The process of our family becoming green has evolved from pastel green to a bright Kelly green and many shades in between.

The eco-friendly movement is countered by microwavable plastic containers, disposable cell phones and the new Dallas Cowboys ginormous jumbo monitor that’s 72 feet high and 160 feet wide. Not that I have anything against football, but what is eco-friendly about that?

What is important is how we care for our planet, the living creatures, the air, the water and ourselves. It is not always easy living green, even though we own an online retail business that sells eco-friendly products.

When I look into our warehouse and see the mounds of packing material that vendors have used to mail us products, it makes me feel ill. We reuse most of those materials to send products to our customers.

Our family started thinking more green at home in response to my food allergies, our son’s asthma and our daughter’s dairy intolerance.

We try to buy local, and I also have my “dirty dozen” list with me at the grocery store. It is a recently updated shopper’s guide listing produce with the highest content of pesticides. The list was published in the September issue of Delicious Living magazine.

My husband plants an organic vegetable garden every summer, which the deer enjoy as much as we do. I am too much of an animal lover to chase them away. We no longer use pesticides on our lawn, and we ignore the comments about our “natural-looking grass.”

Our Zionsville neighborhood recently switched curbside recycle programs to Ray’s. We no longer need six different types of bins in our garage and don’t have to make cross-city trips to recycling centers.

My husband’s next project is creating a worm-composting bin — yet another green adventure.

As told to Star reporter T.J. Banes at tj.banes@indystar.com