The Green Family - Eco Living, Eco Birth and More

Who Is "The Green Family?"

The Green Family is not the name of the new neighbors down the street, rather it refers to a family who has made it their business to ensure they are doing their part to help preserve, protect, and promote good ecological practices. There is an ancient Indian proverb that says, "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." What that proverb implies is that unless this generation takes care of the Earth, the next generation won't have much to work with when it comes to natural resources. Everyone has a part to play when it comes to conservation and protection of the environment and we shouldn't be waiting for a government decree to begin doing our part.

The green family has learned that the best place to begin the teaching process is at home, when the kids are young. By creating environmental awareness at home and including all members of the family in the process, a lot can be done to stave off the pollution and environmental destruction that takes place every day. Eco-kids learn from games, educational programs, and activities how to preserve their ecology and environment.

How Do We Become A Green Family?

In order to become a green family, there are some simple things that can be adopted which will help the environment and enhance green living. To go green a family can buy organic foods that are free of pesticides and chemical-based fertilizers. By the way, organic food is affordable and besides being much healthier for the family, organic growers help to preserve the earth by not polluting it with chemicals. When laundry needs to be done, washing a full load of dirty clothes saves energy. By the way, use eco-friendly laundry detergents that are not so hard on the fabrics and don't have harmful chemicals in them. This suggestion is primarily for the teens in the household - don't stand in front of the fridge with the door open for long periods of time trying to decide what you want to eat. Decide beforehand and open the fridge to get the food out, then close the door. Using energy-saving light bulbs is another way to conserve electricity. These few things are small samples of the myriad ways you can go green family style.

The Color Green

It's no accident that the term used is "going green" or becoming a "green family". If you check the meaning assigned to the green color family, you'll find that the color green indicates nature, environment, healthy, renewal, youth, spring, fertility, and vigor. When we see a beautiful stretch of fields and woods, certainly most of those references flash through our minds. Going green means keeping and restoring these meanings to our world.

What Is Eco-Living?

Eco living is using sustainable products to become as self-sufficient as possible when it comes to the necessities of food and energy dependency. It's learning how to reduce dependence on big food corporations to feed us and taking ourselves off the grid in terms of energy dependency. When thinking about community eco-living, it means going back to "the good old days" where the traditional way of life revolved around what you were able to do with your own hands on your own land. Rather than depending upon sources far away to supply the things needed for survival and economic activity, small communities that focus on sustainability tend to be able to meet the needs of their members quite adequately.

Eco-Birth and Eco-Kids? 

However, "eco" doesn't mean living on a commune somewhere in the hills. On another level, eco-birth is a way of referring to water birth, which takes away all of the "hard" exterior items like beds, sheets, and interventions, and allows for the birth of a baby in a pool of water. Water births can take place in eco-friendly tubs at home, or at birthing centers where water births are a regular occurrence. Very eco-friendly. These babies will later become Eco-kids, kids born into or raised in families who are ecologically conscious. Eco-kids may also learn the value of being green and eco-friendly through educational programs. Either way, eco-kids find a lot of ways to help older people get the idea that taking care of the planet is the least we can do for the generation that is coming up next.