Part of caring for the planet and setting a good example for
the little ones in my life is noticing how much our daily choices impact the
greater good. This does not mean living under a microscope analyzing your every
move but taking a moment to access whether your lifestyle choices are
contributing to environmental degradation or living in harmony with the
planet. One of the main ways I have
figured out to live in connection with the earth is to value my time outdoors
and seek a meaningful relationship with the place I live in. I also do this by
limiting the amount of plastic my family and I consume.
Before I became a parent, I was highly aware of what I
needed to do to live a sustainable life. I lived in the Pacific Northwest where
citywide composting was the norm and in restaurants you could find a recycling
bin and compostable flatware. When I started my parenting journey and left that
part of the country, I had to start from scratch in my new home of Tulsa. There
is a city-wide recycling center and environmental/sustainable focused
organizations here but not much else in terms of large scale public engagement
around environmental issues.
By virtue of being a parent I had to sacrifice some of my
beliefs around living sustainably. For instance I set out to use cloth diapers
but soon found that our daughter could easily get diaper rash if left in a
cloth diaper too long. We kept her in cloth diapers during the day but had to
compromise with disposables at night to keep her from flaring up in a rash
every day. I also used to be a bus and bike commuter, which I could still do
with children, but would be much harder for me with our spread out and busy family
lifestyle, so I made the sacrifice of driving a car each day.
Though I have had to sacrifice some of my eco-lifestyle
choices in becoming a parent I realized there is still a lot I can do for the
planet and live in a balanced way with my families and my needs. This is where
planning ahead will save you.
My Parent tool kit
for reducing your carbon footprint when buying food at the store or restaurant:
By keeping a few items handy in your car or in your backpack
it will become a habit to always have them available whenever it is time to get
groceries or order take out. These steps require you to spend a little money
upfront but will ultimately save you a ton of money in the long run and help
the planet, a win, win.
Empty Tupperware, a
few sizes:
Every time you go out to a restaurant or order take out nine
times out of ten it will come in a Styrofoam container. This Styrofoam will
live on in our landfills for the next 500 years or more. To avoid using
Styrofoam use your empty Tupperware instead. Ask that your leftovers are put
into the container and or your meal is made in the container. If it is clean,
most places will use your container. If you are dining in and they give you a
Styrofoam plate tell management you would rather they didn’t use this material
anymore. Use your power as a concerned citizen to spread the word that there
are much better options for plates then Styrofoam.
A water bottle,
thermos and re-usable straws:
I recommend a thermos because these can hold both hot and
cold liquid and keep your drink at the temp you want year round. As a person
that is often working outside in the heat and cold I cannot live without a
thermos! A lot of water bottle companies these days have thermos options in
sleek designs.
A set of at least
three, sturdy, cloth shopping bags:
These bags can eliminate the use of tons of plastic. I take
my bags in every store I go to, some clerks don’t know how to pack them, so I
get to show them, it’s a way for us all to learn how to use less plastic.
A set of re-usable
produce sized bags and or bags from products you already bought and twist ties:
The reusable produce bags can be found in health food stores
for purchase or buying them online. You can
also just save the bags and twist ties from the bread you buy and re-use them
to purchase grains, nuts, cereal etc. from bulk bins or put produce in them.
Seeing each bag you purchase as a precise object makes you really aware of how
much plastic you are consuming and take note of your impact on our planet as a
consumer.
These are some of the easiest steps we can take to change
our habits as consumers and live a personal green life style. The bigger
picture is changing the way our systems are in place now that creates these
harmful materials. In other cities I have lived there has been a ban on the
plastic bag. Starting a campaign like this is another way to help make our city
greener, eliminating the problem in the first place, will make the biggest
impact.
This was originally printed for Tulsa Kids Magazine August 2018
