Welcome to Accidentally Green! I’m so glad you’re here. As I start off this new year with this new blog, I’d like to share my inspiration behind Accidentally Green.
First of all, I’ve made a lot of lifestyle choices not because I’m so environmentally conscious, but because I seek to honor God with my life. I try to be as healthy and frugal as possible, too. I’m not a crunchy, granola chick; most of my choices just tend to be green … quite accidentally.
As a believer, I think it’s important to be a good steward of what God’s given me. Some of these gifts include my life, my family, and this earth – and I want to be mindful to take care of them. If someone would be gracious enough to let me borrow their vacation home (oceanfront property, anyone?), I wouldn’t trash the property during my stay. Same thing goes with this earth. It’s God’s creation, and we’re all here borrowing it temporarily.
My interest in a healthier life started in 2006. I stumbled upon some information about healthier shampoo, and immediately wondered why shampoo was unhealthy. After a quick Google search, I couldn’t believe that there really were toxic chemicals in shampoo – documented by many credible sites, not just a couple of whackadoos. I remember stopping by my usual discount store and walking through the shampoo aisle, picking up random bottles of shampoo and scouring the ingredient lists. Sure enough, toxins were included. I freaked out.
The problem was, aside from a couple harmful ingredients – sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate – I didn’t know what other things were toxic and what was safe. And I didn’t know how to choose a healthy shampoo. I ended up being wary of soaps of any kind for about a year, but I didn’t know what to do. Then I read a copy of Stacy Malkan’s “Not Just a Pretty Face.” I found so much of the information I had wanted to know. Toxic ingredients aren’t just in shampoos, but most hair styling products, makeup, and personal care products. When I read more and more of the book, I dumped more and more of my cosmetics.
Around the same time, I discovered I was pregnant with my first child. I was thankful I had purged the most toxic things (like nail polish and hair dye) so I didn’t have to be so concerned with birth defects. But then I heard that cleaning products also were incredibly toxic. I did another purge of cleaning products and started using safer concoctions. While I hadn’t given much thought to what my husband and I were exposed to, I didn’t want a toxic bathroom cleaner leaching out of my bathtub’s surface onto my new baby.
I knew that I couldn’t continue living with just a small understanding of what was healthy and unhealthy in our home. So I started researching (as a journalist, research is something I actually enjoy) and knew that more people needed to be aware of the toxins that are lurking in everyday products. I began writing my yet-to-be-published book, Accidentally Green. And once that was finished, I knew a blog would also get the word out.
So here we are!
I don’t claim to have all the answers for a healthy life. I’m just a normal wife and mom who’s concerned about her family’s health. But I think we can make a difference by making small but healthy choices every day. By reducing our exposure to dangers, our children might have a fighting chance of not being diagnosed with a preventable terminal illness.
Even though I prefer good news, there’s a lot of disheartening information out there. I don’t want to stick my head in the sand just because we’re surrounded by the bad news of toxic products. In the end, I want to know what’s actually happening. While many American companies make a profit by selling poisonous products, other companies produce healthy goods. In Accidentally Green, I’ll share with you the dangers we’re up against, along with healthy alternatives. There will be good news sprinkled in with the bad, along with basic information you need to know.
I hope you’ll join me by honoring God with healthy choices that just so happen to be accidentally green. And I hope you’ll have a healthy and Happy New Year!
Latest posts by Hilary Kimes Bernstein (see all)
- The Day I Realized Healthy Choices Don’t Guarantee Health - July 21, 2015
- Avoid Synthetic Bug Sprays with All-Natural Repellents - July 16, 2015
- The Day I Learned I Could Cook Real Food - July 13, 2015
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