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Eco Healthy Families

Eco Healthy Family

Eco Healthy Family

by Michelle Bexelius – founder of Eco Remedi

You eat organic, sometimes buy organic cotton t shirts, drive a Prius but did you know the mattress you are sleeping on could be harmful to your health?

Currently there are 80,000 chemicals on the market today that are not approved by the FDA. These chemicals are put in to our everyday products often times without customers even knowing about because the companies don’t have to disclose every ingredient.

Kids follow your lead. The best way to get kids go green is to set a good example. They pick up on details of lives everyday entities whether you plan on it or not.  It’s a group effort to live consciously and it takes a fare dose of commitment. Don’t overwhelm your kids with the crisis the planet is in, educate them at their appropriate level.  They can’t control climate change, but they can turn off the lights when they leave a room.

Going green should be fun, informative and they should feel a sense of pride. Everyone person makes a difference and it doesn’t matter what the age of the child is to imprint that feeling of success. As a family take steps together each day to improve your surrounding environment. Teach your kids that simple things they do makes a difference.

Here are some green tips you can teach your kids:

Energy
Teach your kids to turn off the lights when they leave a room or turn on what they need. It is okay to let them know it costs money to light up the house as well as energy for the earth to produce.  Have them close the door and windows when it’s cold outside to insulate the house.


Food
Food is a great place to start thinking and eating consciously. Now there are so many choices and organic foods are more available than ever. Show your kids the quality of good, organic food that nourishes their bodies with the use of chemicals. Teach them which foods are best to buy organic or not. If you have a farm near by take your kids to show them where food comes from and have the farmer’s talk to them about their methods. Plant a family garden as well.

Water
Conserve water by turning the water off when brushing your teeth. Also get a shower timer and take shorter showers. Teach them to use what they need, even when doing the dishes or watering the lawn. Use a bath and shower filter as well to reduce the amount of chlorine in the air and on your skin.

Transportation
Encourage your kids to walk to school or bike to school together with you. Take public transportation to show them alternative ways of travel.

Recycle
Kids bring home loads of papers from school. Recycle their papers from school when they are done with them.  Use both sheets of paper.

Personal Products
Teach them the benefits of using soaps, shampoos and lotions without chemicals. It doesn’t end up in the watershed and harm the fish and amphibians as well as on them.  Talk to their schools about switching to castile soap instead of harmful anti-bacterial soap. When out and about, carry your own small bottle of castile soap when at restaurants especially. When daughter starts to ask about makeup, teach her the dirty dozen chemicals to avoid or go to www.cosmeticdatabase.org to see if the mascara she wants to buy is worthy of her lovely lashes.

Reducing Toxins
Another easy thing to teach them is to take their shoes off at the door. It leaves whatever attached to the bottom of their shoes toxic or not outside the home. Have them make a family sign saying remove your shoes please at the door.

Clean is green
When it is time to do chores, give them cleaning products without toxins. It’s fun to make cleaning products together, especially laundry soap. It’s easy and very inexpensive. You can make many cleaning products from simple ingredients like baking soda, essential oils, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar.

Picking Up
When they are on walks on the beach or on trails, carry a bag and help them pick up trash. They will develop a sense of respect for the earth.

Art
Do art with found objects around the house or yard.  Some materials to work with are: cork, river rocks, shoeboxes for habitats, cardboard boxes and wood. Look for non toxic materials like soy crayons, healthy glues and paints. There is almost always an alternative, just read the labels like on everything else.

Gardening
Plant an organic garden at home, give them their own small plot or area to care for. There are also creative ways to integrate wildlife into your backyard like building houses for bees, birds and bats. Use certified OMRI compost that has been tested for pesticides and heavy metals.

Compost
Something fun to do is have the kids help you make a worm shake out of the vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc and have them take it to the yard compost bin and watch what happens.

Clothes
When shopping for clothes or school supplies, steer them in the right direction. Healthy is cool and many companies are starting to modernize their styles. Organic cotton, hemp and soy clothing is in as well as PVC free and clothes without stain resistant chemicals too!

Going green is a mindset. Teach them the importance of their environment and what they put into it, including their bodies. They are young and impressionable, so start fresh and they will follow in your footsteps, hopefully smaller than the generation before.

Email michelle@ecoremedi.com to take your eco healthy family quiz. I will send you a report and steps to ensure a healthy environment that is affordable and doable for the whole family. Just take one step at time.  Cost is 39.95.

December 20th, 2009 | Tags: , | Category: Children, Green Family, Healthy living

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