middle ground?

I have to admit that I am super impressed by our resident mother earth bloggers. :)

I can relate in that I myself am definitely a passionate person who likes to make an educated decision about the best way to do something and then go for it. I am the person that goes to the library to look up consumer reports before making a large purchase. Whether it is a gas grill or a minivan, I am not comfortable making a decision without feeling like I have a good grasp on all the options, pros, and cons.

I definitely see the pros to eating organic, but the one BIG con is that in my area, it is so expensive! The one and only time I bought a bag of organic grapes... it was six dollars!! I just couldn't justify that... so then my brain rationalizes and says, "Megan, your parents' generation grew up on non organic produce, and they are just fine!"

I actually use that phrase a lot.... because it makes me feel better about feeding my kids something that probably is sub par.

I have tried to make some small changes like switching from margarine to spreadable butter and making sure the milk I buy says that the cows are not given rBST. Again, organic milk is not in the budget at $6 a gallon!

We do shop at the farmers' markets during the spring, summer, and fall, and we have started buying fresh beef and other meat products. Sew, you are totally right, the quality and taste is soo much better than supermarket meat!

I also see the value in using more natural cleaning products, and I see the benefit of using baking soda and vinegar. However, I do love my magic erasers... and I don't trust the mildew in our shower to stay under control without something a little more abrasive. Bleach water, anyone?

However, when it comes to my shampoo, facial cleansers, toothpaste, soap, and laundry detergent, I am just too much a creature of comfort! The same goes for my microwave, and I just can't sacrifice the convenience of quick reheating....That said, I may be willing to consider boiling water in my teapot for tea rather than heating water in the microwave.... :)

I do carefully select our family sunscreens based on the EWG sunscreen ratings, and since budget is a concern, I am okay with our sunscreens carrying a 3 rating even though 0-2 is recommended.

I also select my deodorant off the shelf by which brand has the least amount of aluminum in it, and Dove wins at the moment.

However, my love of Splenda also falls into the comfort category... I have done a lot of reading on it because I know that some people have serious concerns about it. However, my humble google research has found that in studies, massive amounts of Splenda had to be consumed (as in thousands of packets per day) before seeing any negative effects whatsoever.

And since I never consume more than 5 to 10 packets spread among 3 sometimes 4 cups of coffee or tea during a single day (10 is on the extreme side and rarely happens), I don't feel that I am at risk for negative effects. Also I know for a fact that in one packet of Splenda, there is only one drop of sucralose. The rest of the packet is just a starch called malodextrin that acts as a filler. I decided not to stress over 5 to 10 drops of sweetner a day.

As for my coffee itself, I know there is also controversy over chemicals being used to decaffeinate coffee. The simple answer is to only drink regular coffee. My problem is that I don't drink caffeine at all because it gives me the jitters, but I love coffee! So when I first heard this concern,  I decided to do some research to understand it a little bit better.

We drink Folgers coffee at home, and their process basically includes steaming the beans to bring the caffeine to the surface of the bean, and then they use a chemical called ethyl acetate to remove the caffeine. A trace amount of the ethyl acetate may be left in the coffee. However! Ethyl acetate is actually a chemical naturally found in bananas, apples, and pineapples! Folgers says that it would take consuming 500 cups of their coffee to equal the amount of ethyl acetate found in one very ripe banana....

That information is good enough for me, and I am happily continuing to enjoy my decaf coffee!

So overall, my philosophy is just to do the best I can with the budget we have, and I try to make the best decisions with the information I have. :)

There is no reason to stress, and you lovely granola girls are inspiring me to take a closer look at things we take for granted. Thank you for that!

Who knows, maybe in ten years, I will be making my own deodorant out of corn starch and baking soda! ;)