The Family Groove "The Eco Has Landed"

THE ECO HAS LANDED
ECO-CONSCIOUS CRUSADER FRANCESCA OLIVIERI, CO-OWNER OF SAGE BABY IN NYC,
TELLS YOU HOW TO GET MORE GREEN INTO YOUR LIFE, NOW AND FOREVER

The Eco Has Landed

Happy Green Year

It’s that time of the year again—New Year’s resolution time. No doubt
you’re vowing to be a new you: lose weight, eat healthy, exercise daily.
What if you could do all those things and also help the environment?

Over the past couple of years, I have been trying to green my family. You know the drill: We turn off lights when leaving rooms; we don’t use plastic bottles; we recycle everything possible. Through the process, I’ve noticed that lots of our new eco-friendly habits are not only good for the planet, but also good for us.

So why not dedicate 2009 to going green? I’ve put together a list of easy tips that I have been experimenting with on my own family. Many are simple but can truly make a difference. Try a new one every month. Before you know it, you will be a real-deal green mama.

1. Walk everywhere. Walk to the park with your kids. Walk to work. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. This one is pretty easy for me as we live in a city. But even if you don’t live in a city, you can drive, park your car in one place and walk around town to do your errands. Not only are you getting exercise, you are also reducing your carbon footprint by not driving. And don’t forget about the savings on gas.

2. Avoid buying plastic water bottles. Take the pledge not to drink bottled water (http://water.newdream.org). I have made it a habit to always bring tap water in stainless steel bottles wherever we go. I think my kids actually drink more water now because the water tastes better out of nonplastic containers. We’ve all heard the health benefits of drinking eight glasses of water a day. And our planet will be a happier place without all those plastic bottles in the landfills.

3. Stop using paper towels and paper napkins. Every time someone washed up in my kitchen, we used paper towels to dry our hands. With three messy little kids, that turned into lots of paper towels—until I decided not to use them. Now we clean up spills with rags, we dry our hands with dishtowels and we use cloth napkins at mealtimes. When we have a particularly greasy stove top, I miss paper towels, but for the most part, as the old adage goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.”

4. Join a CSA. I belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I love it. Every week from June to November, I get the tastiest vegetables and fruits delivered to a nearby church. The food comes from a local farm up in the Catskills. Weekly recipe ideas are offered, and my children are being introduced to interesting vegetables like garlic scape, kale and Swiss chard. During the winter months, my home serves as a drop-off/pick-up point. Once a month, the farmers drop off cheeses, meat, bread and jams, and people in the CSA who have placed orders online come by to pick up their food. By finding a CSA in your own neighborhood (www.localharvest.org/csa), you will be supporting local agriculture and feeding your family healthy, organic produce.

5. Use canvas bags instead of plastic bags. My problem with this tip is I am always forgetting to take along the canvas bag when I go out. My new idea is to leave a few canvas shopping bags in my closet with my coats so that I see them before I leave home. If you generally drive to the store, get in the habit of leaving the canvas bags in your car.

6. Skip meat for one day. Cows are huge contributors to greenhouse gases. So be a vegan for the day. One of my favorite ways to start the morning is to drink a green juice. Kale, spinach and celery added to a carrot or an apple can really taste good. I squeeze some lemon juice in and it is delicious. If you get the kids to help add the ingredients into the juicer, they will become more interested in tasting the resulting concoction. Check out www.be-n-balance.com for some other great green juice recipes.

In 2006, Francesca Olivieri co-founded the company sage baby (www.sagebabynyc.com), an online eco-friendly baby store offering everything from organic clothes and skincare to furniture. She continues to watch her green business grow while seeking to apply her values to her own home and family. Francesca lives in New York City with her husband and three kids, 8, 6 and 3.