On a finite planet, reproducing is an extravagance, which needs to be offset by going green. We can’t increase our carbon footprint and then not try in even the smallest and easiest ways to reduce that carbon footprint. It’s our responsibility to recycle – go green in whatever way possible – when we have children. My dad once said to me that he doesn’t care much about global warming … after all, he says, he’s not going to be around in 50 years time. That’s his argument? That’s his argument! This is a man with four children and five grandchildren … a man who has started in motion a long line of procreation … a man who has a seriously big carbon footprint … a man who seemingly doesn’t comprehend that in 50 years’ time his offspring’s offspring will be cursing him for his lack of input into a very real crisis.
Posts Tagged ‘global warming’
Your legacy
Monday, March 22nd, 2010An addendum to a tree
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008I planted a tree. I thought I was offsetting my carbon footprint in a helpful way. I have subsequently read, however, that unless you plant a tree where a tree really belongs – the Rainforests – you can actually be at risk of contributing to the Inconvenient Truth.
I am no expert on global warming but if you have already planted that tree, it is probably even more harmful to cut it down.
Dispose or reuse
Sunday, October 14th, 2007You can recycle, grow your own vegetables, and cook on gas pumped from the septic tank. But you have to face the fact that when you have a baby, you stamp your greatest carbon footprint on this earth and you have to be industrious to offset your emissions.A third of landfills in developing countries consist of disposable nappies.
This is an alarming statistic by anyone’s standards. But you still have a choice – you can either contribute to this stat or you can trust in terrycloth.
My reaction to this stat was a carbon-emitting shopping spree at an inappropriate environmentally harmful shopping mall. The quest, however, was a virtuous one – terrycloth nappies, nappy liners, Enchantrix (organic) nappy sterilizer and a functional and baby-safe nappy bucket. All in the name of fighting the stats and doing my bit about global warming.
People not only took me as hormonal (a.k.a. slightly nuts), but also tried to convince me that all that soap and water undid all the perceived good. What they didn’t count on was the fact that because I had a big issue with washing crappy nappies, I started putting my baby on the toilet every time I saw him pushing. This not only meant my job was much easier but the washing machine only saw nappies once a week and, since the organic sterilizer had only to work on urine, the nappies required nothing more than a quick cold wash and a bit of sunshine to get them back on the nappy shelf.
Thus, toilet training was easy and my child has been in underpants since he was eleven months old. Sure, there was the occasional ‘accident’ but no more so than any newly toilet-trained child … and the added advantage (yes, another one) was that my child felt so much more comfortable never having to sit in a dirty nappy – come on, is this even forgivable?
I chose to use the old-fashioned terrycloth squares and had to search the web for folding instructions. This site shows you all the different ways you can fold a terrycloth square – try them out on baby to get the best fit and the least leaks (and, by the way, a disposable is just as likely to leak):
Kitty Kins – Terrycloth folding instructions
You can use the excuse that it’s just too much sweat to use this method but, with the new range of shaped nappies, there is no excuse to keep using disposables. You can find a few of the options on the following sites:
Stegi
Cuddlebabes
Natures child
… or you can just plant a tree!
