This journey has been so great as we've explored new ways, big and small, to make a positive impact on the world! And now it's time to wrap up our challenge - which doesn't mean we stop improving. I hope you'll go back over previous topics to find more inspiration and ideas. And, I hope this last post is useful for exploring a handful of other topics as you go forward! Explore the links below and come up with your own action steps to create change.

Ethical Investing

A few years ago, I realized that while I had made progress on paying more attention to what companies I supported with my spending, I had completely ignored who I supported with my investing. My retirement funds were being managed by someone I'd never met, whose choices may not align with my values. So, being a leader of my local Holistic Moms Network group, I booked Brian Bengry to speak to us about ethical investing. He's a financial planner and investment manager at Conscious Capital Management, and his website has some great info! My husband and I have been working with him for a few years, and love knowing our values are being better reflected in how our money is used - and seeing that investing in responsible companies pays off as well as (and often better than) ignoring how companies treat the earth and its people.

CCM's website has a nice primer on SRI investing (Sustainable, Responsible, Impact) and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance). Check it out to also get a free report on how your investments stack up!

Personal and Home Care

I'm excited to see non-toxic personal and home care products getting the attention they deserve. We can protect our health and the health of the planet by being careful about what we use - and I asked a couple of friends for their help on what resources would be beneficial to you!

My friend Tara, a Norwex consultant and leader, recommends a site I also have made heavy use of: ewg.org. Check out their guides for consumer products to learn all about what chemicals to avoid in your cleaning products, and what to try instead.  Furthermore, the Norwex blog is a great resource! Norwex has plenty of products to help you green up your cleaning routine.

For personal care, as well as personal health products, Arbonne is a very clean brand that follows higher standards than are required in the US, where standards are notoriously lax. My friend Erin loves sharing safer choices available from Arbonne - check it out! Her site lists ingredients to avoid and why. She said influential resources for her were two books: Estrogeneration by Anthony Jay and Clean by Alejandro Junger. 

Jillian, who I met through Tara at a vendor event, is passionate about safer skin and beauty care. This is at the heart of her business with Beauty Counter, a fellow B Corp. Her recommended resource is https://cosmeticsinfo.org/.

I've also enjoyed another resource from EWG, the Skin Deep Database, which rates products based on environmental and personal safety.

Thank you!

Thank you for journeying with me on our quest to be a bit kinder to the planet and its people through our daily habits. I hope you felt empowered to make some lasting changes along the way - and that these guides can be a great resource to revisit time and time again. Let's celebrate our steps, big and small, and cheer each other along the way.

That's at the heart of the community I'm building over in my Insiders Facebook group. Come join us!