Have you ever stopped to read what is really in some of the food you eat? How about all the stuff in your shampoo, laundry detergent, or even your toothpaste? Or do you even want to know? 🙂

Growing up we drank a lot of pop (soda for those in different parts of the country). My siblings still do. Me, not so much. One reason is I ALWAYS get the hiccups and I don’t like hiccups. Another reason is I finally read the ingredients on the can – we use phosphoric acid on our fields, I don’t want that stuff in my gut!

Without really realizing it our family has become more “au naturale” over the years. We grind our own wheat, bake our own bread, cook from scratch, use cloth diapers on the babies. We’ve been using homemade soap for the last year, wear homemade chapstick, and just recently started using homemade laundry detergent. I also have been “no poo” for three months now. Do we sound like tree hugging hippies or what? Does knowing all this change your perspective of what you thought about me?

One of the main reasons we started delving into all this natural stuff was to save money. It works too. We’ve estimated we’ve saved between $8,000 – $10,000 alone on diapers. That’s no small sum to sneeze at! Another reason is we just feel better making our own stuff and in the process doing our part to help the environment out a bit. I think almost everyone can do something, change some habit, to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be big. Granted there are still a lot of things we use that aren’t “au naturale”, I’m not that much of a tree-hugging hippie! Heck, I’m a Conservative Republican. Does that ruin some of our “don’t care about the environment” reputation?

So how about it? Is there some small thing you can do to be a little more green? Need suggestions? Right now Whole Foods Market is running a great series of “Back to School in Green Style” podcasts. The podcasts are very informative and short! If you have just 10 minutes to spare you can listen to one. I learned a few new simple changes we can make in our own family. Here’s a couple of the podcasts that have already taken place.

VIDEO
July 29th
How Tweens & Teens Benefit from Natural
Many people “go natural” when they have a baby, but what about later on? If raising your kids “green” has proved to be a challenge, tune in for simple ways and reasons to choose natural products. This highly respected eco-entrepreneur talks about makeup, deodorant, toothpaste and supplements from her own mothering experience. Lynda Fassa is the founder of Green Babies, the oldest existing organic cotton clothing company on the planet, and author of Green Babies and Sage Moms.

AUDIO
August 12th
Natural Oral Care for Kids
Do you wonder if the reasons you choose natural foods for your kids could also apply to toothpaste? Learn about the choices and get tips for natural oral care products that work well—and taste great—for even the pickiest kids. Pam Scheeler has a B.S. in biochemistry and works in Tom’s of Maine’s Consumer Care and Professional Advocacy groups for oral care formulation and testing.

You can find other informative posts and podcasts at the Whole Foods Blog under whole body category .