Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, August 10th, 2008, 7:02 pm

Sustainability…

We hear this word more frequently as environmental efforts grow and yet many people are not sure what sustainability actually means. I believe it is some sort of an ideal state for a Green lifestyle. I hear about buying sustainable products like bamboo and living in sustainable housing. I also often hear this word when in discussions involving transportation, energy and food.

Looking for the true definition, I started with the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Sustainable: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agriculture>

Then during a quick trip to Wikipedia, I found a quote that helped me better understand sustainability in the context of a Green lifestyle:

Lester R. Brown, an environmental analyst, summarizes the situation as "sustaining progress depends on shifting from a fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, economy to a renewable energy-based, diversified transport, reuse/recycle economy".

So it seems that being sustainable means creating a lifestyle favoring renewable options and not exhausting natural resources. With this in mind, the going Green process is a shifting to this sustainable lifestyle by making smart, everyday choices that will protect natural resources.

I then thought about the personal choices I make every day and whether they were sustainable decisions:

- Should I walk to my corner grocery store to buy produce or drive across town to the nearest farmer’s market for local, organic food?

- Should I buy a regular $2 light bulb or spend an additional $5 on an energy-saving CFL mercury light bulb?

- Should I blast my air-conditioner or open my windows on a hot summer day?

- Should I buy a hybrid car or find ways to drive my gas car less frequently?

- Should I clean my home with the same chemical cleaning products my mom trusted for years or switch to non-toxic natural cleaners?

While going Green has certainly gotten easier in the past 7 years since I adopted this lifestyle, sometimes, I do choose the less-sustainable option. Sometimes when I’m feeling strapped for cash, I choose to close my wallet on Green. Sometimes when Green feels like too much of an effort, I choose Red instead. Red because I do know Green is the better choice, and I get embarrassed and red-in-the-face because I gave in.

How do I know that Green is the better choice and that my Green decisions actually make a difference? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept that the everyday choices I make impact the future of our planet. That is pretty serious stuff. But I continue to make these Green decisions because I can see how these choices positively impact my own life. When I make personal Green decisions such as buying organic food because it tastes better and ensures that my body isn’t ingesting pesticides and chemicals, I’ve seen how this decision also benefits my family, my home as well as my planet. Now I’m not a scientist so I truly don’t know what leads to climate change. But I do know that when I shift and make a sustainable, Green choice, my whole body feels like it is a good, healthy decision. It just sits right with me and makes me smile.  And those smiles are quite sustainable.

Tags: organic, sustainable, bamboo

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, August 10th, 2008, 7:01 pm

Sustainability…

We hear this word more frequently as environmental efforts grow and yet many people are not sure what sustainability actually means. I believe it is some sort of an ideal state for a Green lifestyle. I hear about buying sustainable products like bamboo and living in sustainable housing. I also often hear this word when in discussions involving transportation, energy and food.

Looking for the true definition, I started with the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Sustainable: of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agriculture>

Then during a quick trip to Wikipedia, I found a quote that helped me better understand sustainability in the context of a Green lifestyle:

Lester R. Brown, an environmental analyst, summarizes the situation as "sustaining progress depends on shifting from a fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, economy to a renewable energy-based, diversified transport, reuse/recycle economy".

So it seems that being sustainable means creating a lifestyle favoring renewable options and not exhausting natural resources. With this in mind, the going Green process is a shifting to this sustainable lifestyle by making smart, everyday choices that will protect natural resources.

I then thought about the personal choices I make every day and whether they were sustainable decisions:

- Should I walk to my corner grocery store to buy produce or drive across town to the nearest farmer’s market for local, organic food?

- Should I buy a regular $2 light bulb or spend an additional $5 on an energy-saving CFL mercury light bulb?

- Should I blast my air-conditioner or open my windows on a hot summer day?

- Should I buy a hybrid car or find ways to drive my gas car less frequently?

- Should I clean my home with the same chemical cleaning products my mom trusted for years or switch to non-toxic natural cleaners?

While going Green has certainly gotten easier in the past 7 years since I adopted this lifestyle, sometimes, I do choose the less-sustainable option. Sometimes when I’m feeling strapped for cash, I choose to close my wallet on Green. Sometimes when Green feels like too much of an effort, I choose Red instead. Red because I do know Green is the better choice, and I get embarrassed and red-in-the-face because I gave in.

How do I know that Green is the better choice and that my Green decisions actually make a difference? I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept that the everyday choices I make impact the future of our planet. That is pretty serious stuff. But I continue to make these Green decisions because I can see how these choices positively impact my own life. When I make personal Green decisions such as buying organic food because it tastes better and ensures that my body isn’t ingesting pesticides and chemicals, I’ve seen how this decision also benefits my family, my home as well as my planet. Now I’m not a scientist so I truly don’t know what leads to climate change. But I do know that when I shift and make a sustainable, Green choice, my whole body feels like it is a good, healthy decision. It just sits right with me and makes me smile.  And those smiles are quite sustainable.

Tags: organic, sustainable, bamboo

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, June 1st, 2008, 3:10 pm

Bamboo made some new best friends this weekend. Yesterday, my niece, the new mother-to-be, unwrapped a living room full of baby gifts: little pink dresses, tiny dollies, a baby bathtub, diapers, a car seat and virtually all the other things a new mother and her first baby girl “needs”. For those of you who have attended a baby shower before, you know the prerequisite “oohs” and “ahs” that accompany every newly unwrapped gift. Well, yesterday, we took “ooh” and “ah” to a new level.

Hands down, the hit of the party was the smallest gift of the bunch. Inside a beautifully wrapped, small 8 ½ x 11 box lived the softest, the tiniest, the most elegant, the most pesticide-free, most sustainable, most organic and most bamboo baby clothes and woven baby blanket from Dreamsacks. Within seconds of opening the box, women were standing and squealing as hands reached across the room to touch the silky soft, natural fabric.

The baby outfit and gift set included a knit blanket, hat, socks, bib, long sleeve tee & pants. I explained that the baby clothes and blanket were made from bamboo, a sustainable natural product and that bamboo grows in the wild, free from pesticides and it is anti-microbial so it can help the baby stay odor free. (The moms loved that!) The fabric is breathable, dries quickly and feels so very soft. Plus, the light pink blush-like color further drove the moms in the room nuts because it didn’t scream PINK!

I knew our little green gifts were a hit when my niece held them all up for viewing and announced that this is what her baby will come home in from the hospital. What a nice thought to have the first clothes a baby wears on this planet be eco-friendly and natural.

Then the room virtually erupted when I explained that Dreamsacks also made super soft bamboo clothes for men and women as well as fabulous silky soft bamboo nightgowns and sheets. Women around the room quickly passed me their fondant cake napkins to write down the website address (www.dreamsack.com)!

I’m further impressed by Dreamsacks’ mission statement: “To provide wonderfully nurturing natural products while consciously caring for people and our environment.” I enjoy supporting green companies who believe in nurturing others as well as the environment. And they should be applauded for their conservation efforts as they live their mission thru “paperless billing, reusing and recycling paper products and working under solar harnessed lighting” as well as walking/biking to work and driving hybrid cars.

Small green companies like Dreamsacks face tough competition, cannot afford mass marketing campaigns and can only survive with our support. With something for everyone, I recommend that you try their products…they feel great against your skin and will make your soul feel good about going green.

Tags: natural, gifts, baby, bamboo

Posted By: emmaspirit on

Sunday, June 1st, 2008, 3:07 pm

Bamboo made some new best friends this weekend. Yesterday, my niece, the new mother-to-be, unwrapped a living room full of baby gifts: little pink dresses, tiny dollies, a baby bathtub, diapers, a car seat and virtually all the other things a new mother and her first baby girl “need”. For those of you who have attended a baby shower before, you know the prerequisite “oohs” and “ahs” that accompany every newly unwrapped gift. Well, yesterday, we took “ooh” and “ah” to a new level.

Hands down, the hit of the party was the smallest gift of the bunch. Inside a beautifully wrapped, small 8 ½ x 11 box lived the softest, the tiniest, the most elegant, the most pesticide-free, most sustainable and most bamboo baby clothes and woven baby blanket from Dreamsacks. Within seconds of opening the box, women were standing and squealing as hands reached across the room to touch the silky soft, natural fabric.

The baby outfit and gift set included a knit blanket, hat, socks, bib, long sleeve tee & pants. I explained that the baby clothes and blanket were made from bamboo, a sustainable natural product and that bamboo grows in the wild, free from pesticides and it is anti-microbial so it can help the baby stay odor free. (The moms loved that!) The fabric is breathable, dries quickly and feels so very soft. Plus, the light pink blush-like color further drove the moms in the room nuts because it didn’t scream PINK!

Tags: natural, gifts, baby, bamboo