Being the mother to two young children and running a website are both full-time jobs. But green living expert, Susan Hunt Stevens, finds time to do both while making the natural a part of her everyday. Her secret? Going green's not that hard and every little change counts. After a substantial marketing career for Boston Media, a subsidiary of the New York Times Company, Stevens created PracticallyGreen.com—a site that encourages folks with their green-minded progress. She hopes her site, which includes a user-friendly tracker (like counting calories), can help people see that living green is a process that doesn't have to be expensive, difficult or too involved—especially for busy parents. Here, Stevens shares her tips for families considering green living.

How did you get into green living?

My son, nearly two at the time, ate a small piece of a cashew and went into anaphylactic shock. We became
part of the growing number of parents whose kids have food allergies. He also had some environmental
allergies, which meant I had to start really reading labels. And so in the process of reading food labels,
personal care labels, and cleaning product labels, I would start researching what else was in them. I was
stunned by how many things were in our products that I didn't really know. So I really came into it from the
children's environmental health side. So I started a blog about the changes we were making in our lives and
I called it Practically Green— a guide to going green without going berserk.

What are a few beginning steps for parents who are considering this lifestyle?

When you look at living a green life overall, it's so overwhelming. Just approach it as what's one thing I can do
today or this week or this month. What matters is very different to every single family. It's about being able to
forge your own path.

1. Get rid of the toxins. I encourage every parent to do a toxin walk around your house and look at the
chemicals—things like Raid. Green cleaning supplies have changed so dramatically in the last five years.         

2. Check out personal care products. This is not something that is regulated.  But you can go to the
cosmetics database by The Environmental Working Group, and you can put in the baby
lotion that you're using and get back a hazard score. Or you can go onto the Good Guide and get back a
score on human health the effect on environmental health and whether the company is socially responsible.

3. Be wary of "The Dirty Dozen". A lot of people have tight budgets and don't have access to organics, or
can't buy them completely. I'm with you! Every year, The Environmental Working Group looks at fruits and
vegetables and how they absorb pesticides and chemicals that are used in the growing—called "The Dirty
Dozen." What that means is that you can't wash it off, it's in there, and it actually changes every year. But
they also have the "Clean 15" that you don't really have to buy organic from a human health standpoint.

4. Take off your shoes. People don't realize that just this simple step, the equivalent of washing your hands,
can keep about 80 percent of toxins that enter your home and your air…out!

You gave some great advice for parents of infants and new parents. Do you have different advice for older kids and tweens?

1. Make lunchtime green. The average quantity of waste that a school child creates from their lunch per
year is 67 pounds. Basic things like switching to reusable lunchboxes, reusable sandwich bags, water bottles,
or putting in a little cloth towel instead of a paper napkin.

2. Explore a green market. Go to the farmer's market where they see the carrot with the green top…they
don't just come cut up in a plastic bag! I think it's also really fun to help them pick vegetables. Kids who get
really involved in shopping, choosing or helping to grow their food have much better diets.

3. Do a trash audit. Do it for a week. Go through the bags, see what's in there and how can your teens and
tweens start thinking about strategies to reduce your trash.

4. Embark on home improvement research. Low-flow faucets and low-flow showerheads can cost 10 to 15
dollars, depending on what you get. A lot of people might be held back because they don't know how to do
it—but put your teenager on the research and have them learn how to install it. This teaches them life skills.

Bottom line: As a parent you don't feel like you have the time to be green—but your kids do. And they have
fun doing it. It's a game, really, to get less trash, use less electricity and save water. And the millennials who
are 18-29 are the greenest generation there's been, and I think this upcoming one is going to be even greener.

What are your top five green tips for summer?

1. Look at your sunscreen. Check out your sunscreen on the cosmetics database by The Environment
Working Group because sunscreen is one of the worst-scoring products.           

2. Eat local. From now until October is the best time to switch to local organic produce because you can get
it from farms, farm stands and even Whole Foods.

3. Avoid frozen treats with additives. A lot of different summer treats for kids, like ice pops, contain some additives in them: high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and artificial coloring. Look at the box and make
sure you're not selecting things for your kids that say Red 40 or Blue 5—shown to cause hyperactivity in
children.

4. Think veggie, re-think meat. You'll probably be barbequeing and grilling a lot, so think about your meat
and your meat consumption. Consider going vegetarian for a day—which can be super impactful for a family
of four. Your food imprint, particularly driven by meat, is just as important as your transportation impact. In
New York where a lot of people use public transportation, not eating meat might be your must impactful energy decision ever.

5. Ride a bike. If you were going to take a taxi somewhere, hop on your bike instead. It's better for the air,
better for you, and you don't have the weather challenges like you do in January!

Plastic is everywhere, so how can people move away from using it, if they should?

First and foremost, get plastic out of the microwave. When it says microwave-safe, that doesn't mean it won't
leach chemicals into your food. There are now really good tempered glass options for plates and cups so that
if a child drops it, it doesn't shatter.

Should we be concerned with bedding?

Yes. The place where I think plastics enter people's lives and you want to be really aware of is with mattresses, especially kid's mattresses. So many are made with foam, and PVC vinyl—which is a very toxic substance.
So try and avoid it in your kid's products, like shower curtains. In your mattress pad covers, choose more
natural covers.

What about toys?

I think it's close to impossible to avoid plastics in toys and electronics but you can limit it. Look for green toys
that are made from recycled toys and don't have lead. Instead of picking a foam puzzle, pick a wood or a
cardboard puzzle.

Many parents are worried about the high costs of a green lifestyle. Are there ways to save?

The sticker shock is still a huge barrier to people. But if you really look at a healthy green lifestyle, you're
cutting back on your energy and water usage, and you are changing the way you consume. Also, look for
vintage, antique or free-cycled items, or choose things that are much more durable so they last longer.

What would you say to a family who isn't able to convert completely?

I've been doing this for five years and I'm nowhere close. Even if it's just one thing per year; that's better than zero things per year. It is a journey that has a different starting point for everyone. Find those things that personally motivate you. For me it was environmental health, for other people it might be trash. It might be saving money. I think everybody just has to feel good about doing the stuff that they've done.

For more information on Practically Green, visit practicallygreen.com.

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