When I think of people who inspire me to live more sustainably without making me feel guilty or like I am not doing enough, I think of Tara from Sustainable Baby Steps. I first heard of Tara through her blog The Organic Sister where she writes about her family traveling the country in a RV that runs on recycled veggie oil while unschooling and living “beyond green.”

But the way Tara talks about her life, never makes me feel like she is looking down on the rest of us who are not quite there yet. Instead she provides steady encouragement, and a healthy dose of chosen happiness. As Tara puts it, “Inspire. Don’t Require.”

When Tara launched her newest project, Sustainable Baby Steps, I knew I wanted to talk about it here. In the same spirit of sharing, not judging, Tara gives families wonderful inspiration for making small steps towards living a greener existence.

I am so thrilled that Tara agreed to talk about what she is doing with her new blog: 

TVNT: First, can you fill me in a little about you, your family, and how your blogs came about?

Tara: My name is Tara. I’m married to a wonderful guy, Justin and we have an 11 year old son, Zeb. We’re pretty passionate about living organically, from green living to organic learning to designing a life that we love and that feels good and purposeful.

So we do some awesome things like eco-friendly travel, unschooling and following our passions in life to fulfill our individual purposes.

One of my big goals is to make a difference and Sustainable Baby Steps is one way I’m fulfilling that goal.

TVNT: I love Sustainable Baby Steps because you are showing families that every little thing they do matters. Can you share some examples of the “baby steps” you encourage people to try?

Tara: I think a lot of people get so caught up in the details that they can easily become overwhelmed. I wanted to show people that it doesn’t have to be overwhelming; you just have to do one thing at a time.

Some of the easiest (and possibly most important) transitions to make are things like stainless steel water bottles or going chemical-free by switching to all natural cleaners and organic pesticides.

TVNT: I have found in my own experience that as I continue down this road, I am trying sustainable things that I would have thought in the past were too hard to do or too “crunchy.” In your own family, do you keep pushing the limits of sustainable living — I saw a mention of reusable toilet paper!

Tara:We do. I’m sort of an all-or-nothing gal. We love our cloth toilet paper, we love running our diesel engine on waste veggie oil found at restaurants and we loved our veggie garden. In the future we plan to have land, maybe even within an eco-community, and an off-grid home with a permaculture design.

But we didn’t get here overnight! I think some of the bigger things come with time. Not many people can jump right from a conventional lifestyle to cloth toilet paper. But you can jump to recycled toilet paper, or using less toilet paper. And as you settle into things and get more involved in the movement, you may just find yourself taking bigger steps down the road.

TVNT: What advice would you give to someone just starting to learn about sustainable living? What about those people who feel like they will never be “green enough?”

Tara: Avoid the negative stuff if it overwhelms you. Don’t read up on health issues or environmental issues. They can feel TOO BIG and often stop people from even making a single change.

That’s why I include all that info on my website with the warning to not let it bog you down. Yes, it can be important to know why you are doing what you’re doing. But if it overwhelms or depresses you (which will just slow you down) what’s the point? Do what you feel is right, focus on the positive change and get engaged in the process. You don’t need to be an encyclopedia of background knowledge to make changes.

And no, it’s pretty unlikely that most of us will be puritans. It’s not the world we live in. Sometimes our choices will be limited, or other people will impact our lifestyle and sometimes we’ll just give in.

But that’s not a reason to do nothing. Baby steps, after all.

TVNT: What inspires you in your green living? Do you ever have moments of frustration? If so, how do you keep going?

Tara: I tend to live in a nice little bubble, full of people taking steps and bringing positive awareness to the issues. It’s so inspirational to see people live a life of awareness and be engaged in something about which they’re so passionate.

I get very frustrated when I step outside that bubble and do something like watch TV. Commercials can make it seem as though no one cares, as if there is no issue with non-stop consumption and no awareness of things like chemical dangers or health concerns.

But there is an issue and lots of people know and care. I see the green movement as a snowball. The more people remain positive and live their lives, the more they inspire others.

Inspire, Don’t Require. Rules don’t change people; inspiration does.

TVNT: Can you tell us more about your plans for Sustainable Baby Steps? How can people get involved? 

Tara: Sustainable Baby Steps has a lot of growing to do! Over the coming year information will be added about travel, families, health, personal care and so much more. Sign up for the newsletter or subscribe to the feed to be updated of new content.

You can also grab a badge to share on your website or blog, share your favorite page on Facebook or Twitter, ask questions, offer answers and give feedback. I want to know what people want to hear about most and how I can help them make changes in their own life.

I’m looking forward to spreading the message of sustainability with the help of so many other inspired and involved individuals and families!

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I want to thank Tara for taking the time to talk with me and encourage you to check out her site! Every small step can make a difference, especially if we are all in this together. Can you think of one small change you would like to make to live a little greener? Please share it in the comments below!

Also, be sure to check out Sustainable Baby Step’s Eco Friendly Gift Guide for lots of good ideas!