My husband and I only lasted about a month with cloth diapers. Poops were too frequent, too messy, too smelly in our tiny home. Sadly, I cannot even begin to imagine the volume of space our daughter's Huggies now take up in landfills. Diapers alone have probably made my "Ecological Footprint" a heck of a lot deeper on Earth's fragile body.21 months later, our daughter is still in diapers, but learning how to use her potty. She did her first poopy in it last night! Although we're trying to get away from diapers and move in the direction offered by the Green Baby Guide, our trash can is full of wipes, uneaten food, and non-recyclable containers that once held certain toys and other products. When we left our home in Canada in October, we also left behind our compost bin and a bathroom close enough to Ayla's changing pad where we could use washclothes instead of wipes.
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. I don't like making them, especially when the real reason I'm wasteful is because I'm lazy. If I weren't so lazy I would make a better effort to be a more eco-friendly mama.
So am I an eco-friendly writer? One the surface I am by reducing and recycling paper, ink, and submission materials. I also try to incorporate nature into my writing to raise awareness and appreciation of the little things in nature.
But waste still accumulates in my world as a writer:
- I leave my computer powered on way too long when I'm not using it.
- I really could figure out for once what is better for the environment: a pen or a pencil.
- My addiction to books translates into extra gas spent driving to bookstores. Is less gas and fewer natural resources used if I purchase my books online?
- There are numerous notebooks, journals, and old diaries on my shelf that are 1/2 to 1/3 full of blank pages that I could use. So why do I still feel a desire, a need to buy a new one?
- By letting dishes accumulate, dust bunnies to multiply, and laundry to sit, so I can spend more time writing, I probably use more water and other resources in the end.
With a newborn soon to arrive, I imagine I am more likely to become even more wasteful than less wasteful. How do other writer-mamas do it? How do you manage an eco-friendly writer-mama lifestyle?
5 comments:
Nice post. Though not a mommy, I can definitely emphasize with having the desire to "go green" but not necessarily the fortitude.
* I too leave my computer on too long, but when I do shut it down, I also turn off the whole system (aka unplugging) since electricity may still leek through the plug.
* I'm trying to use up all of the old pens I've accumulated over the years (if they haven't totally dried out), and I've bought rather expensive refillable pens ... expensive so that I would be sure to use them (unlike the cheapos that I quickly get bored with). Whether pens are more green than pencils ... probably not in the long run.
* Buying online versus driving to local bookstore is less of a challenge. It may not be "green" to drive to a local bookstore, but at least I'm supporting my local economy. What would be ideal is to be able to walk to my local bookstore.
* I am so guilty of having numerous quarter-filled notebooks. I am addicted to notebooks, especially journals. Every so often I'll pick up an old one and just start writing in it again, especially when I'm thinking of buying a new one.
* Letting housework and laundry pile up: guilty, guilty, guilty. Nuff said on that.
The important thing is you are conscientious ... you try. If only everyone did at least as much you do.
Kimberly, something amazing is going to happen with the second child. You will find yourself more efficient, in everything you do. That, I believe will help lead you to less waste and not more.
My guilt lies in my need to print something in order to edit it properly-hence leading to a lot of waste. I cringe when I think of the poor trees I am abusing. But, I make sure to print on both sides, shred and recycle everything.
Don't beat yourself up. Take small steps, one at a time. You're gonna have enough to worry about soon!
I'm lovin' our new compost out back. :) I liked your post.
Just keep on doing the best you can. It's all any of us can do!
And as the kids get older, in many ways, it gets easier.
Thanks everyone for your comments! 1Writeway - that is a good idea about unplugging the computer, too. I try to unplug everything else in my house, but I completely forgot about unplugging the computer. I'm glad I'm not the only one with partially empty journals while new journals stand next to them!
Just a Girl - I'm the same way with editing. I really need to have it in print, so I can mark it up. I know Word has a great editing program, but I just can't achieve quite the same quality editing job as I do when I print it out.
Elliah - I miss our compost so much. It was actually fun (and smelly) to see how everything broke down and the amount we put into our trash was significantly less. We're renting this house here for a year before we move to a new place that we'll buy, so hopefully we can set up a compost at our next home.
Llama Momma- thank you for the encouragement! I hope it gets easier. It already is easier with a 21month old than it was a year ago with her, so I hope this trend continues even through the terrible two stage :)
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