Saving the planet for our children?

[Marmee]

Ok - so it's thinking day here in the Marmee household

We have been making a huge effort to bring the children's attention to eco living (as best *we* can) but exaggerating our modelling - I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about! Things like, as you go to turn the light off in the room that is now unattended, saying out loud "I think I should turn this light off because it's only wasting energy - there's no-one even in the room!" all in a most exaggerated tone to ensure the children look up from what they are doing

But.....I've also got to thinking....

We are working to save the planet for our children....but it seems that once children come into our lives, our damage to the environment is heightened.

* I now wash every day (often twice a day), as opposed to twice a week pre-children

* I find myself turning on the heater much more than I did pre-children, because they are here and I want them to be warm

* We constantly find lights left on when there is no need, CD players are left on in Mr 7 year olds room when he's outside playing, the fridge door gets left open, taps are left dripping, more children = more demand for computer time, TV time etc.....

* The amount of food waste - DH and I get tired of eating the left over apple, the half eaten sandwich....and much gets tossed out. Wasted.

* Many many more car trips as children become socialised

* Then there's the pool that we didn't have pre-children.


ARGH!

How do I tell myself it's all OK?

[kime]

Yes, with all these extra taxes they are talking about I guess we will all be even more conscious of it.
But you can only do your best - and it sounds like you definitely do the best to balance between giving your children the things they need and reducing your environmental impact.
I get annoyed when I have to buy new things when they get broken because it either costs too much to fix (in relation to buying new) or costs too much time to find all broken pieces distributed around the house to mend, glue, fix whatever has gone wrong. Most of the toys they get are cheap plastic that doesn't last anyway

[Marmee]

Awww - now you've added another to me list! Yes - the constant replacing of things that get ruined/broken. Some things we have put off (such as buying new carpet for bedrooms - not doing that until children move out of home - OK ... until they are older, then!).....but other things, you just need to replace.

And the replacement of things because they are overworked - such as our washing machine

[Susan]

Oh yes! I can relate to this Marmee! But I also think having children has given me a greater consciousness. There are things we do differently say, walk to school whenever we can. Started a vege patch with the kids. Eat organic as it is better for all of us. We used cloth nappies with our babies and enjoy the donated clothes and toys. Live closer to our community of friends and support. I am sure there are things you have changed for the positive also!

[emd]

I'm with Susan. Although having children has increased our household's environmental footprint, our increased motivation to do the right thing (because I want to be a better person for my children) has improved some of our everyday habits. Like having chooks that eat food waste, eating organic, not buying as much crap that we don't need etc. I think it all balances out in the end - we're all big consumers in our early life as we outgrow clothes, eat to grow healthy bodies, get driven to activities etc. But as we near end of life, environmental impact decreases as we no longer need as much clothing, don't eat much, and spend more time at home instead of out and about. It's all part of the cycle of things, I guess.

[angie1313]

I noticed that I tend to use more water and heat now as well but I try to do some other little things to hopefully make up for it. I recycle alot more, I try to leave the lights off whenever possible and I walk whenever I can instead of drive.

[sugarfish]

Things like more washing loads etc are to be expected because there are more people now... I'm sure you aren't doing more loads per person though... and it's hard not to turn on the heater when the kids are sick or you have babies in the house. I'm sure you're doing a great job! At least you are concious of it and are trying hard... hopefully it will get easier as our kids get a bit older :-D

Our kids are getting better at remembering to turn off lights and keep doors closed etc... they know they need to have on socks and a jumper before asking if the heater can go on and they are great at recycling and not wasting any food. We just talk about it a lot, and they have slowly developed an environmental concience. I don't want to weigh them down with the worries of the world, but I think some knowledge of what their actions can cause is healthy.

[Marmee]

Oh, for sure, having children has made me environmentally conscious....we *do* walk a lot - to school, shops etc....but my point is...we also drive a lot more too. Say today, we had to drive 20 mins away for our son's soccer game. That was all we had to do. However, little Miss 2.5 years set off her Epi-pen this morning (a whole other story ) so this meant we then had to drive 20 mins in the opposite direction to the doctor, then it was now 40 mins to the soccer game, and then via a chemist on the way home - all in all adding an extra 50 mins driving time to our day.

Absolutely - it's inevitable and I wouldn't change it for the world - children are the best thing that happened to me...but I was just thinking

[emd]

Marmee, here's another POV from the Minister for Household Finance...
People like you should be having more babies. Because your children will grow up with an awareness of environmental impact and living peacefully. We need to breed out the people who have no clue about their environmental and social impact

[Dorasmum]

He He...my hubby would like you..he would add a few more categories to that list of extinctees though. He likes that series of books of stories of people that kill themselves off with their own stupidity.

It is a chance though, teaching our children simple habits now about reducing our use of resources, to help change the future. Something that "I" can do. Small things like switching off lights and recycling.

Em