Over the years that I’ve been a mum and written a blog, I have aspired to do as much as I can to reduce our footprint as a family and this has been an underlying theme throughout my blogs.
We are a family of 5 and that is a big impact.
Back in the early part of the millenium when I began on this journey, we were living overseas, and climate change wasn’t really on the tip of everyone’s tongues. David Attenborough was that lovely man off the telly and Greta Thunberg wasn’t even, well Greta Thunberg at that point. It was a challenge. Carrying my own reusable bag when I was shopping was seen as a little odd, using cloth nappies put me firmly in the category of ‘hippy’!
As a parent I was VERY privileged, I could stay at home whilst my children were young (that doesn’t read that I didn’t work, as I did, I worked at night as a doula and wrote articles and had to try to fit ad hoc childcare in when Mr Beehive was away), but that privilege gave me the opportunities to cook and bake and clean cloth nappies rather than needing the convenience of speed.
Interestingly I read a post on instagram the other day by a mother who was saying that she was trying her best to do things slowly for her child and with a conscious mind, but there was the word ‘guilt’ used by both her and several of her commentators.
I use the word ‘conscious’ more than ‘environmentally friendly’ as I think that being conscious of ourselves and our impact is the most important thing here. Sometimes, in the modern world, it just isn’t very easy as one small person to always be 100% environmentally friendly. Things are not always that readily available, and by things I don’t mean material things, I mean things such as time or space.
Time is the number one culprit in the 21st century I think. We live by it so emphatically: get to work, get to school, catch the bus, get to dance class…
Space is another. The space to breathe or take time to do things slowly, the space to grow your own vegetables (and time), the space to not have to be on a hamster wheel 24/7 to earn a wage.
Of course, there are ways and means around these things and some people are fortunate enough to have made these work for them, but for some/most of us, having all your eggs in the same basket is a dream rather than a reality.
There may be a need to live in a busy urban area, which means no garden
There may be a need to travel for work, which means a car or less time
There may be a need to do a 9 – 5, which means less time for the rest of life.
There may be a need to get meals on the table far quicker than growing your own or making your own.
As I have hopped into my second half century, and as a ‘crunchy mum’ as I was called, it is also my duty to call out to all you other mums (and dads and just everyone) to say what is important is that you ‘do your best’. We are trying to work here against companies that just want to make more and more money, that will make it harder for you to find land to grow veggies on, get a mortgage or even afford rent, that will not provide cucumbers in the supermarket that are not wrapped in plastic. Companies that will advertise about the latest and newest electronic gadget that you need before yours becomes ‘obsolete’; electronic white goods that you own that seem to die just after their warranty expires (that must be magic!) or overseas clothing companies that pop up in your feed showing a beautiful and very cheap dress that you could easily afford (but what really IS the cost?). We are drip fed this shit every day.
But what is important is that you are aware of this undercurrent and you are doing your best and you are passing it on.
My advice is to choose one things at a time. Maybe one thing you feel strongly about, cycle to work (if you can) once a week, dry your clothes on an airer or line outside when you can, turn your heating down 1 degree, make sure you turn off the lights, or use cloth nappies if you want, but don’t beat yourself up because you can’t do it all and we will all fall off the wagon now and then and feed our kids (or ourselves) processed food for convenience or forget our shopping bag.
We are all trying hard to paddle against the tide. BUT, collectively, salmon do it and it really is the small rivers and tributaries that will flow out to the mighty ocean. Keep being that trickle !
Thornhill House 