Painless Ways to “Go” Organic

One of my closest friends (and fellow mom) is not exactly “green”. She tends to skew towards the tested and reliable brands and not towards the “fad” of baby organic products.

I recently persuaded her to try a few organic products and, low and behold, she has been very pleased with the results. So … here are a few tips to getting your parents, friends, mother-in-laws and other skeptics to slowly embrace healthy alternatives.

• » See also: Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 Activities to Teach Your Child How to Live Green
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1. Organic mac and cheese. Easy. It costs a tad more than the standard (and Kraft now offers an organic version), but the argument against that unnatural orange color was enough to convince my skeptic. She tried Annie’s Organic and said her son happily gobbled every last bite.
2. Eco-friendly dish soap and dishwashing detergent. This one took a bit of selling on my part. I went out and purchased a bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap (citrus scent) and left it at her house. After a few days of trying it (and reading the back of the bottle) she agreed that it was nice to be able to pronounce all the ingredients.
3. Eco-friendly sunscreen. Being fair-skinned herself, she was no stranger to purchasing large amounts of sunscreen. I emailed her the health report of popular sunscreens at the Environmental Working Group’s site. And sent her a link to Jennifer’s great post. She was horrified to see the rating of the product she regularly bought and slathered all over herself and her son.

I’m convinced that once you start educating yourself and others there is no turning back. Next on my agenda is getting her to replace one produce item with an organic version.

What are your tips to converting stubborn friends and family?

Photo Credit: Creative Commons license by Jspatchwork on Flickr.

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