My 2011 Green and Healthy Action Plan

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Janelle Sorensen

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

In the spirit of the new year and self-improvement, I recently took the Practically Green quiz and created a personal action plan. Four main areas constitute the quiz and corresponding plan: energy, health, water, and stuff – and as you may guess, my quiz results in the health zone are pretty darn high. The other categories….well…. there’s always room for improvement.

The tool generates personalized recommendations, but unfortunately – since we don’t own our home – a lot is beyond our control (we’re not going to invest in an energy efficient refrigerator or a dual-flush toilet). Here are four recommendations I CAN do and I added to my personal action plan:

1. Switch to all-natural stain remover. While we’ve made the switch on all other cleaners, Shout stain remover is still a laundry room resident. It began with grubby toddlers whose clothes simply didn’t come clean any other way (and no one leaves my home with stains on their clothes. No one.) And the relationship has endured because my husband has developed a mystifying magnetism for stains. (Just two days ago, he simply spoke to the plumber and ended up with a caulk stain on his pants.) We’ll see if his wardrobe can withstand something milder than Shout. We’ll see.

2. Substitute or eliminate one air-freighted food item. My youngest daughter is a bit of a finicky eater, but she adores almost all tropical fruits – especially mangoes (I call her my little mango monkey). This year I’ll try to wean her from one of these luxuries and find a more eco-friendly substitute.

3. Compost kitchen food waste. This used to be a no-brainer and my husband was actually quite compulsive about tending to the compost pile. But, we moved a little over a year ago to the edge of a national forest in the mountains. Now, we can’t leave food scraps outside lest we attract coyotes and mountain lions and javelinas. (What’s a javelina, you ask? Oh, just an ornery, wild pig kinda thing.)

4. Plant containers for herbs or vegetables. Again, we used to cultivate our tiny yard with gardens galore, but now we’d need to surround it with an electric fence to deter aforementioned wild animals. We tried a few containers on our deck last summer, but we didn’t understand how harsh and unpredictable our new climate is. This year I hope to do better and more. Do you think coyotes or mountain lions would get to a topsy-turvey tomato planter hanging from a tree??

I plan on visiting regularly to continue to click-off my achievements (so gratifying!) and also to continue to add to my personal action plan. I have a long way to go to catch up with the “leaders.” (Aaahhh, good ol’ competition – nothing like a race to the top!)

Wondering how green and healthy you are? Or what easy ways you can be greener and healthier? Visit Practically Green today to find out!

And – join us Thursday night at 6pmPST/9pmEST for a tweet chat about action plans, New Year resolutions, and general ways to live healthier and happier!