Environmental Angst

This is an annoying, anxiety filled, tree hugging wannabe post. A few of my blogging friends have posted here and here about their successful efforts at being green. M. and I have been talking about ways of making our lives greener and for me healthier. Lately, I have been consumed by the environmental worries that have been in the news lately. Plastics are bad, tap water (even the heavily filtered variety that we drink in our house) is bad and all of those cleaning products that I have so diligently used since having a baby...also BAD! Deep breath...now, we are really, really careful around here. I only use cleaning products that are all natural (although if I just stopped cleaning all together...Hmmm? I just might be onto something there...

I digress, When I’m able to calm down and stop reading the news (I don’t watch TV news - it’s bad for you - if you don’t believe me watch Bowling for Columbine, watch it anyway it’s a really good movie) I realize that we are already actually doing quite a bit. I make or buy all natural cleaning products. The shampoo that we have been using is BAD but we can replace that soon enough. CR has only been using Burts Bees and that is Good. I replaced all of her binkies that had BPA in them and she only a a few BPA riddled bottles due to her nursing. The sippy cups are ok and her dishes are hand washed - also Good. Here is a great resource on BPA.

I know that there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about the pharmaceuticals in the tap water. Of course, I worry about this one the most. As a mental health professional I have sat with countless families and weighed the pros and cons of taking anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medications. I know the side effects of these meds, and while they have helped countless numbers of truly suffering people, they are not for everyone - otherwise we would all be taking them. They are also not meant to be a long term solution. Yes, I know other meds were found in the water but it’s the Devil you know right? So we will keep drinking our filtered water and hope that we won’t be poisoned too much or kill our livers.

So, K. what are you doing to save the planet? Well, that will have to wait for another day...