What would you do if you were told you had an 87% chance of getting cancer?

a. fear it
b. ignore it
c. beat the odds!

When I was told this by doctors 14 years ago, I did "a" and then "b" until I decided it was time to do "c". I chose to replace the fear and denial with empowerment. I left my sexy and lucrative high-tech job and went back to school to study health. I wondered whether how I lived my life could impact how my genes expressed themselves. In learning about the science of epigenetics, I discovered that yes, how we live our life (diet, stress, relationships, environment, etc) does impact our health. Inspired by what I learned, I founded Four Quadrant Living. My mission is to inspire and inform others that we do have control over our health.

Do you worry about getting cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer's disease, or heart disease because it "runs in the family"? Do you think you have high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol because it's "in the genes"? If so, it's time to get empowered and create your new health destiny.

Yes, family history is important and it is a factor in our health—but it is by no means the only factor. It is estimated that over 30 percent of cancers and 80 percent of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes can be prevented. This means that you have the power to create health in your life! Every day you make choices that impact your health—the foods you eat, the products you use, the exercise you get, the stress you allow, the people you surround yourself with, and the environment you live in.

Scientists used to believe that it was our genotype (DNA) that determined our health. Our DNA is certainly a part of the equation, but it is not the entire equation as once believed. Now scientists believe it is our phenotype that determines our health, which is our genotype plus our environment (where environment is diet, lifestyle, emotions, stress, and so on).

This new science of epigenetics tells us that our genes are not our destiny. The word epigenetics literally means “control above genetics.” The genes by themselves do not cause disease; it is how we live our life that affects how our genes express. And this gene expression is what ultimately results in health or disease. Genes can be turned on by injuries, diet, stresses, hormones, emotions, and infections. The bottom line is that health is in our hands; it is not simply in our genes.

Knowing our genetic code is certainly important because it allows us to change our environment accordingly. We may be susceptible to a hereditary disease, but we can do something about it. For example, if you feel you are at high risk for breast cancer because of family history, there are certain foods you can eat (e.g. the brassica family of vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower contain the phytochemical sulforaphane shown to have anti-cancer properties), supplements you can take, and lifestyle changes you can make.

Similarly, if you have the celiac gene, knowing your genetic predisposition to the disease arms you with the information to remove gluten from your diet for your best chance at health. And so on. Our genotype (DNA) is important because it is a part of the equation—having knowledge about our DNA helps us take action for health. But, it is not the full equation. Our environment is also a part of the equation.

There are no guarantees in life, but by living a Four Quadrant Life you are proactively doing your best to beat the odds. For me, it's 14 years later and I'm still beating the odds.

If you have a particular health issue you are concerned about, contact Four Quadrant Living to discuss what things can be done specifically to reduce your risk. And, if you have not yet signed up for our newsletter, be sure to subscribe to get your free 47 page Getting Started Guide: Taking Your First Step on the 4QL Journey.

If you are living in fear about a certain health issue, it's time to choose empowerment instead!

 ________

Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Is your garage so full that you can't park your car in it? Are there piles of papers in your office that prevent you from finding what you need? Do you have magazines from five years ago? Do you keep every gift, even if you don’t like it? Is your closet filled with clothes that haven't been worn in years? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then perhaps it's time for some spring cleaning, even if it’s not springtime. Creating space in your physical environment can improve your mental health. A cluttered environment makes for a cluttered mind.

Because our indoor surroundings are as important as our outdoor one for our health, it is important to create an indoor environment that promotes health. When you have free space, you make way for a free mind. Think about where you feel most relaxed. Often, it is in an environment that is clean, tidy, and open. Why not create this type of environment where you spend so much of your time—at home.

Those who know me would say that I keep a pretty clean house. I have very little clutter. For the amount of new stuff that comes into my house, an equal amount or more makes its way out of my house. For me, the act of getting rid of clutter is very therapeutic. I still laugh at my aunt's comment when she first visited my house, asking, "Where's all of your stuff?"

Here are a few ideas for creating some free space in various parts of your home.

• Bedroom. Probably the most cluttered place in your bedroom is your closet. Do you wear all of the clothes in your closet? One idea for managing your closet is to place all of your hangers the same way on a certain date. From that date forward, every time you take an item out, return it with the hanger facing the other way. At the end of the year, toss the items that are still facing the original way since it means you haven't worn the item for the entire year.

• Kitchen. Be honest. Do you really need the novelty, once-a-year gadgets that are crowding out your kitchen drawers and cupboards? How often do you use the ice cream maker, pizza stone, bread maker, pasta maker, and heart-shaped cookie cutter? Even for the items you do use, how many cookie sheets, spatulas, and serving dishes do you really need? Keep the ones you use the most, donate the rest. And, while you are decluttering your kitchen, you might want to check out the expiration dates on the food items in your refrigerator and pantry. Those items often have a tendency to hang on a few years longer than they should.

• Bathroom. How many different kinds of hair products have you bought from your hair stylist only to find them piling up on your vanity? How about makeup? Go through the stash and get rid of the beauty products that you know you aren’t going to use, even if they are practically new. You can always find a good second home for them. Many of the items may have reached their expiration, so it might be time to toss them. Beauty products often don’t have expiration dates on them, but here are some general guidelines on how long these items last:
  • Mascara - 3 to 6 months
  • Eye liner - 3 months (liquid) or 2 years (pencil)
  • Lipstick - 2 years
  • Eye shadow - 6 months (cream) to 2 years (powder)
  • Foundation and concealer - 6 to 12 months
  • Powder - 6 months to 2 years
  • Cleanser and moisturizer - 1 year
  • Sunscreen - 1 year

Keep in mind that natural beauty and skincare products spoil faster because they use less harmful preservatives. The best way to know if the product is expired is to watch for changes in smell, color, and consistency.

• Office. Are your desk and drawers overflowing with papers? If so, take some time to sort through the pile and put some organization to them. Recycle what you don’t need, file what you can, and keep out those that require action. On an ongoing basis, try to keep up with where the papers belong before letting them stack up on the desk. To limit paper management altogether, think twice about printing documents that can be stored online. Just be sure to have an organized “filing” system online for easy retrieval. Also, consider signing up for paperless statements for your bills.

• Garage. If you can’t fit your car in the garage, it’s time for some cleaning. What is in all of those boxes stored in the garage? Do they go years without being opened and do you even remember what is in them? Go through the boxes and mark today’s date (or the date you store a box, moving forward). If you don't open the box for a couple of years, consider donating the contents.

Top clutter offenders that might exist in various parts of the house include the following:

• Magazines. If you have over six month’s worth of unread magazines, it’s time to consider canceling the subscription and re-subscribing once you have caught up. If you save read magazines, think about the last time you referred to them. I used to save my Runner’s World magazines. I had three years worth of magazines, but I never went back to reference them. I’ve since recycled these magazines. Now, I tear out interesting articles that I want to keep instead of the whole magazine. There is so much information available online these days, that even if I throw out an article I decide I want to re-read, I can always just look it up at a later date.

• Newspapers. I don’t know about you, but when I got the daily newspaper, I couldn’t keep up with it. It felt like a to-do to read it every day. It typically went straight to the recycle bin without being read. I don’t get one anymore. I know many people who can’t live without their daily paper. If this is you, by all means, keep getting it (and feel free to skip to the next bullet point). But, if you are like my sister-in-law who had several feet of unread newspapers stacked up, consider making a change. Perhaps you can get your news online or request the printed version on weekends only?

• Gifts. Sometimes you get a gift and you just know that you aren’t going to use it or you really don’t like it. Bypass the clutter stage and immediately put it in the re-gift pile or give it away. Don’t let the gift take up residence in your home.

Some of your discarded items from the cleaning above will head to the trash and some will make it to the recycle bin, but many will still have life left in them and can be a treasure for someone else. Be sure to find a good home for them. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time. If you think you can sell the item, try selling it on Craigslist or eBay. If it’s not something you can sell, think about giving it to a non-profit organization. We have regular pickups at our house by various organizations, so I just have a designated spot in my garage for unwanted items and I put them out on scheduled days. If you don’t have this in your neighborhood, oftentimes you can call these organizations and they will do a special pickup.

Another option is to give the items away through Freecycle.org. Freecycle is a grassroots, nonprofit organization that connects people to give stuff for free in an effort to keep reusable items out of the landfills. They have over nine million members around the world. Membership is free. I have given many items away on Freecycle. Just the other day, I had a printer that worked haphazardly. I posted it and within two hours I was meeting a mom and her son at a nearby store to give it to them. Of course, it works both ways. I have also gotten a few things as well. When I was looking for some People magazines for some leisure reading on a trip to Hawaii and some word magnets for a homemade gift I was making for my dad, I posted my request on Freecycle and got what I wanted—for free! How often does that happen?

Sometimes I feel like I’m busting from the seams in a certain part of the house and think that I just need one more drawer (closet or room, depending on the severity of the overflow). Whenever this happens, if I take the time to declutter, I find that there are a lot of items I no longer need. It just takes bringing a fresh perspective to the area and really thinking about whether or not I need the items. Invariably, I find myself with extra room and no need for more space after all.d.

Although the task of decluttering may seem overwhelming, just do a little at a time. As you go, ask yourself the following three questions to help shed some light on what should stay and what should go.

1. Have I used it in the past year? If the answer is no, seriously consider donating it.
2. What am I keeping this for? I have a friend who hates to part with anything anyone gave her. Can you keep a few of the sentimental items and donate the rest? She also has clothes from decades ago like a red leather dress that she admits she will never wear again. Why are items like this still in our closet?
3. Do I need it? How much stuff do we really need? Sometimes moving out of accumulation autopilot and bringing a fresh perspective helps us in the decluttering process.

What can you declutter in your physical environment to help declutter your mind?

__________

I don't get it. Seriously, why do people think it is okay to litter? The other day I was in the car waiting for my husband to get some items at the grocery store and I saw a guy come out of the store with a pack of cigarettes. He opened his pack on his way to the car, leaving the wrapper on the ground. I was so annoyed with this behavior that I just could not let it go. I got out of the car and went over to him and picked up his trash and said something like, "Why do you think it is okay to litter?" I did not wait around long enough for a response, but I'm hoping that the embarrassment of someone seeing him do it and then pick up his trash will at least shame him into not doing it anymore (or at least to think twice about it).

This is not an isolated incident. Within the same week, I saw a woman carrying her Starbucks coffee, and granted, she did have her hands full, but she dropped her napkin. She saw it fall behind her and she just walked on. I spoke loudly about how unbelievable it is that people don't pick up after themselves. I picked up her trash and threw it away. What is with people? Why do they feel entitled to leave their trash on the streets? Is it really that hard to make it to a trash can?

I just looked up some statistics and found that over 51 billion pieces of litter land on U.S. roadways each year. Motorists (52%) and pedestrians (23%) are the biggest contributors to litter. On roadways, tobacco products, mostly cigarette butts, are the most littered item (38%), followed by paper (22%) and plastic (19%). Off roadways, mostly at entrances to businesses, transportation, and other places where items must be discarded before entering, the top littered items are confection (e.g. candy, chocolate, gum) at 54% and cigarette butts at 30%. The reasons for why people litter include the following: people don't care, litter begets litter, ignorance, lack of pride, and lack of consequence for their actions.

There are many reasons why it's not a good idea to litter. To highlight a few,

• Houses for sale in litter neighborhoods are valued lower, estimated at a 7% decrease in property value.
• Fires started by litter causes millions of dollars of damages every year.
• Every year there are numerous vehicle accidents caused by attempting to avoid litter in the roadways.
• Millions of birds, fish, and animals die annually from litter.
• Litter carries germs.
• Litter costs money. Litter cleanup costs the U.S. almost $11.5 billion each year. 

(Statistics from Keep America Beautiful)

Littering is illegal in all states in the U.S. In California, penal code 374 says it is illegal to litter and penal code 23111 says it is illegal to throw a lit cigarette out of a moving vehicle (this one really irks my husband). The fine for littering ranges from $100 to $1,000. I contacted the police departments in my city, Danville, and nearby Walnut Creek, to see if the police actually give tickets for littering. Danville police said they do, mostly for cigarette butts. My friend who works in the Walnut Creek Police Department said he has stopped people who litter—sometimes citing them and sometimes making them pick up after themselves. I would imagine both would be effective coming from the police.

In my research for writing this blog, I came across a site, LitterButt, that lets you tell on litter bugs who throw trash from a car. You report the license plate number and the offender receives a letter from the state notifying them they were caught littering. No fines are levied, though they are informed of littering fines. Three states currently participate—Pennsylvania, Texas, and North Carolina. I think this is pretty cool. Too bad California doesn't participate. The site does have ways to take action to try to get other states to participate, making it very easy with a written form to submit online to your state governor. This site has a wealth of information including litter laws by state, statistics, and effective ways to reduce litter.

So, what can we, as concerned citizens do? Educate! People who are aware of the dangers of litter often make more of an effort to not leave their trash behind. Call people out when you see them littering to let them know it's not okay (if the person seems approachable). Teach our children not to litter. Pick up litter when you see it. Others may notice you doing it and follow your example. Encourage our police departments to more proactively enforce the law.

Now that I'm armed with more information, I plan to handle my conversations with litter bugs a little more maturely. Rather than speaking loudly in my disapproving tone or saying something and leaving, I plan to try to engage them in conversation and educate them. I'll tell them them that not only is it harming our environment, but also it is illegal with serious fines.

Who else will join me in the "No More Litter Bugs!" campaign?
_________

Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Sometimes I feel like the Environment quadrant is the ugly stepchild of the four quadrants. When I'm talking about the four quadrants, people seem the least interested in the Environment in the context of health. It's not as much in our awareness when we think of healthy living. Each week, I blog about one of the four quadrants so that each one is covered in a month. This week, it's time to feature the Environment. Rather than focus on something specific related to the environment like I usually do, this blog is about giving a general shout-out to it and bringing it into the spotlight. Today, the Environment is the belle of the ball.

Of the four quadrants, the environment is the one that people think least relates to their own health. There is a lot of focus on the Body quadrant as it relates to health—nutrition, exercise, sleep. There is a fair amount of focus on the Mind quadrant and its connection to health in the form of stress management. Although we may not think about Relationships in terms of our connection to health, we get it. When we spend time with toxic people, we don't feel good. In contrast, the Environment is seen as somehow separate from us. It is viewed as external rather than internal. But the truth is, we are intimately connected to our environment. If we keep the environment healthy, we keep ourselves healthy.

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of health problems are caused by environmental factors. Toxins in the environment have been linked to numerous diseases and health conditions, including asthma, allergies, premature birth, learning disabilities, early puberty, diabetes, reduced fertility, and even many cancers.

Environmental factors that affect our health can be found everywhere—both indoors and outdoors, as well as at work and at home. We ingest the toxins in many ways—through our skin, nose, mouth, and ears. This includes polluted air and water, excessive noise, radiation, hazardous wastes, chemical-filled cleaning products, pesticides, and food and food container contaminants. Some we have control over and some we don’t, but the idea is to lower our toxic load where we can— to do our best to make our environment healthy so that we can be healthy.

According to the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups, scientists have found more than 100 potentially dangerous industrial chemicals and pollutants in the body of the average American. Read that sentence again. That's scary. Many of the chemicals used in products are introduced into our society and are only later realized to be harmful to our health. Unintentionally, we are the guinea pigs for these chemicals, and the price is high. For example, DDT and PCBs, once used abundantly, were banned in the 1970s when it was recognized how harmful they were. What chemical that is commonly used today will we find out in the future is actually toxic to our health?

I think about the Environment quadrant in connection with health in a variety of contexts. For example, I think about it in terms of cleaning up my personal environment which includes using green cleaning products in my home, using air purifiers to clean the air, removing shoes to keep toxins out, and gardening organically to keep chemicals out of my yard. I also think about it in terms of cleaning up the larger environment which includes reducing my use of plastic bottles, carrying my own reusable shopping bags, stopping catalogs, being kind to wildlife, and using less energy. In addition to greening my personal and expanded environments, I also think about the Environment in terms of the solace and peace it provides me. Creating my home as a safe and clean sanctuary is not only good for my physical health, but also my mental health. Being out in nature is also good for my health. Studies show that even just five minutes of exercising outdoors can be beneficial to us—increasing our self-esteem, improving mood, and decreasing anxiety. There are many ways that our health is intertwined with our environment.

if you are ready to dance with the belle of the ball instead of ignoring the ugly stepchild, here are some ideas from past blogs and the Four Quadrant Living website to help you create an environment that can promote your health. You can just read through the list as a reminder or click on the links if you want more detail.

• Environment Topics - reduce, reuse, recycle, stop catalogs, clean green, properly dispose of toxic waste, use less energy and water, walk or bike instead, say no to plastic, save lives (adopt & spay), travel lightly, simply be (in nature)
• Plastic At Home, Really? - say no to plastic, use cloth instead of paper napkins, be creative with gift wrap, print on both sides
• Shoeless Sanctuary - leave shoes at the door, clean green, avoid non-stick cookware, remodel green, set bugs free, get an air cleaner, garden organically
• Don't Judge A Weed - garden organically
• Free Space, Free Mind - remove clutter (a decluttered environment makes for a decluttered mind)
• Frying the Birds - be kind to wildlife
• My Love Affair with a Mountain, Peace by Nature - find solace (and health) in nature

What changes can you make in the Environment quadrant to promote your overall health?
_________

Dina Colman, MA, MBA is an author, healthy living coach, and founder of Four Quadrant Living. Dina has a private practice helping clients live healthier and happier lives. Her book, Four Quadrant Living: Making Healthy Living Your New Way of Life, guides readers to make healthy living a part of their daily lives, leading to greater health, vitality, and happiness. Contact Dina at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Hanukkah. Christmas. New Year’s Eve. The holiday madness begins in November and lasts through the New Year. I'm not a holiday grinch, but I cringe at the waste that comes from the holiday season every year. From Thanksgiving to New Years Day, household waste in the U.S. increases by more than 25%. The waste comes in the form of food, shopping bags, holiday cards, packaging, wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, and more. This adds up to an additional one million tons a week to our landfills during this time (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

Think about the bags of trash you end up with at the end of the night after opening gifts. Trash bags are piled high with ribbon, paper, and packaging—much of it which is not recyclable. This trash sits in landfill for hundreds of years before it decomposes. Give a gift to the environment this holiday season and reduce waste. Here are some ideas.

• Reduce the number of holiday cards you send. Did you know that the 2.65 billion holiday cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high? If we each send one card less, we'd save 50,000 cubic yards of paper (The Use Less Stuff Report). How about sending electronic cards or posting a holiday video to your friends on YouTube? For paper or photo cards, think about just sending to those friends and family who are out-of-town that you do not see as often. This will save you both time and money. I stopped sending holiday cards a few years ago and I don't miss that extra “to-do" around the holidays.

• Go potted or rent. Each year 50 million Christmas trees are purchased in the U.S., and of those, about 30 million go to landfill (The Use Less Stuff Report). Artificial trees can be reused, but are not ideal for the environment either. They are made of PVC (a harmful plastic), are typically shipped from outside the U.S. (consuming resources to get to their final destination), and are not recyclable or biodegradable. Instead, go for a potted tree that can be replanted after the holiday season. If you don't want to plant it in your yard, you can find another spot for it. The Original Christmas Tree Company has some ideas. There are also companies that rent trees, such as Rent a Living Christmas Tree.

• Go homemade. Give homemade gifts instead of packaged ones. The sentiment will last a lifetime. At my dad's house, we now give homemade gifts instead of bought ones. We have done this for the past four years. We draw names and make a gift for one person. I cherish the photo calendar my dad made me, the painted box with uplifting sayings my sister made me, the wood-carved wine holder my sister's boyfriend made me, and the decorated frames my stepmom gave me. I don't remember all of the other gifts I have gotten from them over the years, but I will always remember what they made for me.

• Give less. If you are not ready to give up gift giving entirely, how about drawing names and just buying for one person? This means less time in the mall and lower January credit card bills. For less packaging waste, good gift ideas are movie tickets, spa certificates, gift cards, or vouchers for an activity with you. Another great idea is to make a donation to an organization that has meaning for the person you are gifting. For me, it's not just about the money—it's about the time and pressure of gift giving. There is so much frenzy during the holiday season that is only exacerbated by the obligation of gift giving. Let's give ourselves a chance to enjoy the holiday season without putting so many demands on our time (and pocketbook).

• Spend time, not money. Create traditions that your family looks forward to over the holidays, reducing the importance of material items and increasing the importance of family time. Some of my favorite traditions are building ginger bread houses, cooking together, building puzzles, playing games, and driving through the neighborhood listening to holiday music, and seeing the holiday lights.

• Be creative with gift wrap. Try using newspapers, magazines, old calendars, or scarves to wrap presents. Choose wrapping paper with recycled content. Don't throw out the scraps. Use them and wrap a gift with several scrap pieces. Go light (or not at all) on the tissue paper. Instead of throwing out (or recycling) all of the tissue paper, boxes, and gift wrap, save it for next year. My sister and her boyfriend outdid themselves last year when they wrapped my gifts in fresh banana leaves that could be returned to nature after I opened my gifts.
  

• Forgo the ribbons and bows. If every family reused just two feet of holiday ribbon, the 38,000 miles of ribbon saved could tie a bow around the entire planet (The Use Less Stuff Report). It’s the gift inside that matters, not the packaging.

• Save energy. I enjoy the holiday lights as much as the next person but they do use a lot of energy. If you are in the market for new lights, buy LED ones which save energy.

• Pay it forward. My friends, Tracy and Vinny, have a holiday party every year where the price of admission is a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots program which gives gifts to children in need. What a great way to get in the true spirit of reaching out to and helping others.
  

Okay, so maybe I am a bit of a holiday grinch—limited holiday cards, rented Christmas trees, and homemade gifts? I've made most of these changes over the years, and I have to say—the holidays are much less stressful (and more meaningful) for me than they used to be. I have time to enjoy the season and my family. I'm not running around like a crazy person making sure I have gifts for everyone, holiday cards filled out, and gifts wrapped. It's liberating.

On the other hand, I do enjoy getting into the holiday spirit with listening to the holiday music, seeing the lights, and receiving the photo cards and witty letters from my friends. Four Quadrant Living not about depriving ourselves of the things that bring us pleasure. Pleasure is a key component of our health. So, if there are certain items listed above that bring you joy during the holiday season, by all means, do them. Just do them mindfully, recognizing the impact on the health of the environment, those around you, and even yourself.

You don't have to make all of the changes, but is there one change for this holiday season that you can make as a gift to yourself, as well as to the environment?

Don’t judge a weed by its cover. If a dandelion weren’t classified as a weed, it would probably be a cherished flower. When you think about it, dandelions are pretty darn cool. They even have health benefits. So why do they get such a bad rap?

If you look up the definition of a weed, it says, “a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth.” I find it interesting that the definition has so much subjectivity to it. One person’s weed could be another person’s treasure, depending on how they valued it. And who says that vigorous growth in a yard is a bad thing? For me, a plant that grows without my careful nurturing is my kind of plant. We believe weeds to be the enemy because that is what we are taught to believe. What if instead we had been taught that having weeds pop up in our yard was a sign of good luck? What if a beautiful yard was the one with the most weeds? I like Ralph Waldo Emerson's take on it. He says, "A weed is a plant whose virtue has not yet been discovered." 

Think about how much time and money you put into killing the weeds in your yard—whether by pulling them individually as they pop up or by spraying them with pesticides. To me, it feels like I am working against nature rather than with it when I am fighting the weeds. And, by using pesticides to kill the weeds, I risk bringing those toxic chemicals into my home. I’m not saying that I’m ready to have a yard full of weeds just yet, but I do not dislike all weeds simply because they have been classified as such. I think they should be considered on an individual basis.

Not only can there be beauty to weeds if you get past their classification as a “weed,” but there are actually some weeds that are beneficial to our health. For example, stinging nettles is a weed that pops up in the spring and is packed with nutrients. They are a good source of protein and contain high amounts of vitamins A, B, and C, as well as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. They are used to help arthritis and allergies, and are often used in detox diets. Dandelions aren’t just pretty to look at and fun to blow on, they are packed with minerals such as iron, potassium, beta-carotene, and vitamins A, C, and D. Dandelions are good for cleansing the liver and can help support the digestive system. This is not to say that all weeds are good, it is simply to say that not all weeds are inherently bad.

While I’m plugging weeds, I’d also like to put in a good word for native plants. A native (or indigenous) plant is one that has developed over hundreds or thousands of years in a particular region. They have adapted to the geography and climate of that region. This is in contrast to a non-native plant which has been introduced by humans. Native plants typically require less fertilizer, water, and care than their non-native counterparts which is good for you and the environment. (By the way, weeds can be native or non-native.)

When planning your garden, how about working with nature and finding out which plants are indigenous to your area? And, when you see a weed pop up, rather than immediately reaching for the weed-killer which is full of toxins, try seeing the weed in a new light. Is it a weed because you really don’t want it growing there or is it a weed because others have told you it’s a weed?