Turning Green

Like a lot of people, the older I get, the more I consider the ramifications behind every choice I make--how it will affect my health, the environment, the people around me and others all over the world. As I consider all of these things, I find myself wanting to make healthy, environmentally friendly and socially conscious choices in everything I do. To make this a reality and do it right though, I have to do a ton of research. Even then, some of the options aren't practical or affordable so I end up compromising and just doing the best I can. With a young family to support, dropping out and becoming a hippie isn't an option--just like buying a brand new hybrid isn't exactly feasible.

I estimate that most people are like I am--interested in making positive choices but somewhat constrained for whatever reason. This is where this blog comes in. As I go through all of the many options out there for everything from what deodorant I should use to where I should shop to the type of fuel I use in my car, I'd like to help others by documenting the research I do--I'll be obsessive compulsive about this stuff so you don't have to. There will be nothing preachy about the content. It will simply be the facts:

1. How does a particular product, food or choice affect the user?
2. How does it affect the environment?
3. How does it affect others?
4. Is it practical?
5. Is it affordable?
6. Are there other comparable options?

Once that information is laid out there, the reader can make his or her choice. There's no pressure to do anything, but I have to say, from my own experience, that just knowing the truth about the sustainability of a certain kind of fish or how my tennis shoes were manufactured, for example, puts enough pressure on me to make a certain choice. Ignorance is bliss but only for the ignorant. (I think I said that.)