Move toward an organic, natural lifestyle

I just found out my ecological footprint using the WWF site. It was very interesting. Apparently, mine is below the UK average, but I’m still living as though we had 2.63 planets to support us!

One of their recommendations is to buy more seasonal food (grown locally, of course) so that’s something I’m going to try and do next time I go to the supermarket. That means (to name a few!) courgettes, broad beans, Welsh lamb, lettuce, strawberries, peppers, asparagus, cherries, aubergines and peas. Yum!

Now I’m back in England this goal seems easier to achieve. Organic food is much cheaper and available-er. I think the only organic veg we’ve been buying consistently is potatoes, though. Not sure why. Perhaps I still have some kind of mental block on the price thing. However, we’re buying only organic milk and butter. Hurrah!

I went to the organic supermarket and it is truly lovely. I didn’t buy anything though. I didn’t even consider buying anything. I think I’m still in this state of mind where I think I can’t afford it, although I know it’s all relative.

Strangely, they had quite a pitiful selection of essential oils, just the standard lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary… so I’ll have to buy the ones I need from my usual health food shop anyway.

I haven’t bought any organic veg yet but I’m planning to check out the new organic supermarket in my town as soon as I can get around to it (it’s a bus ride and then a bit of a walk). I need to buy some essential oils which aren’t available in the health food shop I usually go to so it’s a good excuse to head out there and be dazzled by the abundance of natural products I can’t afford!

In Israel, where I live, there is much less awareness of organics, the environment, and natural living than I was previously used to in London. Awareness here is growing (a couple of days ago I noticed that a new organic supermarket has just opened in my town) but it’s a far cry from the environment I grew up in, where it was the norm.

Unfortunately, this has lead to a decrease in the natural-ness (?) of my lifestyle. Organic food and natural home and beauty products are just that much less available here and I guess I haven’t had my attention on it enough, to make special trips to seek them out.

I’ve started buying organic lotion and hair conditioner from a health food shop I pass often but I would like to slowly make the move toward buying more organic food. This is not something that’s going to happen overnight and at the moment I simply can’t afford to go wild in the organic produce aisle, but I’ll start small, buy organic veg once or twice a month, and see how my budget handles it.