Live Green, now this was the project for me. This project, and in particular this Moksha pillar, holds a lot of truth and a sense of realness to me. I love Moksha for believing in sustainability and caring for the environment – when something prides itself on how they are trying to make the world a better place, that’s something I can get behind! For this reason, and many more, differentiates Moksha as a yoga practice.

When it came time for me to Live Green I may have been a tad bit more excited to start this project then the others (thus far), but not to say the others won’t be great. Oddly enough the series of events in my past have lined up quite nicely with the order of my Distance Learning Projects which I have to say have made writing and blogging very complementary. But for this project, this one I knew I had in me.

You may recall me taking on elements of the Thrive Diet for my Be Healthy project. I derived the perfect plan, but if I was to hit two birds with one stone – linking healthy training with overall healthy living – I would need to think outside the box. I wanted to be healthy, yes, but more importantly how? That’s where the Living Green component came in. And so the focus of eating good quality foods in the greenest possible way would be the focus of my Living Green project. I made sure to buy the right foods, all the right ingredients for my shakes, smoothies, salads, and soups, I was ready to commit to making good food and reconnect with everything I ate in a way I haven’t in a very long time. And so I went to the local My Market farmers market (conveniently located right beside my apartment) each Wednesday and stocked up on my weeks supply of fruit and veggies. I’d bike (an excellent mode of green commuting on my part!) to Kensington Market for all the other ingredients I would require such a as cacao nibs, hemp protein, chia seeds, all the good things! And! I’d bring my own bags everywhere I went (zero plastic was coming home with me!). Not only did I implement green into everything I was doing I was also saving a lot of money by doing it. Buying things in bulk saves you a pretty penny and it cuts down on waste, and the clutter in your cupboards, big time. With all the pennies I was saving I would treat myself to dinner and a night shopping at Whole Foods every once in a while. Yes, this alone was motivation enough for me to stick with the plan. And so, this lead to many grand discoveries. One being the versatility of the Mason jar. Glass is better than plastic for storing and these babies are super multi functional. I apologize for those who already knew the wonder of Mason jars, I’m slowly catching up. But trust me, I will never own another cup or Ziploc container ever again. That’s a promise.

Buying local straight from the source, among the other things I mentioned above, cuts down our overall environmental impact. I would then brag to all my friends and family what I was doing in hopes they too would do the same – support and buy local. It got to the point where I knew one farmer in particular (he was from Picton where my marathon took place) by name and he knew mine. He’d ask how my training was going each week and how far I’d run that day, or if I was coming or going. It made my week. I had something to count on, and something I felt super good about.

Taking my health and training and greenness very seriously made for a very busy summer, but it is something I plan to commit to long term. Hopefully my efforts may inspire you to do the same! Or perhaps take on a Live Green project f your own. The possibilities are endless and I have many more ideas I’d be happy to share.