Eleven years ago I started working for a leading nonprofit Zero Waste organization, and my life changed. It also got a lot more complicated.

You see, my eyes were quickly opened wide to the many ways our purchasing choices and habits can affect our own health, the environment, and the lives of people around the world.

It soon became an urgent personal goal for me to take what I had learned about the way we produce, consume, and dispose of the “stuff” of our lives and use it to live in a way that was greener, healthier, and more socially conscious. I took a close look at every corner of my life — from the food I ate to the clothes I wore to the products I bought for my family.

With the journey came hours upon hours of reading articles, reports, guides, and blogs, as well as trials and tribulations in the department of “green shopping.”

I learned a lot about myself as I tried to perfect my practices and be the greenest I could be, sometimes with less than great results. I learned living sustainably in a culture that seemed destined to remain a throw-away, plastic-ridden convenience paradise was, well, really hard.

But it doesn’t have to be hard for YOU!

Enter Green Iris, my “open notebook” blog where I’ll share all the tips, tools, and inspiration I’ve gathered over my decade-plus green journey to help YOU live your healthiest life.

And no, this is not an exercise in showing off my most perfect Zero Waste Life! Instead, at Green Iris we will embrace the notion of living an Imperfectly Green Life and support each other through the challenges and slip-ups.

My goal is help you, no matter where you are on your own green path, demystify what it means to “be green,” and to offer practical (and MOM-FRIENDLY!) tips that will make you feel empowered on your green journey with every step you take.