BPA resin

Chief Eco Officer: Janelle Sorensen

January 21st, 2009 by Luke Fretwell

Part of a series featuring green moms, the new Chief Eco Officers.

Janelle Sorensen is senior writer and health consultant for Healthy Child Healthy World. She’s a WAHM who tickety-tacks away at the computer while tending her beautiful daughters.

How do you eco?

Some days I eco alot. Some days I eco a little. I just do the best I can. There are time and financial limitations and even moments of submission to the status quo. I’m only human. Years into my eco-journey, I have completely accepted how imperfect I am (I can’t afford all organic foods, I sometimes buy canned foods even though I know they’re lined with a BPA resin, etc). I’ve stopped expecting perfection from myself and from anyone else. I’m happy when anyone takes the smallest green steps. To offset my own “brown” steps, I work and volunteer to help others take green steps. Whether it’s educating parents nationwide or changing local school and city policies, I do whatever I can, balanced against simply living joyfully with my family.

Why did you go eco?

For a long time I considered myself a conventional shade of green (although, at the time I didn’t know how light green I was). I was an adamant recycler. I frequented thrift stores. I was a missionary for protecting the Earth, but really only because the words felt right, not because I had any true understanding of them. My blood started to truly pulse green when I became pregnant with my first child. I realized that everything I ate, drank, and breathed ultimately ended up in this incredibly tiny and vulnerable new little human. I began reading about pesticides and genetically modified organisms and the risks of chemical proliferation and climate change and I knew I had to do something. Everything I do is for my children and their children and all the children of the world.

What’s your favorite eco tip?

Reduce your consumption. Reducing consumption is good for the Earth, our pocketbooks and our livelihoods. If we weren’t out shopping or buying, we’d have time to think about more important things. I want to walk, run and play with my kids. I want to absorb more books on the library’s shelves. I want to grow the food that I eat. Life should be about living not buying. It’s so much more fulfilling and it’s so much better for the Earth. The U.S. spends more time shopping than any other nation. It’s time to get back to living.

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