There was a time, not too long ago, when I was the most eco-conscious person out there. I was working at one of the biggest health food stores in Toronto and evangelizing to all my friends and family about the superiority of going green, buying organic, and all that other stuff. When I had my daughter, I insisted we do cloth diapers. I made my own baby food. I tried to encourage friends and family to only buy wooden and natural fibre toys. Most of these choices didn’t last, for all kinds of reasons, but I tried my best to stay on the greener path.
However, once my second pregnancy hit, along with prenatal depression and anxiety, it became harder to maintain those rigorous standards. I embraced easy, even when that meant sacrificing the environment a bit. Then my son was born and my teenage stepdaughter moved in with us, and all hell broke loose.
It’s been pretty much a downhill slide since then, I’m embarrassed to say. I’ve even gone back to using regular deodorant! For shame.
It’s time to get back on track, though. If you’re new to eco-friendly living, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t suck! There are lots of really simple choices you can make to reduce waste, for starters:
- Don’t be afraid to use last year’s backpack and lunch bag. I mean seriously, unless your kid is dragging their backpack on the ground to and from school (which is possible, I guess), they shouldn’t be completely falling apart. If they complain that the other kids are getting new gear, get them some cute buttons to cover everything with, or sew some patches on.
- Use bento boxes for lunch. If you’re still using Ziploc bags, I’m guessing you’re getting them back every day, because all the schools are now employing “litterless lunch” rules. They’re disgusting by the end of the day, and a giant waste, so why not buy a cute little bento that doesn’t break the bank? Your kid may be more motivated to eat what’s inside, too.
- Bake treats, instead of buying pre-packed ones. I am completely guilty of doing this. My kids love Bear Paws, but why are they packaged within the package? It’s so much extra garbage, so this year I’m going to set aside some time to bake a large batch of cookies and mini-muffins. I’ll freeze the extra, and bring out what’s needed each week on Sunday night.
- Hand-me-down clothing. Whether from friends, older siblings, or buy-and-sell groups on Facebook, you can save so much choosing gently used items for your kids. You can always indulge your son or daughter’s demand for new clothes with a special sweater or a nice pair of shoes. My kids, however, think that all the new clothes that appear are new, and I’ve never said otherwise.
- Visit your local bulk food store. Mason jars, old spaghetti sauce jars, baby food jars. All of these can be used to store things like nuts, spices, pasta, baking supplies, and more. You can bring them with you, in many cases, and add them directly to the jars, saving yourself the extra plastic bags they come home in. And do you know how much cheaper it is to replace herbs from a bulk store? About 95% cheaper. I replace my dried parsley every six months for about $0.35.
Let’s be honest, none of these are going to singlehandedly change the planet’s current course toward climate change. But with more people making these small steps, we can hopefully decrease the waste going into our garbage dumps each day and make better use of our resources.
