Okay Ecocentric Moms, let’s admit it: Living an eco-friendly lifestyle is not always the easiest. We try our hardest, but in between rushing to work, rushing home from work, and engaging with our kids – there’s not a lot of time left to live as ‘greenly’ as we would like to. Regardless, there are some things you can do – and do easily – to make your busy green mom life a whole lot easier (not to mention, greener). Here are four awesome, easy tips that will help you stick firmly to your ecocentric values, no matter how busy your life gets.

1. Get Your Kids Involved

As moms, we often let the bulk of the housework fall on ourselves. Sometimes it’s because we’re at home more often than our spouse, and sometimes it’s because we fall into a certain pattern. Whatever the reason, if we’re going to maintain our eco-friendly lifestyle, we need to use every spare minute effectively.

What does this mean? Get your kids to roll up their sleeves and help out!

How does this tip help? With your kids lending you a helping hand around the house, you’ll finish normal tasks faster, leaving more time to spend on other ecocentric activities! In addition, getting your kids involved while they’re young instills the importance of doing their part. When they’re teens, that will be a big deal.

What can your kids do to help?

• Wash dishes in the sink
• Sweep up crumbs
• Put clothes in laundry hampers
• Stack clean plates
• Sort cutlery (you’ll be surprised how much younger kids love doing this!)
• Fold socks and underwear, then put them away

Even if they’re still pretty young, there’s still many tasks that your kids can partake in to take the load off you and your partner.

2. Find (or start) A Local Eco-Mom Co-Op

Getting your hands on fresh, organic veggies is difficult if you have to visit several different stores in one shopping trip. Likewise, making sure you’ve got a steady supply of basics like raw honey, cold-pressed oils, coconut sugar, and herbal teas can be very time-consuming and expensive.

That’s why the smartest busy green moms rely on local co-ops and bulk buying clubs to make sure they always have what they need on hand.

How does this tip help? You’ll save shopping time and money! Large bulk purchases, while convenient, are also heavily discounted. This is fantastic because organic foods can really add up! It really is a win-win.

[bctt tweet=”Large bulk purchases, while being convenient, also come with excellent discounts. Which is fantastic because organic foods can be quite pricey.” username=”ecocentricmom”]

How do they work? It’s so simple: A group of like-minded moms get together and comprise a list of their favorite organic, raw, and natural foods. Each mom indicates how much (in pounds) of each item she’d like to purchase, and they pool their money together to buy them in bulk from a wholesaler. The moms then divvy up the goods between them once they’re delivered.

Bulk buying groups and co-ops near you are super easy to find: A quick online search will point you in the right direction!

3. Use Your Slow Cooker

Busy green moms are usually not inclined to eat TV dinners or fast food, but when you’re starving and short on time, almost anything looks good. Here’s where your slow cooker will save you! Designed to run on a minimal amount of energy (which is great for the environment!), slow cookers are an excellent way to ensure that you and your growing family are eating healthy, nourishing meals every night of the week.

Are you a new mom? Slow cookers mean more rest for you instead of rushing to prep a healthy meal.

How does this tip help? Having healthy, hearty meals made with minimal time and effort is incredibly helpful.

Here’s how busy green moms use them: After you decide what dish you’ll make (soups, risottos, and casseroles are excellent choices), set the heat on high to briefly cook the main ingredients. Afterwards, just add water or sauce to cover and turn the heat down. Then pop the lid on and let your tasty meal simmer slowly to perfection for 3 to 6 hours.

There’s a wealth of fantastic slow cooker recipes online. Which will you try first?

4. Get Wellness Delivered Right to Your Door

Busy green moms find that they lack the time to hunt down the newest eco-friendly products, as well as staying up to date on  the amazing environmentally-conscious brands out there. Lotions and creams, snacks and treats, toys and homeopathic treatments – there’s a huge eco-friendly world out there! We often don’t have enough time to explore it. This is why the Ecocentric Mom boxes are a lifesaver.

How does this tip help? You don’t have to spend hours searching online or days scouring stores for natural products that work wonderfully. With an Ecocentric Mom subscription box, each month you get to discover an exclusive selection of new and exciting products! Not only are they a great value, but they’re delivered straight to your door! How’s that for convenience?

Take-Aways

What tips will you try out? Is there anything you think we’ve left off our list? Leave your reply in the comments section below!

Article Contributor

A freelance copywriter and content strategist, Eden is also a crunchy, eco-mom to 4 healthy kids (under the age of 6!). When not busy writing, she loves getting her hands dirty by making her own yogurt, mixing homemade laundry detergent, or chasing her kids in the garden with a Super Soaker.