“Jen Panaro is a self-proclaimed composting nerd and an advocate for sustainable living for modern families,” the Chadds Ford resident writes on www.honestlymodern.com, a website that she created in 2013 to encourage eco-friendly living.

“In her spare time, she’s a serial library book borrower, a messy gardener, a composting tinkerer and a mom of two boys who spends a lot of time in hockey rinks and on baseball fields,” she continues. She also finds time to write for Kennett Area Community Service and serve as board treasurer for the Rachel Kohl Community Library.

She has written more than 1,000 posts on sustainable living, from why soaking banana peels doesn’t lead to a nurturing fertilizer for houseplants to 12 questions to consider when selecting gifts.

And she and her family – husband Matt; son Tyler, 11; and son Jackson, 10 – together live this honestly modern life, as best they can. “It’s achievable,” she said in an interview. “Do the best you can, where you can. You don’t have to perfect.” Or, as she writes on Honestly Modern’s Instagram: “imperfectly pro-planet.”

That approach means that while Jen is turning the compost, the boys might be snacking on treats, Tyler said. When Jen comes in, she might enjoy a treat herself. “Mom’s a chocaholic,” Jackson said.

CPA, serial entrepreneur and eco-enthusiast

Jen grew up in Minnesota and met Matt at Boston College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in management. They moved to Chadds Ford in 2016, and their two-acre property offers generous space for vegetable and flower gardens and increasing numbers of native plants.

She feels that 15 years as a certified public accountant helped prepare her for Honestly Modern. “There’s an element of analytical thinking that I can bring from that job to environmental living, like a cost-benefit analysis,” she said. “As an auditor, a lot of our job is asking questions. And there’s a big element of being curious and figuring out how things are working. I think I still continue that today.”

An early curiosity involved the environmental and ethical impact of clothing. That led to devoting time to thrifting, with a Diane von Furstenberg dress – $17 with the tag still on – a memorable score.

She is a serial entrepreneur. In the summer of 2020, she and Jess Purcell, a former chemistry teacher who’s now a stay-at-home mom near Harrisburg, founded Raising Global Kidizens, which creates and curates resources and also hosts workshops geared to the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals. “We make it fun,” Jen said. “We make it easy. And we build some science into it.”

In the fall of 2020, she founded WasteWell, which picks up compostable material from homes and small businesses and delivers it to a composting facility. In the spring, customers can get finished compost delivered. She sold the business two years later.

Honestly Modern ranges wide to encourage “everyday sustainable living for modern families.” The home page has about 100 internal links. The first row of tabs includes compost, consumption and lifestyle, and the second row encourages browsing by eco-goal: biodiversity, energy, food, soil health, transportation and water. Below that are four “I want to’s”: buy less and reduce waste, celebrate together, enjoy family time and build community. Six more headers follow: library, food waste, buy nothing, family adventure, compost and secondhand. And the lists go on.

How it all plays out for the Panaros

Every member of the family we asked about living the Honestly Modern life.

Jackson and Matt mentioned reusable water bottles. “We always keep water bottles with us so that we aren’t buying drinks or creating more waste,” Matt said.

And when they’re enjoying the outdoors together, lunch is served with metal utensils, Jackson said, adding that the sandwiches are packed in old bread bags.

“When the kids want something new, we almost always look through Facebook Marketplace first,” Jen said. “Almost all their clothes are hand-me-downs. We’re really focused on leftovers. We make sure we use up the food we have and are not throwing a lot away. I think they’ll probably roll their eyes occasionally when some of their friends might get new things. It’s tampered-down consumption.”

“It’s always entertaining for me to watch our guests as they are often aware of Jen’s eco-friendly lifestyle but unsure of what to do the first few times they come over,” Matt said. “We usually use cloth napkins and put things in the compost after dinner. When they leave, they are usually supportive (these are two very simple changes that have a nice benefit).

“We also have a bin of plastic cups/plates that we use for parties to help reduce the waste,” he said. “They are dishwasher-friendly so the incremental level of effort is minimal.”

Take a hike (and that’s a positive thing)

Jen said that she enjoys time out in the sun hanging laundry on the clothesline and listening to the birds. “I like the process. It doesn’t feel like a slog.”

They have also switched to PECO’s time-of-use pricing for electricity. “It saves money and is good for the environment,” Jen said, noting they recharge their Tesla 3 when the rates are lower. Their other car is a Chevy Traverse, which Jen called a “gas-guzzling SUV” that’s helpful to ferry the kids around for their sports and hobbies and carry the family and gear to enjoy the outdoors.

When Jen turned 40 in 2023, she concluded that classic ways to celebrate a birthday ending in zero – like a big party or a special trip – “didn’t resonate.” Instead, she chose to go on 40 hikes. Solo hikes, hikes with others, hikes nearby and hikes afar.

“My climate-conscious and eco-friendly lens includes getting outside, and you have to appreciate the environment in order to want to take care of it,” she said. “And that hiking project is a reflection of that. Now my friends, if they want to hang out, that’s one of the ways they’re going to think about.”

Matt has absorbed the message as well. “I have to be more thoughtful about gifts for Jen,” he said. “It’s not as easy as just buying her something, so we end up doing more things together, like going on hikes, which is nice.”