The Green Caregiver

              For Earth Day, I wanted to write about environmentally-friendly Caregiving. Some of you reading this may already be thinking my promoting keeping it green is not keeping it real. There are so may products involved with caring for the elderly, a lot of disposable goods, and I can honestly say it isn’t easy to be environmentally friendly, but here’s a few tips.

                First and foremost, keep your loved one’s environment clean and almost sterile. If your loved one has a compromised immune system, that can put them at risk for all sorts of health problems, including infections like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Most stores sell environmentally friendly cleaning products, but you don’t even have to buy those if you have some simple basics in your home, like vinegar, baking soda, or lemon juice.

                I am ashamed to admit how dependent I was on paper towels, but I made a conscious effort to use dish rags whenever it made sense to do so. It saves some money as well, if you can become less dependent on disposable items and use recyclables like towels. This tip is not always so easy in practice, but if you keep a towel around to wipe down counters and the bathroom, you will reduce the paper products you use – the trick is to keep the rag or towel handy so it’s the first thing your each for instead of the paper.

                Another idea is purchasing “chops” for the bed. I used a pad underneath that had a plastic liner and was disposable, but since the chops were on top, they were so absorbent that many times I could just throw them in the wash and reuse them, and recycle the pads underneath for a number of uses.

                Another great way to celebrate earth day, is simply to get your loved one outside to enjoy some fresh air. Gramps enjoyed sitting on our screened patio out back and listening to his portable music or reading the paper (and we always recycled newspapers). We would even play cards out there, just to get some sunshine and Vitamin D and fresh air. If your loved one is up for it, take a walk and just enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy Earth Day!