Chief Eco Officer: Jenn Savedge

September 17th, 2008 by HowYouEco

Part of a series featuring green moms, the new Chief Eco Officers.

Chief Eco Officer: Jenn Savedge

Jenn Savedge writes The Green Parent blog and is author of The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living. She focuses on helping parents raise kids that care about the environment without trashing the planet.

How do you eco?

I’m a firm believer that every little change makes a difference, so I make try to make every aspect of my daily life from cleaning my home to shopping for groceries as green as possible. But I can’t do it all. It can be hard to deal with “eco-guilt.” As a green author, a lot of folks expect me to be the model of “greenness” at all times. But I’m just a regular mom who is very interested in going green and tries make a difference everyday.

Why did you go eco?

I’m a big animal fan and worked for a number of years lobbying the Congress and United Nations to ensure better protection for endangered species like elephants and tigers. When my kids came along I found it tough to fit it all in. It was hard to keep up my garden and walk everywhere with a little baby in tow. My first instinct was to set eco-matters aside and focus on my kids. I then realized that eco-matters affect my girls as much if not more than all other decisions I make to keep them happy and healthy. So now, even with my work and their many activities, I eco for my girls, for their present and for their future.

What’s your favorite eco tip?

Focus on the money-savers. People seem to think that going green is only for those who can afford it. The essence of going green is to use less stuff, and to be more discriminating about the stuff we do need to use. More often than not, that translates into major savings (and who couldn’t use a little extra green?).