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SUSTAINABLE MAMA + LIFESTYLE

TEACHING YOUR KIDS ABOUT OUR PLANET THROUGH SUSTAINABLE PURCHASES

 Modern Mommy Doc


PUBLICATION DATE:

Apr 21, 2021

TEACHING YOUR KIDS ABOUT OUR PLANET THROUGH SUSTAINABLE PURCHASES

 Modern Mommy Doc

CATEGORY: SUSTAINABLE MAMA + LIFESTYLE

With all the things we have to communicate to our kids for them to grow up and be thriving humans, explaining how the world got so cluttered with our own man-made disaster of plastics and manufacturing can feel totally off-limits and waaaay too heavy to chat with your child about.


I know that sometimes it’s even hard as a Mama to take your time shopping, and make conscious decisions. Sometimes the “easy way” is so much more important to our own emotional wellbeing. It’s only when we think about the whole saving-the-forest thing that we might start to feel a bit guilty about the 20 paper plates we used in one day.


With Earth Day tomorrow, we thought we'd quickly share some of our favorite sustainable products and practices. Before we get into our post, this is the perfect place to announce our partnership with THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES.


THiNK OUTSiDE is a monthly subscription box full of outdoor gear and resources that will get your kids away from a screen and outside exploring nature! A box all about the outdoors arriving each month and giving them something to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but it’s always the things that are the muddiest that keep my child busiest the longest! 


Check out what’s inside:


GET $10 OFF USING CODE: THINK10

Here are some of our favorite tips and every-day sustainable products that you can switch to now, that also won't break the bank!


Organic can seem "trendy." It can seem "pricey." My #1 tip is to shop the grocery store's value brand of organic food. You can shop oils, condiments, and spices to save a buck and get quality food. Click the link above for a list of affordable organic brands that your local store might carry.


You may have seen these food storage wraps in the store and thought, "what is that?" One way that you can do away with single-use plastics in your home is to switch from plastic bags to beeswax wraps for food storage. They wash with soap just like a dish. These may seem a little taboo, however I encourage you to try it out!


If you're not down with the Beeswax Wraps, you can also choose to purchase glass Tupperware. My #1 tip for glass Tupperware is to make sure they stack!

I'll be the first to admit: it's faster, easier, and I don't have to wash a million dishes when we have disposable plates. You may think you have to do away with the one-time use and luxury of paper plates to be sustainable. Also, when shopping at our regular department stores or grocers, the sustainable options are so much more expensive. It's not an option to buy a $20 pack of 10 paper plates. Seriously? Who can afford those?


I recommend searching for bulk sustainable options from restaurant supply websites, or simply click the link above to check out our Amazon pick for sustainable paper plates.

Plant-based plastic products are on the rise! Have you thought about what you can replace with it? You can totally switch out your tall kitchen bags with plant-based kitchen bags! How cool is that?



When you use products that are more earth-friendly, chances are they are better for your body, too!  You can find products that are better, without having to spend more! See the trend here? Buy in bulk, save money, save the planet,

and replace products at home with earth-friendly ones.


Mama, you're practically

a super hero.

Exploring the brands you use everyday and finding out what sustainability practices they have in place is great if you're really trying to support yourself in finding earth-friendly companies to buy from. Most companies will have sustainable packaging, recycling principles, or responsible sourcing.



Those are just a few ideas for you, Mama! Hopefully these tips bring you closer to sustainability, without feeling like you're spending too much, or have to work harder to do it!

*This post includes affiliate links! We believe in the companies we choose to partner with and we would love for you to use the link to purchase! Affiliate links and referrals programs help us fund the free content that we provide here at Modern Mommy Doc. Our work team here is made up of Mamas just like you, so supporting Modern Mommy Doc means supporting Working Mamas! 


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By No More Hot Mess Moms 25 Apr, 2024
Not sure how to navigate your next visit with your child's pediatrician? I've got you.
By SYSTEMIC CHANGE 18 Apr, 2024
About Our Guest: Whitney Casares, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a practicing board-certified pediatrician, author, speaker, and full-time working mom. Dr. Whitney is a Stanford University-trained private practice physician whose expertise spans the public health, direct patient care, and media worlds. She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Journalism degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is also CEO and Founder of Modern Mommy Doc. Dr. Whitney advocates for the success of career-driven caregivers in all facets of their lives, guiding them toward increased focus, happiness, and effectiveness despite the systemic challenges and inherent biases that threaten to undermine them. She speaks nationally about her Centered Life Blueprint, which teaches working caregivers how to pay attention to what matters most amid pressure, at multibillion-dollar corporations like Adidas and Nike, and at executive-level conferences. She is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and medical consultant for large-scale organizations, including Good Housekeeping magazine, Gerber, and L’Oreal (CeraVe). Her work has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, and TODAY Parenting. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today. Dr. Whitney practices medicine in Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband raise their two young daughters. About the Episode: Dr. Whitney shares the principles she's learned as a solopreneur in the health and wellness space, the failures she's faced, and the truths she wishes she would have known from the very beginning. Episode Takeaways: This is not an episode about “how to grow a multimillion dollar business” or how to double your following overnight. I really shy away from talking about business because it’s disheartening to see that most of the people making online are people who are trying to teach you how to make money online. This is an episode that comes from many conversations I’ve had recently with people who are wanting to start a side hustle or even a full blown business, but are curious how to do that with the rest of life that’s going on around them. I’ve recently made a hugely drastic shift in my career and have moved from private practice into a company called Blueberry Pediatrics . It is a shift that still allows me to practice medicine as well as still running Modern Mommy Doc full time. The thinking behind this shift really is born out of these 8 tips I have about running a business while you’re working full time or maybe still taking care of your family. 1) Know your why. 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With your time, with your money, with your emotions. People ask me how I grew and I told them it took a lot of time and a lot of my own money. There were times that that was discouraging, but because all of this was tied to my why, I was able to push forward. 4) Figure out what you can outsource and what has to be done by you. At the beginning you might not have any money to outsource with. But set yourself up for success and know what you’ll hand off when you get to that point. Don’t waste time trying to do it all. 5) Network based on what you love & pay for good PR. When you want to grow your business, network with the people that you genuinely connect with, not just because you might get a sale. Figure out who it would be mutually beneficial for you to get to know. And when it comes to PR, you’ve gotta pay to play the game. PR isn’t for instant leads, but is also a long game like networking. 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ON THE PODCAST


By SYSTEMIC CHANGE 18 Apr, 2024
About Our Guest: Whitney Casares, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a practicing board-certified pediatrician, author, speaker, and full-time working mom. Dr. Whitney is a Stanford University-trained private practice physician whose expertise spans the public health, direct patient care, and media worlds. She holds a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Journalism degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is also CEO and Founder of Modern Mommy Doc. Dr. Whitney advocates for the success of career-driven caregivers in all facets of their lives, guiding them toward increased focus, happiness, and effectiveness despite the systemic challenges and inherent biases that threaten to undermine them. She speaks nationally about her Centered Life Blueprint, which teaches working caregivers how to pay attention to what matters most amid pressure, at multibillion-dollar corporations like Adidas and Nike, and at executive-level conferences. She is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and medical consultant for large-scale organizations, including Good Housekeeping magazine, Gerber, and L’Oreal (CeraVe). Her work has been featured in Forbes, Thrive Global, and TODAY Parenting. She is a regular contributor to Psychology Today. Dr. Whitney practices medicine in Portland, Oregon, where she and her husband raise their two young daughters. About the Episode: Dr. Whitney shares the principles she's learned as a solopreneur in the health and wellness space, the failures she's faced, and the truths she wishes she would have known from the very beginning. Episode Takeaways: This is not an episode about “how to grow a multimillion dollar business” or how to double your following overnight. I really shy away from talking about business because it’s disheartening to see that most of the people making online are people who are trying to teach you how to make money online. This is an episode that comes from many conversations I’ve had recently with people who are wanting to start a side hustle or even a full blown business, but are curious how to do that with the rest of life that’s going on around them. I’ve recently made a hugely drastic shift in my career and have moved from private practice into a company called Blueberry Pediatrics . It is a shift that still allows me to practice medicine as well as still running Modern Mommy Doc full time. The thinking behind this shift really is born out of these 8 tips I have about running a business while you’re working full time or maybe still taking care of your family. 1) Know your why. We’ve heard it a thousand times, but if we don’t know the driving force behind why we want to do a certain thing, it’s infinitely easier to stop doing it when things get hard. Ask yourself why you’re so committed to this one particular area. In my business, my why is to help, support, and encourage women (specifically working moms) so they don’t feel alone in their journey. So when I’m pulled away from my family for a time period or I’m exhausted from traveling, I remember the greater mission behind what I do. 2) Expect that you’re going to fail. I just pulled the plug on a project we had been working on at Modern Mommy Doc for two years: the Modern Mamas Club app. I thought it was going to be so valuable for moms, when in reality it was just duplicating what we already had. I learned so much through that process and at the beginning, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Failure is a natural part of growth. 3) Prepare to invest in your business. With your time, with your money, with your emotions. People ask me how I grew and I told them it took a lot of time and a lot of my own money. There were times that that was discouraging, but because all of this was tied to my why, I was able to push forward. 4) Figure out what you can outsource and what has to be done by you. At the beginning you might not have any money to outsource with. But set yourself up for success and know what you’ll hand off when you get to that point. Don’t waste time trying to do it all. 5) Network based on what you love & pay for good PR. When you want to grow your business, network with the people that you genuinely connect with, not just because you might get a sale. Figure out who it would be mutually beneficial for you to get to know. And when it comes to PR, you’ve gotta pay to play the game. PR isn’t for instant leads, but is also a long game like networking. You show up, do the interviews, and every once in a while something will pop and you might get a ton more exposure. 6) Prepare for other people to not be on your level and to try to pull you back down to theirs. No one wants the homeostasis to change. That’s why it’s so important to surround yourself (even virtually) who believe in you and/or who are on the same journey with you. It doesn’t have to be in the same industry, but look out for other working moms that you can get to know. 7) Give something back to yourself along the way. If you aren’t making a single dollar and giving it all away to the business, you’re down a quick path to resentment. I understand all the moms who just over-function and grind it out to get things done (I was one!) but you’ve got to get a reward from the thing that you’ve been putting so much into. A small way I do this is by working at a coffee shop a couple times a week. It reminds me that I’m so grateful for my job, that it’s flexible so that I work where I want, and that I’m in control of my life. A big way I do this is through a travel rotation with my kids and husband. Each trip I go on while consulting, I’ll rotate through taking one daughter, then the next, then my husband, then I’ll do a solo trip. These are trips they never would have been able to take on their own, and it’s a cool way my business gets to give back to my family. 8) The way you set up your business is a marker if you will be successful. Not the way you structure it, but the mindset you have around it. In fact, there are so many parallels between the way I run my business and the things I taught in my newest book, Doing It All: trying to build efficiency into how I do my tasks, batching my work, not spending extra time on stuff that doesn’t matter at all, swapping out for what others can do for me, pairing things that aren’t enjoyable with things that are, not letting things contaminate my time, and making sure my desk, home, and calendar are decluttered. More Blogs on this Topic: T he forgotten boundary: setting limits with yourself Thanks for the cookies in the breakroom, I’m still tired Wake up, working mama. Are you wasting your life? More Podcast Episodes on this Topic: T ranslating “mom skills” into “boss skills” How to be an ambitious, out of the box, career maker and an engaged mom How to claim your confidence as a working mom
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