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From the Dark Side to Feeling the Force

(Mrs. Green Has NOT Come Undone)

Did you know that when a baby is born they show up on the planet with anywhere from 260-270 identifiable toxins in their urine? Yup - 260-270. That is why yesterday I could not, for the very life of me, write this newsletter. After attempts too numerous to count, I finally called it a day at about 10:00 last night and went to sleep hoping for the best with the dawning of a new day. What a difference a good night's sleep can make.

So why couldn't I write it? Because I was totally stuck on the dark side. Those numbers kept running through my head. Babies? At birth? Little teeny tiny babies showing up on the planet with a toxic swill running through their bloodstream (sorry - it was really a dark place.) Why did that info even have to come my way? FYI, the information was shared with me by a dear friend of mine who also happens to be a pediatric neurologist. She knows her stuff, knows her science and cares deeply about this issue. How can this be? How did we get here? What can I do about it? How can what I do even begin to make a difference? And were those voices ever LOUD...

So the question kept flying - what should I write this newsletter about? Green Lollapaloozas? Green carpet rides? Top five things you can do to cut down on waste? Not using plastic bags? Buying organic? Somehow, recycling my toilet paper rolls just didn't seem all that important at that moment. Dark side winning.

Indulge me while I let me get worse before I get better. The truth is we are completely and totally surrounded by toxins every day. They are everywhere - in our food, in the air we breathe, on the clothes we wear, the things we wash ourselves with, dry ourselves with, wash our dishes with, bring our groceries home in, store our food in, wash our clothes with, the furniture we buy, what we paint our house with, our carpet, bug spray, jet fuel dropping down from the sky, radioactive waste washing up on our shores, carbon emissions coming from just about every car, truck, bus, and train on the planet - enough already! I started thinking maybe 260 was a low number. The dark side clearly taking over. So I shut the computer down, said a big prayer for Divine Guidance and voila! Mrs. Green wakes up feeling the force. I did not dream about Yoda but I wish I had.

So what was my big "AHA" moment? A REPEAT and a constant theme in my life. It is the under riding message in my 'hope to get it published this year" book that is 95% written. It's all about taking small steps together to make a big impact. We have to all take it up a notch - for the babies! We can all live a little bit more intentionally realizing that every purchase we make, every room we clean, every meal we prepare, every plastic bag we consume, every lotion we put on - moves us in one direction or another.

So let me simply ask you - what is on or soon might be on your green to-do list? What direction are you moving in? What additional small steps are you willing to make so that collectively we can make a BIG HUGE impact and live more sustainable lives? Do you have a Top Three? Five? Ten? And if you do have some, how's it going? Are you really taking more steps? Because at the end of the day, when all is said and done, that is all we really have control over.

So, okay "Mrs. Smarty Pants feeling- the- force, this is your destiny" - what are YOU going to do? Yikes! I am going to take a big step. On March 4th, I am going to do a five day sugar cleanse. I am a sugar addict, have been all my life and would rather have a piece of dark chocolate versus a steamed vegetable all day long and twice on Sunday. I am scared, afraid of going public with it and afraid of failing. But I am going to do it anyway because it is one step I can take to reduce the toxins in my body. I seriously doubt that I will awake the morning after my five days and start craving a nice plate of steamed vegetables of any kind. But, hey, I am open to that. And I promise to keep you posted.

That's not all. On Saturday, March 9th, Mr. Green and I are returning to our beloved Greer with our two precious grandchildren who will be visiting for spring break. It has been hard for us to go back there since our cabin burned but Mr. Green and I need our nature fix so we shall return. But the step my granddaughter and I have committed to is HEALTHY road trip food. We are going to prepare, have things like fresh fruit, healthy trail mix and have plenty of water and sparkling water (made from our Soda Stream) for the 5 hour trip. I'm not saying we won't bake some cookies while we are there but everything in moderation right? And we are committed to making healthy, delicious meals including substituting frozen yogurt for ice cream. We will also commit to taking home all recycling.

I am proud to report that we have already taken major steps to move the toxins in our home environment already - with our personal care products, our eco-friendly carpet cleaner, our cleaning products, the paint we use, food we buy - it's all better, healthier and safer for the planet. Areas of improvement? More organic meat and more salads, and pretty much no packaged food. Smaller steps, continuous impact.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TAKE AWAY? DON'T EVER FORGET TO HAVE FUN TAKING THE STEPS! Celebrate and share your successes. I do - cross my green heart.

I feel the force and I feel better now. Hope you do too.

New a Green Partnership!

Green drum roll please. It is always fun and exciting to introduce a new partner to Mrs. Green's World and sharing all that being a part of our world means to us. We happily extend a warm, Mrs. Green welcome to A-1 Mattress. I encourage you, invite you, ask you to click on this link to check out all that's GREEN about natural latex. A-1 is a third generation locally owned business and their mattresses are made in Tucson, Arizona. You will be hearing more about them in the days to come. Little side note is that they custom make mattresses for antique beds that are odd sizes as well as mattresses for RVs. Good to know - yes?

Staying the Green Course

So very, very happy to report that we had DOZENS of responses to our "if you read this far down" teaser. We sent out two Green Hearts by The Color of Your Heart by Exclaymations. Emails from Jacquie Ottman, the Green Marketing Guru from New York City and Dave Sherman, from EcoGreen Carpet & Upholstery Care  came in almost simultaneously. Congratulations and thank you. And thanks to the many other people who responded! We were very touched and appreciative of the many emails we received. More surprises planned - promise!

Silent Killer: The Movie  

We use  380,000,000,000 of them every year. They are made primarily from petroleum and natural gas. They never biodegrade.  They are the Silent Killers. They are plastic bags & we need to stop using them. Together, we can take small steps  to make a big impact.