Perfection isn’t the goal!
Eating clean and/or organic, reducing chemicals in your environment and body, and trying more holistic approaches to good health don’t have to be all or nothing ventures. The goal is improvement and consistency, not perfection! 
When it comes to eating organic, yes it can get expensive, but there are some things you can do to help keep this cost down. 1) If you can, buy local from farmers or any local growers who are less likely to use pesticides. Also, local produce has traveled less to get to your table and therefore will be fresher. 2) Think in terms of whether or not you will eat the outside of something. If yes (like strawberries and apples) then buy organic. If not, (like bananas and melons) then buy non-organic to help keep your costs down. Obviously this isn’t a purist’s view of organic living, but it’s still an improvement and a realistic way to approach it.
Also, if you do like to cook, when you run out of something that is used over and over but lasts a while (like my cinnamon below), buy the organic equivalent to replace it. It’s just one small way to slowly eat more clean and reduce pesticides and/or food additives over time.
If you’re looking to reduce chemical exposure in your life, start small like using baking soda or vinegar to clean your toilets. Use coconut oil as a moisturizer. It can supposedly also be used as a deodorant, but I don’t know how this works.
Little changes add up to improvement and are much more doable for most people in terms of effort and cost. Try to shop more often in stores whose entry way looks more like this:
and less like this:
I’m going to be doing more research on this topic because I truly believe there’s always something we can do to improve, and it doesn’t have to be so daunting all the time. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I do think it’s possible.
Do you have any tips to share?
Colleen
Continuous improvement – definitely the way to go! A little improvement in the way we eat, think, treat others, makes a huge difference all the way around. Thanks, Cary!