Simple Actions

As every parenting magazine and book out there attests, things need to be simplified when you're a parent. Apparently, once that mewling naked baby lands in your universe you begin a neverending quest for SIMPLE ways to feed, clothe, bathe, hold, play with, talk to, and care for your child. Trying to do so with regard for the natural world is tricky with all the consumerism and gagets aimed at SIMPLIFYING via much plastic, packaging, and clutter. But, even though I'm raising my boys far from the pastoral fields of central massachusetts, we are doing some things that keep our lives simpler, and the planet safer, things that should be easy (simple?) for most folks.


1. We have one small, high MPG, low emission car. We have 6 bikes, 1 bike trailer, 1 bike seat, 3 strollers, 6 baby carriers, and good shoes. We try to refrain from using the car by biking to work (Nat and I both work within 2 miles of home, so this is easy for us) and biking or walking to Silas' daycare.

2. We minimize plastic. Let me step onto my pedestal. Plastic, in most cases, is evil, unless it is keeping your heart ticking or your baby breathing. There is no "away" when you throw it. It causes cancer and a host of other diseases, accumulates in the ocean in masses as big as Texas (killing billions of aquatic and pelagic animals), and is accumulating in the environment exponentially. Plastic is also hard to avoid. For our part, we don't buy water in plastic bottles, we carry our drinking water in stainless steel bottles instead. We refrain from buying plastic toys as much as humanly possible, and try to convince well-meaning relations to do the same. We buy things in bulk to limit plastic packaging, and re-use or recycle the plastic bags and containers we use for that. We store dry goods, breast milk, and leftovers in glass jars, stainless steel containers, or re-used food containers. We bring our own canvas bags when we shop anywhere (for groceries, at the farmer's market, for housewares, for clothes, for presents, for everything.)

3. We diaper with cloth. We used to wash our own diapers, but with Caleb we are using a diaper service, which is AWESOME...for baby, environment (besides the transportation issue), and my aching back. We use plain old cheap disposables sometimes when we're out and about because I can keep the baby in one for a lot longer with all that fancy (toxic?) absorbing gel and irritating latex elastic, but I no longer ascribe to the Seventh Generation brand's appeal that a lack of chlorine in any way increases the green factor of a disposable diaper. Get rid of the gel, the plastic,the disposable-ness, and the .35/each and we'll talk.Perhaps you can stop packaging all your cleaning products in non-recyclable plastic at the same time. Bleckkk. Anyway,...

4. We eat fresh, local, and green. We grow many things in our garden, and otherwise try to eat organic, locally sourced foods. We try to make our meals 75% fresh veggies, and the rest whole grains and protein. If the organic food is out of season or grown in South America or China, then I don't buy it. By the same token, I will buy non-organic things if they're in season and grown locally (ideally without pesticides.) We try to give our hard-earned money to the little guys - local farmers, local restaurants, local groceries, in return for food we can trust will nourish us and the land in a healthy way. I brew my own iced tea, add jelly to plain organic yogurt instead of buying the tiny ones (cutting cost, plastic, and chemicals.) We don't cook meat at home, and our kids haven't had meat at all. Nat and I are developing into carnivores again, but we try to limit our meat consumption to sustainable raised, no-hormones added, livestock (easy to do in Cali.)

We're not saints, though, and even though I feel pretty darn guilty  (as a nutrition educator) for giving into my cold Coke cravings now and then, and even moreso for the fact that Silas has had In-and-Out Burger, Burger King,, and, yes, McDonald's french fries at least 8 times now (yikes!), sometimes it is just absolutely wonderful to drive through and eat something (something that's 3500 calories?!) without spending 45 minutes compiling it before heading out for the day, or pulling both kids out of the car and hauling them into a restaurant.If there were a sustainable fast-food restaurant handing out boxes of sushi rolls and fresh salads and vegi sandwiches, you can bet that every mini-van in America would be pulling in through that drive-through window.

5. We avoid chemicals. In our food, in our cleaning products, in our yard. if I can't pronounce it, I try not to eat it. The whole 5 ingredient thing makes sense to me, so we've been trying not to buy and food products with more than 5 ingredients listed. I avoid preservatives, colorings, and flavorings in anything we eat.  I use vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice to clean a lot of things. Otherwise, I try to use gentle cleaning agents. We do use bleach now and then to get rid of mold and viruses, but we keep the kids from being exposed to it. We don't spray for weeds, for pests, for anything, and we've talked our landlord out of it, too. Killing living things is not healthy for pther living things, namely our pets and our kids.

6. We respect place. We plant our yard to encourage other animals to live there. We investigate and appreciate the birds that nest in our old stovepipe vent, the spider in the corner of our bathroom, the raccoon who comes into the yard at night. But we don't catch and trap butterflies, snails, slugs, bugs, frogs, salamanders, or even worms. We look at them, reflect on them, maybe draw them, and release them right back to where we found them - in their home/habitat. I want my ids to respect that every creature has its own space and place, and we have no right to mess with that. By the same token, we respect and appreciate our space and place, and make it hospitable to everyone.

Simple? Just a few ideas...