Eco-Friendly Families Meet Each Other Where We Are

A little insight into why I write this eco-friendly family living blog and what I hope to accomplish by sending it out into the world.

Writing a blog is kind of a weird thing. If you’re not in “the blogging world”, you probably think it’s a weird thing too. Most people in my life don’t get it, and I’ve just learned to accept it and follow my heart because I really enjoy creating it.

I can’t argue though that, on the surface, it seems a bit odd. I project my thoughts and ideas to the worldwide web, but for what purpose? If it were just a diary, why make it public?

I can promise you it’s not for the money. I just gave up a lucrative corporate job to, among other things, spend more time writing and creating in my little corner of the internet. Except for the tiny few, the money in blogging is a pittance compared to what we could earn in “regular” jobs.

Sharing Eco-Living Nuggets To Inspire Others

While I find the process of writing, photographing, and creating immensely fulfilling, I also share my thoughts and ideas in this space with one big goal in mind: To connect with other everyday families and help them see and believe that we can all be better stewards to our communities and the planet without moving off the grid or losing our minds.

Last week, I saw this article in Repeller (via The Skimm) called “What Kind of Friend You Are, According to Myers-Briggs”. It totally resonated with me. In the Meyers-Briggs personality test, I’m an INTJ through and through. Every description of an INTJ I’ve ever read felt like it described me perfectly.

This article specifically talked about how the Meyers-Briggs test can help us be a better friend and better understand our friends by seeing them through the lens of the unique strengths they each brought to a relationship. Here’s what the article said about an INTJ.

INTJ: The Corner Sage // The INTJ is one of the most independent, private types in the MBTI. You choose your friends carefully and invest your time wisely as to preserve your energy and still reach your goals. You don’t always show up to social gatherings, but when you do, you’re the fly on the wall observing everything — and handing out pearls of wisdom in the most unexpected moments. Everyone comes to you for advice. It’s exhausting, but it makes all your relationships worthwhile and full of purpose.

Repeller

That pretty much defines, in a nutshell, the energy behind my blog. I’m not suggesting I have all the answers (not even close), but I do offer tidbits of information I think might be helpful with regularity.

While I strive to achieve goals and pursue my dreams, sometimes at the expense of showing up at the social activities (because I think they’re kind of exhausting anyway), my blog is one of the figurative corners where I’m dropping my nuggets of advice.

I love to learn and research just for the sake of learning and then share ideas with others. I hope I never have to take another test in my life, but I never plan to stop learning, critiquing, and espousing on the world around me. My blog is my platform for sharing.

We Are Just A Regular Family; We Feel The Chaos

Currently, we are at a crossroads with our planet where we must be mindful of our impact and help heal the damage we’ve done. But how do we make time for that when we already feel like we’re barely keeping our heads above water?

I’m a parent. I’m busy. My boys play sports and do science camps. We strive to share family dinner together. I get it! My hope is that I can speak to the Honestly Modern community in a way that welcomes people in where they are from the perspective of someone who understands the chaos and the craze.

And then, hopefully, give each of you ideas about how to slowly make intentional steps in your life to consume less, waste less, enjoy more, give back to the Earth more, choose people over profit, and create a more fulfilled and abundant life with less waste and less haste.

This photo above is of my son preparing to share a Wawa* hoagie with me for dinner in the back of our SUV between hockey practices for two different teams. Not every day in our lives looks like this, but rest assured I understand the life of suburban parents juggling work, school, extracurricular activities, and whatever else life throws our way.

*Wawa is a beloved gas station and convenience store based in Philadelphia and known for its hoagies (i.e. sub sandwiches). The food is good. Just trust me and every other Philadelphian on this one.

With each blog post and Instagram caption I write, I consider it through the lens of a busy family juggling all the balls of modern life. What will resonate with you? What will matter and feel possible? How can I help you believe that living a more eco-friendly life is achievable, affordable, and realistic?

In our family, we make a lot of life choices to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle in the modern world. We compost (I even own a composting business). We bring reusable bags to Target and the grocery store.

We bring water bottles into fast-casual restaurants and use hand towels instead of paper towels. We buy secondhand and own a lot less stuff than most people. We buy much of our food locally.

But we also drive an SUV because it is perfect for our family’s needs. It’s been so functional for our family, and we plan to lease another one when this lease expires.

We use air conditioning and our clothes dryer (a lot). We buy groceries in plastic. We spend a small fortune at Dick’s Sporting Goods. We fly cross-country to visit family because they live far away and visiting them is important.

We buy occasional meals at fast food shops. We get plastic bags and single-use packaging when we do. We eat Wawa hoagies in the back of our SUV between hockey practices because that’s what works.

The stress. The chaos. The crazy. The feeling that “who has time to worry about zero waste” and “who can afford all those privileged alternatives” is real. I get it.

We aren’t a “perfect” eco-friendly family, and I don’t expect anyone else to be either. No one is perfect and certainly not in the consumerist culture we live in now.

Choose The Ideas That Works For You

I don’t routinely practice every suggestion in my various “X ways to be eco-friendly posts”, and I don’t expect you to either. I research them, try most of them, and share lots of them so that you can find and adopt the tips and habits that for into your life. We all lead different lives so different eco-friendly family living practices will resonate with you in varying degrees.

When you explore the 500+ blog posts I’ve shared about eco-friendly living for modern families, know that progress beats perfection. Small steps add up to big change. Better is better (even if it’s little by little).

Choose whatever relevant cliche suits your fancy, but you get the gist. As I share an ever-growing body of ideas, I hope you find a few eco-friendly family living gems that resonate with you. You’re welcome here no matter where you’re starting, even if you eat fast food dinners in the trunk of your SUV.

I’m not here to judge where you are today. I only strive to be one beacon of light (among many) leading away from a lifestyle of environmental destruction toward greener, cleaner, simpler shores. Won’t you come along as we work to heal our Earth and leave a planet for our children we can be proud to pass along?