Definition of Green Living
How green living benefits your health

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What do you think the definition of "green living" is? Choosing paper instead of plastic grocery bags? Recycling your beer cans and newspapers? Driving a fuel efficient car? Eating organically grown food?

Those certainly are all activities that contribute to keeping our planet Earth and our personal health in good shape... But what exactly is "green living" and what does it have to do with improving personal health and energy? Let's take a look!

The broad definition of green living is any action or activity that results in a positive impact, to any degree, on the environment so that the planet can continue to support future generations.

The effect of green living on the environment... Let's take a dip!

Looking at it from a different perspective, the practice of green living minimizes or eliminates toxins (poisons) from our environment as well as reducing and eliminating purely destructive habits.

The goal and purpose of green living is preserving and improving the health of planet Earth for all who live here!

This definition of green living embraces our personal environments, including the internal environment of our bodies, our home, work and social environments as well as the whole planet's environment.

Adopting a green living philosophy simply means making choices and decisions that have the most positive effect possible for all of these environments.

Being able to make good choices depends first on having good information. Here's a simple article that answers the question, "What is carbon dioxide?" and how it relates to our health.

More about the definition of green living:
What is "sustainability" and "renewable?"

Most likely, you've heard the terms "sustainability" and "renewable" in connection with the subject of green living. Let's clear them up while we're at it because they are essential to gaining a good concept of the definition of green living.

"Sustainability" refers to using resources in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

This is commonly heard in relationship to energy consumption, such as the energy needed to light your home or the energy required to drive your car. For example, there are finite amounts of oil resources on the planet, a major source for energy production. It is not sustainable as a resource because you can't go out and plant any oil seeds and grow more oil. When it's gone, it's gone!

Likewise, "renewable" means that a resource can be created again. For example, trees can be cut down, but more trees can be planted and grown. Energy obtained from the sun and the wind (solar and wind power) are essentially "renewable" sources of energy because they aren't likely to run out.

Green living and personal health

This is the effect of destructive manufacturing and lifestyle choices. Wanna take a dip?

The subject of green living is growing in popularity and importance as we face several different problems relating to lifestyles and practices that are actually destructive to our environments. The severe weather of the past several years is one example.

Public awareness of these situations and their causes is increasing, and solutions are being sought, found and applied. Learning and practicing green living is something that we can do about these problems as individuals, families, groups and nations to start turning the scene around!

One practice that is particularly destructive to our personal health and well-being is the use of toxic chemicals in our food supply, household cleaning products and personal care products.

For example, most laundry soap and bleach that we use drains out into the ocean and because it is highly toxic, it destroys the ocean environment on which man depends for many things.

Additionally, the toxic chemicals from the laundry soap and bleach are absorbed into your body through the skin.

Add to that the toxic household cleaners, "air fresheners" and personal products that contain synthetic chemicals (man-made, not found in nature) that you also absorb into your body through the skin and breathing, and you have a toxic wasteland right in your own body!

The body gets overloaded with toxic substances that cannot be eliminated through normal means.

This toxic overload, caused by toxins staying in the body because there's just too many for the body to eliminate, causes poor health and illness. That is why body cleansing and detoxification are important health improvement topics nowadays.

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Why are these toxic products being made and sold? That is a good question!

From the research that I've done and the observations that I've made, when these practices started several decades ago (such as spraying crops with toxic pesticides to meet the demands of a growing population, or producing and selling toxic household products) the harmful effects were mostly unknown.

However, now that the negative effects are known, the reason boils down to the motives of individual companies and their understanding and agreement with the definition of green living.

There are companies who are honestly improving their practices and products because they are motivated to provide positive benefits to their customers and then there are those who are only motivated by making a profit. There are, unfortunately, companies who say that they are improving their practices and products to be more "green," but really aren't! That's a whole different subject.

This article on certified organic skin care provides valuable information on what to look for in choosing healthy skin care products so you aren't misled!

How can you start practicing green living to protect your health?

For starters, find some green living products and tips to try. Then incorporate those that work for you into your lifestyle.

Burt's Bees body wash products are my favorite replacement for chemical-filled bath soaps. Not only are they far better for my personal health, Burt's Bees products are very environmentally friendly.

"Green living" encompasses various factors in our lifestyles. Easy Green Living is an excellent site for learning about basic green living practices.

Their page on chemical free cleaners has a few super ways to really get your home and car clean with non-toxic (and inexpensive!) natural ingredients (like baking soda, vinegar and lemon).

If you are a candle lover, as so many people are, even burning regular candles creates toxic, indoor air pollutants! I found this out at a very informative site, Scented Soy Candles. These are naturally scented candles that are clean burning and toxin free.

But be alert for "fixed ideas" you might have that can get in the way of making these sort of choices.

For example, a fixed idea that I've personally had my whole life is that nothing is as good and effective as bleach for whitening, disinfecting and "killing germs." I wouldn't even consider looking at anything else!

Well, I found out that bleach is one of the most toxic substances in our homes. Makes sense - have you ever used it for cleaning? How did you feel after breathing in the fumes? Or not using rubber gloves while using it like I used to do? Bleccchhh!

There are products available today that do what bleach does but without killing anything. Find one and try it. If you don't like it, look again.

The same thing goes with personal products such as soap, shampoo, deodorant and cosmetics. Most of the products we grew up with might make us smell better but they will also make us sick eventually by gradually robbing us of our health.

Another false idea is that "natural" or non-toxic products don't work. That's baloney. Some do and some don't, just like their toxic counterparts.

Find out for yourself! Yes, you'll need to make a bit of an effort to move out of your comfort zone of familiar practices and products in order to apply the definition of green living in your life - but if you try new things one or two at a time, find something you like and then move on to trying something else new, it won't be very uncomfortable.

Look for non-toxic cleaning tips - ingredients such as baking soda and white vinegar do awesome cleaning jobs at a fraction of the cost.

Here's an extremely useful site about using hydrogen peroxide for cleaning, both personal and household uses.

Enjoy yourself as you apply the definition of green living to your life... The benefit is improved health and energy for you, your family and the planet!

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