dianes big green purse

Chief Eco Officer: Megan Gerst

October 15th, 2008 by HowYouEco

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

Chief Eco Officer: Megan Gerst

Megan Gerst, founder of Sustainable Motherhood blog, writes for parents looking to live lighter while balancing parenthood, career, and community. Once a city mouse who grew up in New York City, Megan recently became a country mouse after moving upstate. She’s involved in the local sustainable community and runs an event management company.

How do you eco?

My family went from eco-criminal to eco-conscious, but we’re not yet eco-crusaders. We practice the four R’s - Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle. We grow some of our own vegetables and buy the rest local or organic. We reduced the amount of meat we eat and have eliminated heavily processed foods. Much to my husband’s chagrin we often eat leftovers. We use fluorescent bulbs; shut off the lights when we leave a room and the water while we brush. We use reusable grocery bags, water bottles and coffee cups. We limit our use of plastic and use single serving portions in reusable containers for school lunches. We think before we buy and before we throw away.

Why did you go eco?

I grew up in New York City, a very easy place to ignore your environmental impact. When we moved to the country, I realized how our choices and actions impact the environment and the local community. It started with pocket book issues, as we looked at where we wasted money. After watching Inconvenient Truth and reading Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma things really started to connect. I realized that I worked long hours and spent time away from my son so we could buy things we really didn’t need, were wasteful and sometimes unsafe. So after doing eye-opening research on toy standards, I began to live lighter and greener in pursuit of what I call “sustainable motherhood.” Which I define as a balance between your personal well being, parenting, professional achievement, and giving back to your local and global community.

What’s your favorite eco tip?

My favorite thing by far is shopping locally at the farmers market. The vegetables and produce are so much better than than what you find at the grocery store and it is such a great way to support local community agriculture.