The Big Decision to Live More Simply

Life is a balancing act

 The decision to begin to live a more natural and Eco-friendly way of life was more of a challenge then decision. To give you some back story I have mild OCD.  My compulsions mainly have to do with contamination and germs. While pregnant with my daughter I had to go on modified bed rest and I had no choice but to not clean and rest up but besides the bed rest I almost fainted cleaning the bathroom due to the fumes that I so dearly loved.  They made me feel clean. I was very dependent on my chemical commercial cleaners as most people are.

While on bed rest I saw a documentary called Chemerical.  The movie was about a typical American family and their challenge to live a more chemical free life.  They did all sorts of air quality testing and the testing showed that the air was toxic in their home due to the chemical cleaners she used that she "thought" were cleaning her home. I was a total skeptic that homemade cleaners could do the same job as my fumy bathroom spray.  They also showed and explained the ecological effects of the break-down by-products of the cleaners. In the end, the mother switched to all homemade cleaners. I took this as a challenge but I had to do baby steps to ease my way into it.

The second part was eating a more chemical free from the ground to my mouth way of eating.  This mainly started after I was comparing butter and butter flavored spread.  I was grossed out at the ingredients that I was putting in my body.  I attend nursing school and knowing what I know about chemistry I knew I had to make a change in the what I was putting in my body.

Besides not being 100% sold on it I also needed to save money or spend close to the same amount of money that I currently was spending on food and cleaning supplies. There was NO way my husband was going to go for any of this if I spent more money then I already do.

I also have to add that I am not "crunchy" and I loath the term.  I prefer semi-natural Diva!  I am not 100% all natural.  Living more natural for me was a balancing act. I do believe that sometimes the better alternative is the modern not so natural way.  I say alternative because that is how I see lots of modern technology..as an alternative not my first choice.  I try to find all natural alternatives but sometime cost or quality is an issue so I choose what I feel is best at the time. I do a lot of research to make educated decisions that leave me sleeping well at night. 

So to make my life more simple and more natural I decided to make a change but I needed the changes I make to do the following
* Cost very close or less then what I am currently spending
* Not be overly complicated to make or store
* Incorporate  items or ingredients that are easy to obtain
* A level of convenience

I hope you choose to try out a few of the small ways you can to live more naturally and Eco-friendly~