Green Living

Our oldest son, Alex, born in 2001, is a healthy and active boy with so much energy, we get tired just watching him race around. So when our youngest son, Leo, born in 2004, kept getting sick and breathing fast as he neared his first birthday, we were surprised when they diagnosed him with asthma. Since we have no family history of asthma, we spent months learning and struggling with our feelings of desperation and fear when his asthma flared up.

The prevalence of asthma in children aged 5 -14 yrs has risen 72% over the past 14 years. It is a chronic lung condition that makes it very difficult to breathe. Breathing is something most of us take for granted, but when you or your child all of a sudden struggle to breathe, there is a feeling in your core that is so frightening it is hard to shake, sometimes even for days after the episode is over. Now that we are better equipped with how to handle Leo’s condition we have been on a mission to figure out what triggers it and how to combat it.

Even in Madison, our homes are more toxic than ever and because some are so tightly insulated there is little fresh air moving around. As we learned what changes to make in our home to create a natural and healthy living space, we started becoming more and more aware of the interconnectedness with our outer environment. And now we are on a mission. It is hard to deny the reality of Global Climate Change and its effects not only on our children’s future, but yet within our lifetime. Family is one of our core values, and like many parents, when I imagine what Alex and Leo might end up experiencing in 30 years I get pretty worked up.

Even though global climate change is in the media and in daily conversations more than it ever has been, before I started my research it was a big, scary topic and initially it didn’t feel like we could do anything to make a difference. Well, now that we are on a mission, we KNOW we can make a difference and it starts in our homes and in our minds.

Awareness is the key. Awareness of how we consume, what materials are in our homes, what chemicals we use to clean, and what chemicals make up our food. Once we become aware we feel empowered to make changes in how we live and how we perceive the environmental issues we are faced with. Starting small is the best way because in simply committing to do the simple things we recommend throughout our website we think you will feel the impact and you will want to do more. Please help us in our crusade to do something for the beautiful earth that we live on!

Thank you!
Sara and Carlos Alvarado