EcoMoms are in the air. A few weeks ago, Lynn Anne Miller reached out to me with some great links, that served as inspiration for an article in La Marguerite. I felt a kinship with Lynn. She and I are moms, with a background in marketing, and a passion for green things. Her story of leaving the corporate world, and following her passion resonated with my own. It is my great pleasure to host Lynn today, and to let her tell you her story:
It’s now been just over a month since my first post and the launch of OrganicMania. As a mother of two, I’m very concerned about building a healthy environment for my children.
OrganicMania was started as a way to share my research and opinions about when it truly makes sense to go organic. But OrganicMania is turning into so much more than that – it’s turning into a community, and it’s become my passion.
Thank you to everyone who supported my fledgling steps – especially the bloggers who’ve offered advice or found my site and left comments. This means the women – WhyMommy of Toddler Planet, Sher of Wrekehavoc, Gift of Green, Rejin from Urban Botany, Beth from Fake Plastic Fish, MC Milker from Not Quite Crunchy Parent, Margaret from Whirlwind, Mama K from Non Toxic Tots and mama k nj, Emily from Wheels on the Bus, and Jessica from Surely You Nest. This also means thanks to my “token males” – Jeff Steele, the father of DC Urban Moms and Dads; the megablogger Geoff Livingston; Nicholas from The Place of Dead Roads and Dean Hua from Sachi Studios, who got my blog up in no time. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to post comments or simply to visit the site. And most of all, thanks to my wonderful DH who encouraged me to start Organicmania. He’s now calling himself “a blogging widower.”My life truly has changed since I began blogging. How? Let me count the ways. I have:
1. Realized that organics and green living are more than simply an interest of mine. I want to find a way to make these passions fit into my work life too. This is obviously a huge change, and I’ll be blogging more about this as I explore what new doors may open for me;
2. Met new friends, deepened existing relationships and even talked with some in “real life;”
3. Had more fun writing than I’ve had since my days as a newspaper reporter fresh out of college;
4. Learned a lot about the organics industry and the green movement;
5. Taught myself to do a few technical things on my WordPress blogging platform, boosting my technical self-esteem;
6. Moved from observing the blogosphere for years to feeling a part of it; and I
7. Feel incredibly happy about all of this.
I feel more alive as a blogger. Connected. It’s odd, because here I sit alone at a computer, yet I know I am plugged into a huge community. It also sounds trite, because I have known about this phenomenon for more than a decade. But it’s one thing to know about something as an observer – it’s something totally different to live it.
Perhaps these feelings are hitting me especially hard, because as a Mom, I’m not accustomed to taking much time for myself. All of my friends are asking, “How are you finding time to do all this blogging?” I think the secret is that I’ve just about given up housework! ☺
Marguerite, can you hear my 5-year-old screaming, “I’m on google!” all the way in California??
Thanks so much for this nice mention….I’m excited — and I know others will be too – about some great ideas we have percolating!
Lynn
http://www.organicmania.com
Organic, and A Question
I enjoyed the post, and I say “go for it!” The site looks great. I also agree with the housework comment. Something has to go (or at least be put into a new paradigm of priorities).
That said, I’d like to make a tangential comment, and offer a tangential question, that some might find interesting, having to do with the word “organic.”
We (humans) are organic, of course. Trees are organic. Many foods are organic, or at least mostly organic.
But, as many of you know, hydrocarbons in general are organic in a key sense of the word. Indeed, gasoline is substantially organic. (Don’t drink it though.) “Organic chemistry” is the study of carbon compounds.
So, that leads me to an interesting question to consider:
Q: Do you know, for every one pound of gasoline you use in your car, what amount of carbon dioxide comes out of the tailpipe? Is it 0.2 pounds? Is it 0.5 pounds? Is it nearly one pound?
The answer, as it turns out, is approximately three pounds! Actually, it’s slightly more than three pounds.
But how can that be? You burn ONE pound of gasoline in your car, and THREE pounds of carbon dioxide come out of the tailpipe?
Yes, I know that this is not the type of organic topic that the theme here refers to, but I think it’s also a helpful, interesting, and surprising (to some) notion having to do with the global warming problem, energy, and organic chemistry.
Cheers.
hey organic mommies!
i have a degree in environmental science + love to feature environmentally friendly products + services.
be sure to enter to win a $100 whole foods market gift card, whole foods gift baskets, eco friendly children’s books + greenworks ecofriendly gleaners on my blog mod*mom
Jeff, thanks for the ‘organic’ quizz. It does give new meaning to the notion of carbon storage!
Mod Mom, thanks for stopping by. I must have really gone on the other side (of consumption that is). Although you do promote some good stuff on your site, you are still pushing for consumption of not so necessary items, and I must admit I am uncomfortable with that.
way fun links here, so much great enthusiasm for the topic at hand and best yet some really awesome information – wonderful share – thank you!!
Yes, Karen, I thought you and Lynn would have a lot in common, starting with healthy food!
It’s been fun reading all these nice comments. Thanks so much! —
Lynn
http://www.organicmania.com
the post is helpful and encouraging, i enjoy finding my way through greenland, small g. the comments spell the progress of our return to the natural course.
Marguerite, i see the excesses of previous consumerism, translated into green marketing. as you do, i notice too much being bought and sold in the good names of organics, recycled or sustainables.
i shrink at the thought of more objects being made and moved for no other purpose than to entertain or occupy. it is still more resources taken for naught.
Thanks Nadine. The thought occurred to me of deleting earlier commercial comment, but then I kept it to make my point . . .
This is also one of the reasons why I do not take ads on this site. I feel it is important to keep some pockets free from consumerism, and I certainly want La Marguerite to stay pure.
Interesting commentary on green marketing and lovely profile of Lynn. I am a fan of her site and am interested to read more here. Fully agreed that the best enviro move is usually to do nothing. Stop consuming. Stop using so many products. That’s why for green cleaning I am really into using vinegar and baking soda. And on that topic, I am worried about the proliferation of essential oils in so called green products, even recipes for homemade stuff. Some of them are endocrine disruptors (lavender, tea tree oil) and I think all of them are hurting marine life bz of overuse. Looking fwd to poking around more on your blog!
Thanks for the green tips, Mamabird!
[...] after starting OrganicMania, I wrote this post about How Blogging Changed My Life, which ran on LaMarguerite. As I wrote then, I “realized that [...]