Sophie with daughter Lola

Los Angeles, CA

This planet is a miracle. It is absolutely exquisite or was, until we found oil and created the machinery to mess it all up.

We have done a brilliant job of using up many of our natural resources, in a very short period of time, and in the process, have caused appalling pollution and ecological chaos. We are seeing the results of our unconscious actions first-hand. I personally know many children who suffer from respiratory problems, allergies, neurological problems and worse. We all hear that the cancer statistics are going through the roof. We are getting more unhealthy as the decades pass and it is unsurprising considering the toxic wasteland that much of this planet has become.

I’ve always been close to nature. I was lucky enough to grow up in the idyllic English Countryside. We spent summers making camps in the hay bales and picking raspberries and peas in my mother’s enormous organic garden. It was natural to feel the wet grass under my feet in the mornings, dig for worms and see bunnies hopping across the fields.

I now live in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles and my young daughter sits in a car for sometimes hours a day, looking at emaciated, models on billboards – selling makeup that I now know to be toxic. I have to pay a premium for food that I trust will not harm my family and I am obsessed with chemical-free everything in our home. I know that there are no quick fixes but I do believe that one change makes a difference. There are a lot of us on this planet and if we all do our “one change”, collectively we could create a massive turnaround in so many areas. I have officially become “green” and what drove me to this lifestyle initially, was the need to find a healthier and more soulful way of life.

I am a great believer that we meet the people who we are supposed to meet and that the old saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears,” is true. I ended up taking a college course a few years ago, taught by an incredibly inspiring environmentalist. I hung on his every word because he echoed what I had believed deep down for many years. I decided then and there to dedicate my life to helping to make this world become a better, cleaner, healthier place. I read every book I could get my hands on, and signed onto numerous websites. Most importantly, I began to make simple but powerful changes in my own home.

I am a serious princess – I love my creature comforts and so eco-living doesn’t come easily to me. I am honestly, a rather lazy and reluctant environmentalist when it comes to anything that requires serious compromise. I have a hunch that many of my friends might be the same way. The eco-hard hitters, with whom I am involved, can be quite intimidating in their zeal and commitment. I sometimes think that I either have to be just like them or I’m a nasty consuming mess! I’m probably somewhere in the middle and moving in the right direction.

This understanding is what prompted me to create “Gorgeously Green”. I wanted to write a book for woman, as we are the ones who often make the household decisions about the everyday nitty-gritty things that make a difference. I wanted mothers to understand that it is so easy to make simple changes in their homes to protect their kids and preserve the planet. Moreover, I was inspired to create a program that anyone could do because if it’s not an actual course, I have a tendency to just dip in and skim read. If I have to check off boxes and complete quizzes, I’m more likely to go the whole hog. Everything in my book is doable, easy and super-fun. I cover every aspect of a woman’s life from lipsticks to light bulbs, from diapers to diamonds.

I now live with consciousness and a greater sense of purpose. My daughter is only five but already understands why a Hummer is not the coolest car on the road. She recycles, eats organic and has a bedroom full of green houseplants. She also eats Hershey’s Kisses and candy corn and plays with a doll that was probably made in a sweatshop – she walks the middle road too. I can’t guarantee that she won’t get sick – of course, but I know she will inspire her friends to be kind to the planet and I will be rest assured that I have done everything in my power to keep her rosy cheeks glowing.

I cannot bury my head in the sand anymore. Facing the cold, hard reality about the environmental crisis we are facing has made me a better person for sure. I now stand accountable for all of my actions, positive and negative. Even on a bad day, I can still manage to rinse a yogurt cup out and put it in the recycling bin instead of the landfill. I think about all my friends doing the same and am thrilled that even that one change is making a difference.