Torn between two ideals

[nandmsmom]

I'm finding myself torn these days. On the one hand I am commited to living an environmentally sound lifestyle. This includes buying things that are organic or easier on the planet. I know not everyone agrees with this and its not a debate, just what I'm doing. On the other hand I'm trying to be as fiscally responsible as well.

To those ends I am raising an ever larger garden and planting fruit trees and bushes. I'm also in 2 coops to attempt to reduce the price of the organics and natural health and beauty products.

However, I find myself sometimes desiring to go more into the natural products.I am also sometimes looking longingly at the circulars and coupons with cheap products that would save so much money.

Am I the only one who drives herself crazy doing this? Am I even making any sense?

[Cricketlegs]

I can understand. It is the difference between health/earth/economics.

All you can do is find a good medium such as me.

I buy foods that I find healthy that I have to prepare and cook myself and try to stay as far away as I can from processed prepacked foods.

After a while I noticed how much I was saving and without coupons.

Coupons are really for processed foods with just a limited amount out there for scratch type cooking like sugar and oil and butter etc.

I also try to use vinegar and olive oils to clean my house and natural cleaners and drain cleaners etc.

I recycle not only for the earth but because it makes my trash bags go further.

I do salute you on your garden and trees. I think that is great!

[nandmsmom]

I am a scratch cook as well. We have very few processed foods in the house. It is things like looking at the organic vs regular fuits and veggies, natural vs regular health and beauty products.

[cab54]

This is a fight I think many of us have with ourselves. I hate to buy milk with hormones and antibiotics in it, but when I see the price, as compared to the store brand-----yikes!

Same with HBA. They make you feel as though you are putting poison on your skin/scalp if you use a 'regular' product, rather than organic. And you don't want chemicals and poisons--for you or your kids! But when you look at organic stuff---twice as much and more! And no coupons for them.

One thing I use that helps some is I get organic extra virgin coconut oil. Use it for skin (both face and body----and on hair as a conditioner!) I get it at WM in the vitamin section (??) Don't know why that is, but it's a bit cheaper than the other coconut oil I've found--it's about $10. But a little goes a LONG way, and it replaces many HBA items for me. It's a solid at room temp. But if you put the jar in hot water (or just rub a little betweeen your hands to warm) it becomes liquid. Sinks right in. Nice stuff.

[elphie]

I have found my frugal choices and my green choices to be very compatible, I just had to be more creative and find things that fill both purposes...

-I use vinegar and water for my houshold cleaning, (spray cleaners, toilet cleaner, rinse agent in dishwasher, fabric softener, and so much more)
-homemade laundry and dishwasher detergent are made from natural products, -reusable bags saves me money at Aldi where I would have to pay for bags,
-I get a discount on my trash bill because we only have on small bag per week due to recyling,
-cooking from scratch reduce packaging waste as well as dollars,
-meatless meals are also good for the planet as well as the budget
-my garden is cheap and green
-I drive less by combining errands, leaving the car parked and walking from store to store, and just staying home sometimes
-air drying my clothes
-setting aside a baking day so the oven only has to preheat once for several things
-energy efficient changes to my electric usage such as better insulation, higher a/c settings, and CF lightbulbs
-repurposing old products to make them new and useful w/o spending money also saves them from the landfill
-1 part vinegar to 4 parts water is also a really good rinse agent for fruits and veggies that aren't organic
- buying meat from local farms and processing plants

I'm sure there are more things that do double duty on this topic but that's all I can think of and you get the idea. I think the biggest thing to remember is that green products are still a product a company is trying to sell you and that a marketing exec has packaged to make you think you must have it. Figure out if you really need to buy this product or if you can do it just as green for less $$.

[Sinny]

It's so difficult to go completely green, but even a little bit helps a lot. We are so lucky to live in a land where demand dictates the products companies produce and offer for sale. Every day new green products are hitting shelves all over the country. Even if you buy just a few of these products, you're helping to create demand and further the trend. As market share increases, competition follows and prices go down. Also, as the ugly truth about chemical additives and processed foods comes to light, change will come quicker. We have a chemical addiction and the sooner that changes, the healthier the planet ( which includes us, of course! ) will become.

[Trishagirl]

Yeah we just do the best we can do and it should be enough for us.
I recycyle to make less garbage.
I'm in a freecycle club to reuse stuff or donate it to someone who need it or can reuse it.
I buy meats from local processing plant and they use no preservatives and have organic meat.
I grow a garden.

[Kaos Kitty]

I know how you feel. We have switched to organic milk all the time, but organic cheese and meat are out of our price range right now. (I'm waiting to buy a freezer so we can buy organic meat bulk/wholesale). Some days I'll buy organic pasta, other days I see the plain old white stuff is on sale and my frugal gene kicks in. I'm organic about 50% of the time - last year it was only about 30%. In the coming years I'm saving up for a farm for more gardening, and my own organic dairy, chicken and beef. Slowly but surely I'm adding on to my organic living percent. Rome wasn't built in a day. But I feel the frustration, I want to do it all now!! LOL!

[txsun]

[QUOTE=cab54;1015738]This is a fight I think many of us have with ourselves. I hate to buy milk with hormones and antibiotics in it, but when I see the price, as compared to the store brand-----yikes!
[QUOTE]

I don't see the point in buying "hormone/antibiotic free" meat and milk. According to the FDA the potential estrogen intake from 1 lb of meat per day is about 10 nanograms and 59 nanograms from milk. From soybeans it is 908,000. Also, the hormone of concern in milk, bovine somatotropin, is a protein and therefore is broken down in the stomach before it is absorbed into the body.

As for drugs and antibiotics, there is what is called a withholding period. This is a certain amount of time that must pass between the last dose given and the slaughter of the animal and is usually measured in days or weeks depending on the drug.

Stefanie

[nandmsmom]

Thanks for all your replies. We do all the same things with recycling and trying to live as lightly as we can. We just bought a cow and pig from a local farmer. They weren't organic, but local and I know how they were raised. I would love to be able to find all local foods and change the way we eat to promote that.

[IntlMom]

I just wanted to chime in here and say that I totally understand!

My desire to feed my family (and clothe them and clean my home and.......) naturally, preservative and additive free, and organically is always, and I do mean ALWAYS at odds with my drive to find the best deals and play the "how far can I make my money go" game.

I find myself feeling guily when I stock up on things like junk cereal that I go for less than a dollar, or margarine that I got for .25, or rice a ronis that I got for free, or cake mixes for less than a quarter.......you get the idea.

I WANT to scratch cook more, I WANT to do without the junk, the hormones, the chemicals, the colouring, the stuff you cannot pronounce.....but it's just so dog-gone hard for me to jusitify it!

I definitly do more organics, all-natural, scratch cooking than nearly everyone I know. My friends all think I'm that "crazy coupon organic psycho lady".....but I feel that I am failing when I buy a gallon of conventional milk at 2.88, and leave the 4.69 a gallon organic milk on the shelf.....
My store does put things on what they call a "manager special", they discount stuff that is getting closer to it's date, and alot of organic/natural items get that discount-ppl just don;t buy them enough to move them off the shelf, I guess. I always go through the "natural foods" section to see what has been marked down - I have gotten Horizon milk for free (markdown plus coupon), Cascadian Farms cereal for under a dollar, free Horizon yougurt (actually, they paid me a penny for each one I took out of the store!!) - I do find decent deals, but not nearly enough.

I use half lean conventional beef, and half organic TVP when I cook beef dishes, I make a lot of organic bean dishes, homemade pancakes, homemade syrup,.....every little bit helps, but I have so much more that I could be doing.

So, really really REALLY long answer, "Yes", I totally get the whole struggle - you are not alone!!

[perSue]

I agree with much of what everyone else says here...

The dollar stores have witch hazel, peroxide, alcohol, vinegars, bicarbonate of soda, etc for great prices. These are cleaning products for house and personal hygiene as well.

I save tons of money just in that area.

Now, moving on to food... I can afford to spend a little extra on organics because I save elsewhere. It all kinda evens out... for me.

I don't spend money on anything but whole grains, produce, and for the boys dairy/meats (on sale).

When you eat well, you actually end up eating less...
You also don't need or crave the bad foods, like sugar, salt, chemicals in most other foods.

Now I'm not saying we _never_ have cereal in the house or that I don't on occassion buy white pasta instead of whole grain... it's a matter of smart budgeting and thinking that once in a while won't hurt... and it makes it special... rather than mundane!

So, worry less.
Here's how you can do it if you want or need to "see" or "feel" the difference:
Go to the store and price all the foods you'd normally buy.... then buy the foods you want to have (organics, whole grains, etc.).

NOW... compare the size (bulk vs not) and price (per unit) that the things cost.
You'll find you're saving more than you realize!

[geckoace]

i agree with everyone it is hard to find the balance but we stick with organic milk and meat when we can ( i can pretty much afford the hormone free grass fed ground beef but steak well...)

we are very conscious of our energy and water use and since we are frugal anyway most of the kid's clothes and mine are second hand.

i try to buy fair trade coffee from my local roaster and we are in a csa for the majority of our produce.

i try to pack my son a waste freee lunch (cloth napkin and all) and use microfiber cloths to limit paper towel use. we recycle as much as possible ...but we dont compost for which i feel guilty constantly

there are tons of other areas were we are not as green but we try

so cut yourself some slack every step you take is a bigger deal than you realize