Is your family as organic as it could be?
It hit me with a big blow yesterday. I was on Facebook and saw a blog post about eco-friendly vegan make-up brushes. Of course, I thought, even our standard make-up brushes are not good enough. Is anything these days?
Is my best good enough?
Now, I know many people who are very environmentally friendly. Those who buy non-pasteurized milk, buy only organic food, make their own soap and sew their own clothes from their home-grown organic cotton. Yes, these people do exist! I, too, like to provide my family with the best. When I was pregnant, I bought an organic mattress for my little one who, I hoped, would spend many hours sleeping. I invested in bamboo blankets and onesies. I washed my babies with eco-friendly soaps, and slathered them with natural butters and creams. I breastfed exclusively and prepared organic purees. And their little bums were covered in cloth diapers, for the most part. As a growing family, we eat as much organic food as possible. We use homeopathic remedies when ill, clean the house with vinegar and use bio-degradable laundry detergents. We say no to as much plastic as possible, we recycle, we compost.
And you know what? I still feel as if I am not doing enough! The eco-friendly vegan make-up brushes struck a chord and I felt sad. Sad that our store shelves are lined with products filled with harmful chemicals that cause illness and disease. Sad that companies continue to create and manufacture these products. Sad that no governing body is dealing responsibly with these issues. Sad that much of the world often revolves around the bottom line.
Luckily, the demand for green products is ever growing and there are many stores now offering healthy, environmentally safe produce and wares. Just this week, Whole Foods Market, a very popular American natural foods chain, announced it will soon open a store in Montreal. The more we, as a community, refuse to buy the other stuff, the quicker it will be replaced.
When idealism collides with realism
But, unfortunately, not every family has the resources to buy organic and eco-friendly products. So they are left with the rest. The idealist in me wants everyone to be as healthy as possible, without it having to be a choice. I want to live in a world where every shelf in every store is filled only with the best products possible. And I want to stop saying ‘But this is so toxic!’ Alas, the realist in me knows this is a far away dream.
Sometimes I think I should move my family to a small farm somewhere. We could live off the land. I could make my own soap and sew my own clothes. This way of life is really not for me though. But you know what? If we did, I wouldn’t even need those eco-friendly vegan make-up brushes that got me all riled up in the first place.
Sylvia
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Well said Sylvia. Somehow there needs to be a balance between what the average income family can afford and what is healthy and environmentally responsible. And not completely time consuming as those of us with busy families know, there are only so many hours in the day and at some point, we must sleep.
Enjoyed your writing. Will watch for the next one.
Thanks Shauna! I completely agree with you. I do not enjoy shopping and it sometimes can be such a headache. And for those families with limited means it can be a real stress. Luckily there are lots of wonderful initiatives to be celebrated and one day we’ll get there. Hope you and the family are well and enjoying nature in your neck of the woods.