TrueGoodsJan (1 of 1)
Editor’s Note: Elizabeth Wasserman of TrueGoods.com joins Conscious Magazine to launch a column on Consciously Clean Living . This topic is important to Elizabeth because of her passion for empowering people to lead healthier lives through honest, accurate, relatable and personally-tested information. Check out her interview and feature here.


Most people have heard the old saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

While that maxim indeed holds a certain degree of truth, a less cynical view of one’s circumstances allows for the belief that our best intentions can generate a positive result, no matter how many false starts we may sustain in the process. For example, consider the times in your life when you’ve undertaken a sincere effort to improve your personal health, decrease your carbon footprint on the world, or make attempts at becoming more mindful as a consumer and citizen of this Earth.

Perhaps you felt overwhelmed by the enormity of the undertaking.  Having prepared yourself to make large-scale changes, you may have stumbled right out of the gate. Let’s say you intended to exclusively purchase only the most natural foods, then found yourself submitting to the reality and convenience of processed meals soon after.

For most of us, the concept of living healthfully is much different than the reality of our everyday lives.

That doesn’t mean we should give up our grand aspirations in favor of apathy. Irrespective of the myriad and varied motives we each have for wanting to live a more mindful life, we can rally around the intention of establishing healthier families, both for ourselves and future generations.

We’re all human, so it’s not a failure to make missteps or detours along the way. Indeed, it can be a circuitous journey toward making changes that are aligned with your goals for healthy, non-toxic living. Nonetheless, it’s my belief that best intentions are perfect launch pads from which we can all learn, grow and change together.

So where to begin developing a new non-toxic lifestyle?

Start at home, the housing for products that intimately affect the health of you and your loved ones. For instance, choosing both ecologically and biologically safe products to clean your kitchen with is a tremendous intention toward improving human health on a larger scale. Sure, volunteering to clean vast swaths of endangered wetlands is a noble undertaking. Nevertheless, focusing on improving your own living space is just as impactful – and arguably more sustainable.

Ultimately, there are no “right-or-wrong” reasons for going ‘green’ and no faulty logic for wanting to live a healthier life that’s also harmonious with the world at large.

At one time or another we all have true intentions of changing the world, or simply saving it. As we learn from each other and make incremental yet meaningful progress, our reach extends like ripples from a pebble thrown into the ocean. For instance, by focusing on what’s healthiest and safest for ourselves, by purchasing only truly non-toxic products, by default we’re also fighting hazardous working conditions in manufacturing plants across the globe and contributing to arctic and aquatic cleanup efforts.

Differences and boundaries aside, we inhabit this world together. Why not work as a team to support our very best intention – saving ourselves?

Photo: Studio Blue

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FROM THE EDITOR
At Conscious, we are inspired by stories that cause us to think differently and think big-picture and so we set out to tell stories with the help of leaders and influencers in the social good community. You can read more stories like this when you subscribe.