Living green is harder for some than others. Some of us live in cities and states that don’t have curbside recycling programs. Some of us are busy diaper-changing, house-running mothers. Helga of Live Green Mom has been both. In fact, where she’s found the time to raise two children, green up her family’s lifestyle AND blog about it may be the biggest attraction for Live Green Mom’s readers.

Recently, our resident green and solar guru Taylen had the pleasure of asking the Live Green Mom some questions about the trials and triumphs of attempting the holy eco-trinity: Living. Greening. Mothering.

Why the green life? What was the light bulb that clicked on to start this lifestyle?

A: When I was 12, in 1982, I spent the summer in Hamburg, Germany with my grandparents, my Oma and Opa. My grandparents brought their own shopping bags to the markets with them.  Everyone was actively recycling and there were places to recycle everywhere, including metal bins placed here and there to drop off your old batteries.  In 1982! Unheard of here in the USA! I remember thinking “What a pain, why don’t they just throw it away?” (more…)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg has been involved in the sustainable and green movement for most of this young century. What makes his space in the online realm jump off the screen, though, is the passion and drive he brings to the green world. He started his environmental blog, Sustainablog, in 2003 while teaching as an English professor. Since then, Jeff has built a green shopping site, joined the Green Options (now Important Media) network, and taught the world his lessons in green living as if it were another semester on campus preparing pupils for the “real world.” You can find Jeff through his Twitter account or become a fan on Facebook if those are more your style.

1) As a former English professor, from where did the curiosity for Sustainability stem?

I’ve always been a nature lover — I’m a great example of how getting kids outdoors builds a lifelong love for environmental issues, as I spent a lot time during my childhood hiking, camping, fishing, etc. The motivation for starting sustainablog, however, grew from reading books like Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, Ray Anderson’s Mid-Course Correction, and even Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael novels. Like many people, I’d bought into the idea that the environment and the economy were at loggerheads by nature… these works opened my eyes to the idea that the economic system could be a force for environmental conservation and restoration. I became fascinated by these ideas, and started sustainablog as a way to grapple with them. (more…)

He’s a father, a sustainable blogger, a winner of Treehugger’s Best of Green award, and a green Twitter extraordinaire. But most of all, he’s just a man trying to better the life of his family and those around him sharing Mother Earth. Derek Markham agreed to sit down and answer a few questions about living green and how he’s spreading the good word through his blog, Natural Papa.

1) When did the journey of living the natural life start for you?

For me, a lot of the ‘waste not, want not’ mentality was something I grew up with, but it wasn’t until I started volunteering (and later working for) our local natural foods co-op that I really started investigating many of the issues affecting our communities and environment. I began reading all I could about our food system and our wasteful culture, and determined that I wanted to do things differently, both for myself, and for my children. (more…)