It never ends. You really really want to do it right but it can be so hard. It starts with the choice of nappies when the baby is born. I went into overload and sourced Egyptian cotton, washable terry elasticized ones that had cute green trim. Now you can get ones made of bamboo. The choice is endless. And they're all better for the environment than the ones with the plastic lining that go into landfill. But guess what. We used disposables when we were out and about – our excuse was we used washables at home so we were making a contribution that way. Cop out or fair cop?
Then, next. Exposing your child to the toxins from TV screens. It starts early. Plonking them in front of the TV as a babysitter to give you a break. But are you scrambling their brain when you should be on the floor playing with them? More stress.
Remember we all used to walk to school when we were kids? Stopping off at the local shop to buy 10 cents of mixed lollies. Well not any more. Too risky. Who knows what might happen we tell ourselves. So again we fail. Can't save the environment that way by reducing our car trips.
In the face of our highly complex, fast moving world dominated by downloads and apps and toxins – what can we do?
We can do what we can. We can reduce our use of plastics at home. There are plastic bags made out of corn starch that completely dissolve. We can reuse and recycle. We can up-cycle – involves using old stuff to make new stuff, like rags into rugs. Cool. Takes time but fun to do with the kids. We can buy what food we need and try and reduce our waste by planning our weekly meals a bit better. We can make more things like biscuits or jam or cakes rather than relying on high sugar, preservative laden supermarket products. We can buy in bulk and reduce the amount of times each month we shop – thus reducing our environmental footprint.
We can not worry so much, but we can be aware. We can read stuff to understand what impact what we are doing is having on the environment. We can talk to or kids about it. We can talk to our friends. Baby steps rather than having the weight of the world on our shoulders. Good luck.
