There are a handful of books I’ve read that I’d consider truly life-changing. Grace for the Good Girl, The Screwtape Letters, Last Child in the Woods and In Defense of Food are among those.

And now? I’d add Jen Hatmaker’s 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess to the list as well.

The premise of this book is simple, but the results are anything but.

Jen Hatmaker, author and Bible teacher, took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.

Over the course of seven one-month challenges, she fasted from excess in seven different areas: food, clothes, spending, media, possessions, waste, stress.

This book is a journal of her struggles along the way and the lessons she learned through each fast.

Can you imagine eating just seven foods for an entire month? We have an unbelievable variety of food at our fingertips, while much of the world suffers without enough food for basic nourishment, and yet we take it for granted. What if we took time to actually think about and appreciate every bit of food that went into our mouths?

Or as you look at your closet overflowing with clothes, can you imagine wearing just seven articles of clothing for a month? Without worrying about what other people might think?

While every chapter in this book touched me in some way, it was the possessions chapter that had the most impact on me. I literally cried my way through it, which may seem odd given my focus on decluttering and living as somewhat of a minimalist.

But here’s the thing. You know why I declutter my home so often? For my own sanity. For the peacefulness that comes from not having overflowing shelves and an abundance behind every door.

Jen challenged this thinking so poignantly in this as she talked about the needs not just around the world but in our own communities. As I shovel things out the door and to the closest donation center, she was prayerfully donating items to specific families who needed them. As I wash my hands of all this excess stuff (that seems to find its way into our home time and time again), she is looking for ways to bless individuals and to hold on to items until she can bless someone specifically with that item.

What a selfish stance I’ve taken in the past, thinking only of the effect that stuff has on my own life. I still want to clear that stuff out, but I want to do so for the benefit of others; and I want to sacrificially give to others as well, not just when something happens to be in my way!

Jen’s book is radical, no doubt, and she doesn’t ask her reader to imagine living the rest of their lives with just seven foods or seven items of clothing. The goal is to step back and look at each of these areas with a new sense of clarity and intentionality. To see the waste and the excess and to walk away from those things.

Enter to Win

I received a review copy of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess for free, but I loved it so much that I want to buy a copy for two Life Your Way readers!

To enter, fill out the form below:

This giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, 5/17. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well! Open to U.S. residents 18 years old and above.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (Plus a Giveaway!) is a post from Life Your Way

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The following post is from Katie of Kitchen Stewardship:

source: Aberdeen Proving Ground

Did you know that of the 84,000 or so chemicals floating around the American marketplace, the EPA only has “sufficient health and safety information” on 200 of them?

The New York Times recently poked fun at parents who make their own cleaning supplies from baking soda just to try to avoid toxins, and although they also included helpful information on the pervasiveness of toxic chemicals in our world, Andy Igrejas is afraid the public will miss the point: that chemicals are making us sick, and the government has little to do with making the situation better.

In classic backwards logic, the 35-year-old law governing chemicals gives them the same amount of credit and leeway as human beings: innocent until proven guilty. Only they forget to take any of them to court to make sure they didn’t commit any crimes or harm any citizens. If a certain chemical is proven to be harmful, the law makes it very difficult for government agencies to restrict its use.

It’s time for a change.

The Safe Chemicals Act, introduced in May of last year and due soon for a vote in the Senate, offers much-needed reform to our toxic world.

What’s in There?

Some of the points the new act would address include

1. Require EPA to identify and restrict the “worst of the worst” chemicals, those that persist and build up in the food chain;

2. Require basic health and safety information for all chemicals as a condition for entering or remaining on the market;

3. Reduce the burden of toxic chemical exposures on people of color and low-income and indigenous communities;

4. Upgrade scientific methods for testing and evaluating chemicals to reflect best practices called for by the National Academy of Sciences; and

5. Generally provide EPA with the tools and resources it needs to identify and address chemicals posing health and environmental concerns.

I’m not one to get very, if I can help it, and I do think that government does a bit more meddling than it ought. After all, dumb laws are responsible for flame retardants in children’s sleepwear, which takes away my free choice, and raw milk being illegal to sell in Michigan, which I can at least work around.

I don’t think government should make all of our choices with us, but of course there have to be some laws of the land, or we’d all be in a mess of trouble.

Will the Law Help?

source: Lady Dragonfly CC

Is this Safe Chemicals Act a healthy balance between government making the decision about good and bad and simply requiring information to be shared with the consumer? Will it help us get rid of some things that really are nasty?

Allow me to toss out some brief opinions on each point:

1. Sounds good to me; can getting rid of chemicals possibly be bad? (I bet there is a way. Someone will tell me the way; I’m waiting to learn.)
2. I’m excited to have more information, and hopefully that information will be easily accessible to the consumer. Where this point could go awry is the tax payer money it will cost to enforce.
3. How in the world does this point realistically shake out? I guess I need to read the act to see what practical steps are recommended to achieve what is an admirable but vague goal.
4. This sounds like a good idea…how much will that cost? Will positive change really result from better testing?
5. As long as the EPA doesn’t start saying that innocuous substances, or perhaps things like raw milk, need to be banned, I’m hoping this point can’t go wrong.

You can read more about the Safe Chemicals Act here and even see the full text of the act here along with some other links of interest.

Do Something to Make Change Happen

If you’re feeling politically active, sign the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families petition here and join over 76,000 other people (hoping for 100,000) in asking your Senator to clean up the toxic chemicals in the U.S. Are you in the D.C. Area? Join the stroller brigade to bring awareness to taking action on toxic chemicals.

The Safe Chemicals Act seems like good legislation and a bandwagon worth jumping on, but any time the government gets involved in daily life, there’s a risk.

What if all the information is as (not) helpful as the federally regulated “zero trans fats” labels that allow trans fat to be used? This is the same governing body, we must remember, that mandates vaccines that many parents disagree with and don’t recognize naturopathy as a genuine medical tool worthy of insurance, even though many find healing with naturopaths.

I’m not sure how many decisions about toxic chemicals the government is qualified to make, but hopefully in this case, knowledge will be power. Knowing what chemicals are swimming in the sea of commerce and just how those chemicals might impact our children’s health may give concerned parents and other citizens the fuel they need to teach one another how to create healthy homes, government regulations or not.

Popular opinion seems to have worked in getting BPA out of most containers on the market today, and I’m hopeful that the culture’s tide will turn even more strongly toward the natural life and away from the toxic chemicals that are unabashedly befriending our children daily.

What do you think? Does government have a place in toxic chemical reform? Is this Act something you hope will pass? (If so, sign the petition!)

Sources: SaferChemicals.org 5/2011, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families press release

	Katie Kimball is a mom of three who spends a ton of time in the kitchen making real food with whole ingredients and then blogs about her successes and failures at Kitchen Stewardship. She believes everything in life is a gift from God and should be taken care of wisely.

Will the Safe Chemicals Act be Enough? is a post from Life Your Way

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of CloSYS for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We’ve never been big mouthwash users. Although I love the idea of fresh minty breath, I’m not a fan of “the burn” that comes from traditional mouthwash.

We recently had the opportunity to try CloSYS Oral Rinse, an alcohol-free mouthwash that kills 99% of harmful bacteria and balances the pH in your mouth.

CloSYS comes unflavored, and I was a little bit nervous about whether I would like the taste, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it truly didn’t have any flavor!

(My husband wasn’t a fan of the unflavored oral rinse, but you can easily add a couple drops of the mint flavoring that comes with the oral rinse to achieve a more traditional flavor.)

To use, I brushed my teeth like normal and then swished a couple capfulls of the oral rinse in my mouth for about 30 seconds. After I spit it out, my mouth felt really fresh!

CloSYS promises reduce harmful bacteria in your mouth and fights bad breath for more than eight hours. It does this through eliminating the volatile sulfur compounds that cause bad breath, so you’re not just covering up bad breath; you’re eliminating the source.

Beyond fresh breath, increasing evidence suggests that periodontal disease affects the risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as your overall health. Infections in your mouth may cause bacteria to enter into the blood stream and travel to other parts of the body like the heart. One more reason to pursue good oral health!

Be sure to like CloSYS on Facebook to join the conversation and print a $2 coupon to try CloSYS for yourself.

Alcohol-Free CloSYS Oral Rinse for Healthy Mouths is a post from Life Your Way

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The following post is from Emily of Live Renewed:

source: Sebastian Werner

There are some great posts in the archives of Life Your Way that don’t get much attention anymore. This week, I’ll be sharing some of my favorites. Whether you’ve been around since the beginning or are a new reader, I think you’ll enjoy them!

Green, crunchy, organic, tree hugger, sustainable, natural, responsible, granola… crazy – there are lots of adjectives out there to describe “going green”. Most of them have positive associations, but there are definitely some that would imply you may have gone off the deep end.

I am blessed to have several family members and friends who do a lot of the same “crazy” things that our family does that I can talk to, relate to, share ideas with and who support me and my family our on journey toward making positive changes in our life. I know how fortunate I am to have friends like this and that many people forge their own way toward green and natural living without much, if any, support from family and friends.

So, what do you do when others around you aren’t as gung-ho about green living and living responsibly as you are? How do you continue with the healthy changes you have made to your lifestyle without the support, and sometimes in spite of the criticism and questioning, of those around you?

1. Research

It’s important to have some solid information and facts so we can make the best decisions for ourselves and our families. If there are issues that are important to you, or that you wish that you knew more about, research can help to encourage and inspire you to make important changes in your life. It also helps when others around you might question why you do what you do, so that you can give an informed and well thought out answer.

When I tell people that our family uses cloth diapers, I have gotten the question on multiple occasions, “Well, doesn’t the energy and water used to wash and dry cloth diapers make them just as bad for the environment as disposables?” Ideally, I can answer them with some statistics on the amount of energy required to produce disposable diapers, instead of a meager, “Yeah, they do use energy to clean and dry them, but it’s not the same…”

We believe that the way that we live, the decisions we make, the changes in our lifestyle, do make a difference in our lives and our world. But, sometimes just believing is not enough; we need some solid facts and evidence to back up what we believe. So do your research about issues that are important to you.

2. Be Confident

Once you have researched and know the whys behind your choices, be confident about the changes you are making in your lifestyle. When you know that living more naturally has a positive effect on your life, your family, and your health, you don’t have to apologize about it to others.

Having confidence in the way you live will show others that you’re serious about it and not just jumping on the “go green” bandwagon, and it may help to curb some of the questions or criticisms from those who think you’re just a little bit crazy.

3. Avoid the Attitude

Sometimes people criticize because they feel insecure about their own choices or way of living. Try to avoid giving off the “us versus them” attitude, and recognize that you were probably in the other person’s place not too long ago.

Encourage and help others to make changes in their life without being pushy or preachy by thinking back to what spurred you toward change when you were first starting out. When you connect with others instead of distancing yourself from them, you can help to diffuse some of the reason that they might criticize you in the first place.

source: Katherine Johnson

4. Walk the Talk

“Actions speak louder than words.” One of the best ways to encourage others who may be a little resistant toward going more green, is just to live it out in your everyday life.

When someone questions you about how you can live without paper products in your home, invite them over for dinner and show them how easy it is for your family to use cloth napkins and other cloths and wipes in the kitchen. Walking the talk helps to open up conversation so you can explain why you do what you do and gives you an opportunity to encourage others to make positive changes in their lifestyle too.

5. Keep Your Resolve

Sometimes in the face of criticism or feeling unsupported it can be tempting to go back to what others may consider more normal or acceptable. Researching, having confidence and walking the walk will all help you to keep your resolve when you feel unsupported or misunderstood.

Remember that your lifestyle choices do matter and make a difference, and even small, baby step changes that you make can add up to big overall change over time.

How do you respond when people question or criticize your green lifestyle choices?

Emily McClements is passionate about caring for God’s creation while saving money at the same time. She is a blessed wife and mama to two young children, and blogs about her family’s journey toward natural and simple living at Live Renewed.

Going Green When Others Don’t Understand is a post from Life Your Way

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