Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Getting Healthy Is Green

Since I started out the week on healthy home remedies, I decided to keep the health kick, well, kickin'.  Today I want to talk about why taking care of yourself is a green thing to do.  The truth is, taking care of yourself and taking care of our environment go hand in hand.  

I have mentioned before that using organic products without toxic chemicals and synthetic ingredients not only keeps those things out of the planet, but also out of your bodies. We have long heard that you are what you eat (more on that in a minute) but with your skin being one big sponge, you are also what you put on (and therefore in) your body.  We have to start facing the fact that some of our collective health issues may be arising from some of this stuff.

Which brings me to...you are what you eat.  This is why it is important to choose locally grown and organic options whenever possible.  I won't jump on the vegetarian/vegan soap box right now, but it's something to educate yourself on when you have time.  When you treat yourself well, you treat Mama E well.  Not only because you are consciously consuming that which is good, but because...

...you consume less medicine.  Less medicine = less chemicals.
...you spend less time in the hospital.  Most hospitals are some of the least green places possible and use tons of energy.
...you can stay active which means walking/biking more and driving less.
...working up a sweat helps to release toxins from your body
...carrying around less weight means less work for your car, plane, train, etc...
...if you are a parent you are raising a whole new generation of children of who appreciate the balance between the health of humans and the health of the rest of the planet.

We are all tied together.  Making yourself healthier, makes all of us healthier.  What are some ways you have found that being healthy helps you make less of an impact?

Tune in later this week for some tips on getting that health through home excercise.

1 comment:

Liz Harrell said...

Fabulous post. I agree. Although we're not vegans by any means, we've switched a lot of things lately. Especially when it comes to organic veggies and milk. We read an article about what all goes into milk and nearly fell out... so gross. Antibiotics, chemicals. Ugh.