I am a retired Chiropractor-Turned-Stay-At-Home-Mom. My chiropractic education trained me on living healthy, physically and mentally, but more importantly, connecting the environmental factors to our health. And although I have always been conscientious about how wasteful we are and how much we abuse our natural resources, I wouldn’t classify myself as an environmentalist, in the traditional sense of the word.
But it does really bother me that we live in a disposable and “we-wanted-it-yesterday” society and that “quick and convenience” takes priority over the environment. I’m guilty of that sometimes too but I am trying to change. And I want to do it in a fun and simple way, without being too radical or becoming a pack rat by hauling my neighbors’ garbage into my house for reusing. I also don’t want to be preachy or rigid about green living. I definitely believe in the 80/20 rule. This way, if I do get lazy one day, I won’t feel too guilty.
“I’m turning into my Mother!”
Well, it’s true and I am proud to admit that I am turning into my mother! - and a little bit of my mother-in-law, as scary as that might sound. They have been the ecological savvy matrons for years without realizing it. In fact, they’ll profess that they were just trying to be frugal! They always reused ice cream tubs, yogurt containers, and take-out containers, and never bought new plastic containers…until the studies have shown that plastic containers may leak chemicals into foods. Yikes! Now, they store non-food items in them. There goes their hobby of trying to match up plastic tub lids to the bottoms without losing their minds. They also have been reusing glass jars even before recycling became a household word and even now, they rarely put glass jars out for recycling because they reuse them. If everyone was like them, Tupperware and Glad companies would go out of business. Imagine that!!?!! No more plastic! No more dependence on petroleum. What a concept.
Now, I – the one who always complained that we had too many empty glass jars and plastic containers in the pantry – am filling my own pantry with glass jars and non-recyclable plastic containers. I am also looking at ways to reduce buying “want” items and just buying the “need” items…call it being frugal or being an environmentally conscientious consumer but I am starting to really dislike clutter and waste. I started to think that may be I can reclaim things to renew instead of buy new. Also, mass produced imported goods, especially from China, (and don’t get me started on that – that’s another blog in itself.) were starting to turn me off. So, I started this green journey.
Ecokaren the Etsy Shop
When I decided to sell my chiropractic practice and stay home until my teenagers are no longer in need of a “chauffeur”, (I have other roles but I won’t bore with the job description) I started to knit and crochet with organic yarns while waiting for them to finish their after school activities. (It’s ironic that chiropractic means “done by hand” in Greek and I end up still using my hands even when I’m not practicing chiropractic.) I gave away quite a few of my eco-friendly creations as gifts and some people suggested that I should sell my ever-growing selection of handmade eco-goodies. Frankly, I think they were getting tired of getting scarves and washcloths for holidays and birthdays.
One day, while trying to figure out if it was the right day to take out the recyclable, I read the town’s Sanitation Department’s information book. I was in shock as I realized I knew nothing about recycling. I didn’t know that I was supposed to take off the caps on plastic bottles before recycling them! So I started collecting them, in fear that if I threw them out, they’d sit in landfills or be incinerated, spewing out toxins out into the air. So I started making birds’ nest magnets and my first shop, ecogeneration was born to sell them.
Since then, my business evolved and now it’s stocked with green gifts and home decor in a new shop. I am also leading a team of eco-minded sellers called Eco Etsy, where more than 300 eco-minded sellers support each other.
Being the doctor in me, I love to educate people and send out a message that we can all reduce, renew, and recycle easily so this blog was born shortly after I opened ecogeneration on Etsy. I share green tips, tutorials, reviews, and eco-news regularly. I also feature Etsy Eco-sellers who are creating artistic and creative goodies with ecology in mind. In doing so, I hope to help these eco-minded indie artists to get their message out. My philosophy is that you don’t have to be too drastic or radical but try to do one ecologically responsible thing each day. And what’s better? You’ll save money in the long run and feel great while doing it.<
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been asked to write for the following blogs.
The Eco Diva
Handmadeology
Eat Drink Better
Eco Etsy
Modern Hippie Mag
The Mogul Mom
Crafting a Green World
Perennial Chef
Currently, I am the managing editor of Green Living Ideas where I am working with other writers on sharing more green living ideas.
Thank you for reading and I hope come back often and check out what I’ve been up to make this planet a little better place for our kids. I hope you’ll join me in that endeavor. Oh, and, leave me a comment or two when you visit; I would love to know that you stopped by. And I hope you’ll try my products on ecokaren on Etsy. I know you’ll enjoy them. When I’m not tweaking the back-end here, you can find me on facebook, twitter, Pinterest (My newest addiction) and Google+.
Any questions? You can e-mail me. I will try to answer within 24 hours, barring any “severe” global warming related weather conditions.
Thanks for keeping it green!
Karen ♥
