It isn't easy being green - especially when you're urban and love Thai take out. But I'm sure gonna try.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Urban Zucchini Mama Take 1

I'm essentially a city kid. I grew up in one of the most sophisticated cities in North America and then moved to Manhattan, where I thrived for almost ten years. Now, a writer mom living in New England, I find myself torn between the world I was raised in, and the world we live in.

A sale sign outside Bloomingdales can act like a carrot dangling, and take-out beckons from every corner. But a garbage can full of containers plagues me, and how much stuff does one person need? Between you and me,  recently I've begun to imagine what it might be like to have my own goat and even a chicken or two...

I know I'm not alone. I can't be the only urban mama out there trying to do what's best for the planet and my family's health all the while driving around in an SUV? (I know, I know, but I do carpool sometimes, and in winter the hill I live on requires all wheel drive just to get out of the driveway.)

This is a blog about the choices I'm making to simplify and health-ify our life. It's about the small decisions, and the not so small decisions I make regularly that seem to both baffle and amuse many of my urban friends. (It's true, I don't have a microwave. And we get by just fine.)

But this blog is also for you - other urban folks - struggling to figure out the same decisions, but don't have the time to think about them. Here's where I can help. I'll offer you tips, tricks and product reviews to help navigate the overwhelming complexities of trying to simplify our lives. Ironic, isn't it?

I'm an expert when it comes to shopping and research. I spent eight years reviewing products for a prominent parenting website that is now part of the Disney Family Network. I've tested everything from strollers to cloth diapers and a gazillion toys. I know which questions to ask and what research to do. And I love to research products - sometimes to my own detriment, but absolutely to your gain.

This summer I took my first plunge into living on the other side. I bought a whole slew of zucchini. I shredded it, measured it, froze it, and am now storing it so that I will have it in winter months when organic food is scarcer, pricier, and flown in from places far away. I'm the Urban Zucchini Mama preserving food just around the corner from the subway, a grocery store, and my favorite Thai take out.