It’s sweet corn season!!! Can you believe it? Have you visited your local farmers market or roadside stand to pick up a few dozen ears yet? Apologies to my non-Michigan friends, but Michigan sweet corn is so delicious, that when it comes to market… it’s an event worth celebrating! If […]
Sustainable Living
Why should I eat local food?
I’ve been talking a LOT about local food lately. It’s summer and when the weather gets warm I quickly become obsessed with my garden (where I grow herbs, vegetables, and fruit), the farmers market, UPick, local roadside stands, foraging in the woods, and buying in bulk to can and freeze […]
Sugar Snap Pea Salad
Since the spring vegetables are ripening in our garden one at a time, I’ve been able to obsessively focus on finding recipes to highlight the perfectly ripe and exciting because they’re finally ready to eat veggies. For a couple of weeks now the object of my obsession has been sugar […]
Introduction to Carbon Free Family
Hi! I’m Erin Augustine and welcome to Carbon Free Family — a blog where I’ll share tips and stories about my sustainability progress, failures, and philosophy.
I hope to help you define what sustainability means for you and your family, achieve progress on your journey from exactly where you are, and debunk the “sustainability is hard” myth.
How Do You Measure and Define Sustainability?
Let’s start with further defining sustainability.
The traditional business definition is the triple bottom line – people, planet, profit – and any good business needs to deliver on all three. I believe these same three values apply to personal life and I apply them in the following ways.
Getting Started on Your Journey
At least once a year (usually in January, but it can be anytime) I like to take a few moments to reflect on life and my progress on my sustainability journey. I think there’s huge value in reviewing my actions to make sure they’re a good reflection of my core beliefs and that I’m living the life of my dreams (or at least actively striving for it).