In the past decade, 'going green' has gone from an activity solely for the burnt out hippie to a wide-spread, popular trend. Everywhere you
look, celebrities are wearing t-shirts advertising organic cotton or living green. Some of the trendiest designers and labels have developed their very own line of earth-friendly clothing (American Apparel's is my favorite: affordable and simple), and even large corporations like Target and Sam's Club are carrying organic or recycled goods. And as this trend grows, many people are questioning it: is it truly authentic to go green now or is it just for looks? And many people say consumers simply buy organic so they can fit in with this growing trend. This is very true. Organic has become a luxury label. With skyrocketing prices on non-organic food, the pesticide-free, certified stuff is only getting more expensive and, therefore, more 'glamorous' to purchase. While I am often one to go against current fads and trends, this one I find to be worth following.Even if you don't believe that the ice caps are melting, polar bears are dying, and the worsening greenhouse affect is causing us to die slowly in our man-made, atmospheric gas chamber, it is still our duty as humans and inhabitants of this earth to take care of the land we call home. For once, I believe that the mainstream media has actually done something worthy with it's power: make popular a movement that could potentially change the course of our planet's declining natural resources and protect future generations from the destruction that the past 100 years of urban development has brought about.
My eco-revolution came after volunteering at a pesticide-free, educational working farm in my area. Everything used on the farm came from the animals or the garden, and each animal had it's own work to do and it's own products to give. Everything that could went into the compost pile and everything else was saved and reused or fed to our live garbage disposals: the pigs. After spending so much time in this environment, I couldn't help but come home every day and notice all the unnatural chemicals I was putting in and around my body on a daily basis. My deodorant had aluminum in it, my mouthwash a cancer-causing dye, my shampoo a plethora of perfume and color-enhancing chemicals whose names I couldn't pronounce.
I realized that these chemicals were produced somewhere in a factory using test tubes and synthetic materials. Humans are supposed to be outside in nature, hunting for food that grazed it's entire life on the open plains, eating berries found right on the bush, and bathing in crystal clear streams that have never seen garbage or human waste. While I am quite aware that
this existence is impossible in today's environment, I have decided to try and get a bit closer to that original state. So, I went to my best friend's house bearing gifts last week. I gave her all my hair products, perfumes, makeup, and nail polish, leaving the shelves in my bathroom satisfyingly clear of almost everything except for my Burt's Bees collection. I also went to Lakewinds, probably one of my favorite places in the tri-state area, purchased a pound of wheat berries, watched a couple videos on YouTube, and sprouted and grew my own wheat grass, which I plan to cut and juice every morning once the stalks have reached the right length. I've borrowed my neighbor's ice cream maker twice, and I have enough homemade strawberry jam to last me through the winter. I am aware that these small changes from just one person are not a revolution that will change the planet. However, it is a revolution and reformation of my own way of living, a revolution within myself and my mind, one that I think, through my own fervent excitement of the cause, will transpire into the lives of people whom I may inspire to follow my lead. And, if I inspire no one but myself, I will still feel altogether satisfied with my eco-chic organic cotton t-shirt, cooly sipping on my wheat grass infused smoothie, as I think of more ways to try and conserve this small, vulnerable planet that I live on.
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