocks and living off the land. Like that would be so bad? Well maybe the birks....I love shoes. Anywho, I have always considered my crazy family to be a whole flock of black sheep. How did the tables get turned?
Suddenly, I'm the green sheep! baaa...baaa....
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