How Keeping a Green Journal Can Lead to a Sustainable Lifestyle

When I began creation of the Green ABC's for Kids in 2008, I wanted to find a way to bring green living concepts to kids in a simple way. It was a challenge, and it became an interesting journey. Most of all it became a significant learning experience about how change takes place.

Most of us who have come up against hard to break habits know that we need to implement tools into our daily lives to construct those changes.

As with all positive and important actions, change takes place in a gradual and incremental way. I found out that we can use all the tools we can get our hands on to bring this change to fruition.
How about trying out a green journal?

Here are three viable ways to construct your green journal.

1) Buy a blank journal (on recycled paper, of course!) On the first page write the green goal you have in mind. For example; "I want to increase my usage of public transportation or carpooling each month." As you meet each day write out the ways in which you have replaced driving your car alone, with a car pooling or public transportation option. At the end of each month see how much you have increased your usage of these '˜green' choices.

2) Use a calendar. If you would like to begin to eat more home-cooked in-season foods, use a calendar and list menus for the week. It has been shown that those who write down what they eat pay more attention to what they put into their bodies. Again, at the end of the month see if there is a pattern emerging. Are you staying away from fast food joints, and restaurants?

3) Find the authentic '˜green' you by using a diary. Those people who have made significant changes in lifestyle, either by giving up cigarettes, alcohol, or bad foods, and been successful know that '˜twenty-four hours a day' and '˜'˜one day at a time' are not just slogans. They are indicators of the ways in which you choose to '˜stay in your day'. Replacing irresponsible wasteful habits, with clean, green and sustainable ones is a challenging proposition. Each day your diary can help you gauge the methods you have found that are making your lifestyle eco-friendly.

Change is never easy. However, if a healthy, clean and sustainable world is one that we wish to leave to future generations then we need to find ways to monitor our progress. Keeping a green journal could be just the vehicle for change that we need.