Green Parenting
Posted on April 30th, 2008 – 12:36 PMBy Kay Krhin
With Earth Day last week and the Living Green Expo coming up this weekend, I’ve seen so many overused headlines and phrases spinning off of “It’s Not Easy Being Green” - “No really, it’s easy to be green”, “Bein Green is Easy” ”Kermit was Mistaken. It is indeed Easy to be Green”. Leave the frog alone, there’s gotta be another way to say it.
Rant aside: Strib music writer and new dad, Chris Riemenschneider, shares how their” footprint” became smaller even before he and his wife heard the pitter patter of little feet. Read his story here.
His article was featured in Sunday’s Living Green special section. Check out the nifty interactive feature online here.
As long as we’re talking green - if you’re heading out to the Living Green Expo this weekend - here are some fun activities for the kids.
13 Responses to "Green Parenting"
Ugh, and here comes that guilty feeling again. Been diapering my twins in good old Pampers since Day 1. I am trying to talk husband into G-diapers but they are $.46 per unit as oppposed to $.23 per unit (on diapers.com). With two babies, that adds up FAST.
I might make the switch anyway in hopes that I feel less bad. And I have to say the added bonus of no diaper pail to empty appeals to me as well.
Ah, you haven’t discovered the joy of clean diapers fresh out of the dryer. Diaper laundry is actually my favorite type of laundry to do. All the pretty colors and patterns.
DD is still on milk, so I haven’t started making any baby food yet. I’m so excited that our farmer’s market is opening soon. I’ve never been, but am excited to get some nice local produce for the family.
I may get attacked, but I will say it anyway, I am sick of hearing “Go Green!” I have gotten grief from people because I won’t take out my regular light bulbs, that are still working, and replace them with more ‘green’ ones. When they go out, then I replace them…ugh…I’m just sick of hearing about going green. I full understand the importance of it, but too much of it can also be a turn-off.
I used cloth on my older son for 2 reasons - cost savings and his sensitivity to the plastics in the disposables. The added benefit to the environment was just a bonus. With my second son his build was so different the cloth ones leaked every time. So I found a natural brand at Target - Natures Babycare - that I would recommend(they cost less at Target than on diapers.com). This time environment/natural was a priority. Yes they are more expensive than the huge box of Pampers, but they totally biodegrade in something like 3 months and have no funky chemicals in them, even the packaging can be recycled - and they don’t leak. This same brand also has other baby care items like lotions, wipes and soaps.
We love cloth diapers! Unlike Athena, though, we use the local service that picks up our poopy cloths and delivers clean ones each week. I have heard that cloth diapers are easy to launder, and I keep toying with the idea of switching to washing my own. I justify what feels like an extravagance to have the service (despite that it is still cheaper than disposable diapers) in knowing that the amount of water the service companies use to wash diapers in bulk is less than the amount of water used to launder them at home, so it helps the environment in that sense. Of course, they use a huge van to drive around town delivering diapers, so maybe the environmental impact is still the same overall.
Erin - I think you are normal. We replace our normal lightbulbs with the efficient ones only once the normal ones burn out.
I would say that we are middle of the road - not very green, but conscious enough to make some green choices. Frankly, we choose what’s easiest for us - like using only canvas bags at gorcery and hardware stores and not treating our lawn with pesticides. We eat mostly (but not all) organic and fair trade and consume less meat than the average American household. We don’t do fast food, but that is more about nutrition (though one could argue the issues go hand in hand.) My kids are much more in tune with the environment than I was at their age.
As for lightbulbs - we made a good faith effort and must’ve gotten a rotten bunch because the light they cast is horribly ugly. I replaced a conventional bulb w/ a green one in a reading lamp in our living room and it makes the person sitting by it look nauseous, not to mention it does not give off enough light for me to read comfortably by it, either. I would appreciate tips about this particular issue.
Jackie ~ Thanks for sharing about the diodegradable diapers from Target, and it is fantastic that they work! If a disposable works, but costs more, I would still use it. My son’s daycare won’t do cloth diapers, at least that was the case a few years ago, so those would be a good alternative.
Nice article, thanks.
We’ve made a lot of changes in our lifestyle, but not so much for the noble reason of saving the environment, but because of the need to save money on one income. =) Helping the environment is a bonus.
We love cloth diapers and find them very easy. We have joined a CSA this year (Community Supported Agriculture) and are really looking forward to our organic vegetables and fruit.
My husband also decided that we spent too much money on paper towels and napkins, so he bought some white shop- type towels, and now that’s all we use. He washes them once or twice a month and it saves us a bunch of money! Its nice to cut back on the amount of garbage we make too!
We’re looking forward to the Living Green Expo (but why does it have to be the same weekend as the Festival of Nations AND the Cinco de May celebration on the West side of St. Paul— every single year!)?
Nobody has said anything about cleaning products yet so I just wanted to mention the new line of natural products from Clorox. You can get them anywhere and they aren’t too much more expensive than regular products. They work good and smell great. Plus I think every store now carries some “green” brand of laundry detergent, hand soap, ect. We also have been buying biodegradable baby wipes. Both Target and Walmart have brands in their stores. Although the Target by my house in Apple Valley does not carry them! Bringing reusable bags to the store is also another easy and very cheap thing to do. You can get them anywhere now. I leave mine in the car or I tend to forget them. I think people are under the impression that it’s expensive to “go green” but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to remodel your house there are plenty of easy changes you can do that make a big impact.
Shannon, I’m glad you mentioned the Clorox line of cleaners. Parents, please remember that “green” doesn’t translate into “safe” when you are talking about cleaners. Take the same precautions with your kids when using them, and continue to keep them out of reach or in a secure cabinet.
Cloth diapers are a great advantage over disposable in many ways, but why not take it a step further? I encourage everyone to try the Diaper Free Challenge: http://diaperfreechallenge.org
More information on Elimination Communication and how it relates to environmental issues at http://cleanearthhappybaby.org
One thing that I like a lot about cloth diapers is that you don’t have to fold them like clothes. We just wash them twice, dry them (outside when it is warm) and then throw them in the little hamper that we store them in. My husband and I were talking today about how we perfer to wash the diapers versus the clothes because they involve so much putting away and seperating.
Going green can actually save you money. For Earth Day, I wrote an entire series of things you can do. If you click my name, I think it will take you to that blog.
