It's been way too long since I connected with the Brooksfield community and so today I want to share some personal and professional thoughts on green living.

When I started my business in 2008, I wanted to provide a service that helped people make better decisions for their own personal health and the health of our planet. I also wanted to help businesses build a culture of green so that they could implement green practices that made sense, reduced their environmental impact, and boosted employee morale and retention. After a couple years of providing those services, with great success in some areas, and not so great in others - I have just this weekend had what I think is an insightful revelation on where I may have gone wrong, and where I need to go from here. 

The revelation: Most people just want things to be simple. Most people buy products because they want something tangible. Selling green services is often a bit...convoluted. I developed checklists and assessments and resource guides thinking that people would continue to use them over and over. But if any of you are like me, I have plenty of guides and useful resources that are sitting on a shelf collecting dust, or tucked away in a folder on my computer eating up memory that I don't even know I am using. Four months ago, something else happened in my life that has led me to this current revelation - I had a baby! And since you are likely a parent if you are reading this, you know that when that little being enters your world, everything changes and all your priorities shift. 

Cloth diapers, organic baby formula - out the window! Yep - me. The green consultant. Now I do still use the eco-friendly disposable diapers and only organic creams, etc. - but in my new day-to-day reality I need green practices that are easy, and that work for my lifestyle and busy schedule. For working parents, finding a balance between healthy living, green living - heck just regular living - can be hard enough. 

So if you are like me and always trying to do everything "right" - do yourself a favor and just do what is easy enough for today. Does that mean throw everything in the trash instead of recycle, crank up the heat, or leave the faucet running when you are not using water? Of course not. But live green where it is tangible for you whether it means buying recycled content products that you like, using eco-friendly cleaners that are affordable and at your grocery store, or being conscious of your energy consumption. We all define what green means to us. Find your green thing - and stick with it! You and the planet will feel more balanced! 

As for where this revelation is taking me, stay tuned! (A little re-organization on my end may result in a lot of re-organization for others.) 

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