WELCOME
ECO MAMA
Posted 06.15.08 by annajohnson
WALK TALL AND LEAVE A TINY CARBON FOOTPRINT
My grandmother did the laundry by hand and hung it in the sun, whisked cakes from scratch by hand, boiled the coffee on a gas stove and rode a bicycle to work. She had one good perfume, Tweed, and one very smart suit, and had her hair done every second Friday, setting it in pin curls and air drying it the rest of the time. She simply couldn’t afford doodads.
Sixty years later, by informed choice, I want to live very much as she did. My grandmother loved fashion but lived in an era when thrift was respected even more. Like her, I want to live with fewer and better things, to be decisive about the one good coat, the perfect silk scarf and the signature scent that replaces a forest of bottles. And yes, that perfume might just be a dab of pure rose oil. I look for ways to do things around the house very simply, trying to replace the work of appliances with my hands, and, when I can, substituting mechanised distractions and comforts with quality time for my son. We lock our television in the china cupboard and wheel it out for movie night. We share a car with another family. We grow herbs on the window sill and shop at a food co-op for bulk grains and seasonal produce shared amongst a small group of mothers who get together fortnightly for big cook-ups, where we make batches of bread, casseroles, soups, cookies and cakes to freeze and stretch out through the month.
In many ways I try to live like a farmer’s wife in the middle of the city. My favourite household books are almanacs written by women in their 80s, which are full of very basic, natural and cheap household tips. Marjorie Bligh, a self published Tasmanian domestic guru, wrote a book called Homely Household Hints. In it, she suggests making pillowcases for the nursery out of old floral cotton dresses. The intent is to recycle, but the result looks cool…like a kid’s room designed by Marni. Fashionably or not, I aim to find a million funky ways to waste less.
Eco mothering just takes a little more thought, a little more love and a lot more elbow grease. The governing principle is to save here to spend there. If hand sewing a quilt takes time, then I simply steal that time from watching TV or using the internet. Not watching television (day or night) can give you up to 35 free hours a week; more than a whole day. To some, my ideas might sound like they’re straight out of the seventies …and a fantasy. The vision of life before the washing machine is terrifying to many modern women. We marvel at the Amish for their slow labour and meticulous ways. But the truth is, the Amish have been conserving their carbon footprint—the individual measure of carbon emissions generated by one person—for centuries, and we are just waking up to the real cost of global warming generated by our insane energy consumption. As huge nations such as China and India grow more affluent, the carbon footprint of each man and woman and child is increasing and the results are catastrophic: ozone depletion, pollution, climate change—in whole, an ailing planet.
Domestically speaking, it’s time to get unplugged and go acoustic. Personally I think it’s an exciting challenge to know as a woman and a mother what a tremendous difference you can make in every small daily choice. Mothers have huge consumer power. If we really wanted genetically modified foods off our supermarket shelves, less sugar in our cereal or less plastic wrapping on our toys, we could vote with our feet and simply stop shopping for the wrong stuff, therefore creating a gap in the market for the right stuff. And when you become a conscious shopper, an energy conserver and a recycler, you immediately create your own small but intensely powerful environmental-friendly lifestyle. Something as simple as changing your brand of light bulbs makes a difference, and from there each small choice rooted in energy conservation (and thrift) has a magical way of leading to a far richer quality of life.
Simplicity fosters creativity, and creativity makes everyone feel competent and happy. Take a look at a child that has baked something or decorated a wall in her room herself. Compare these joys with the deep disconnect created by screen-based recreation. The more you use hand-made children’s toys, the less you watch TV; the more time spent outdoors, the better your family’s health and emotional connection; the fresher the food you eat, the more energy you have for…making puppets out of socks and kites out of hand-painted newspaper, among a million other things. At first this outlook takes a bit of effort, a bit like running a summer camp from home, but if this if is what it takes to save the planet and make a childhood richer, I say bake those apples and keep those kids out of McNasties, build that cubby house and throw away the handheld computer toys. Make a game from recycling and lead the little ones out off the malls and toy stores and back into the woods and gardens. The only way to really love the earth is to roll in it from time to time.
ECOLOGY STARTS AT HOME
It’s important to consider that many commercial cleaning products contain questionable ingredients. Some are even being classified as hazardous waste, or suspected or known carcinogens. Minimizing exposure to these chemicals reduces associated health risks (including allergies and asthma) and the potential for injury to young children and pets, such as chemical burns and accidental poisoning. Natural cleaners also promote the benefits of aromatherapy. I started phasing out chemical heavy products in my home and gradually replaced them with environmentally friendly products—some homemade cleansers and what I call adapted products. I add lavender and eucalyptus oil to my laundry wash, Murphy’s Oil I use for my floors, and even to the water I use to wash windows. Afterwards, the house smells like a forest and I feel relaxed. I was inspired to make the change after reading The Naturally Clean Home: 100 Safe and Easy Herbal Formulas for Non-Toxic Cleansers by Karyn Siegel-Maier, an enterprising Eco Mom with a message:
“I can personally guarantee that anyone who begins making and using natural cleaners will never go back to using commercial products again. Just a walk down the commercial cleaning products isle in the grocery store becomes overwhelming with all the toxic fumes present. You just may not have noticed it before” Siegel-Maier told me with some gusto. Most of the formulas she has come up with are very adaptable; the basic recipe she offered for my book can be adapted for every room in the house by switching the essential oil added.”
SIMPLE HERBAL DISINFECTANT
2 cups water
10 drops essential oil of thyme
1/4 cup borax (i.e., Mule Team)
Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray on bathroom or kitchen surfaces and wipe with a clean, damp cloth or sponge. (Note: If combating mildew, add 8-10 drops of tea tree oil as well.) This formula can be modified to contain sweet orange or geranium essential oil instead of thyme to make a nice surface cleaner for the kitchen, or lavender for the bathroom. Some might object and say that homemade cleansers lack grunt, but essential oils are natural degreasers and some can even remove stubborn substances like ink from surfaces, even wallpaper. And homemade “soft scrubbers” clean bath tubs and tile very easily. When it comes to oven cleaning, Karyn suggests speed over toxic chemicals. She told me, “The best course of action is to attack an oven spill as soon as it happens. Dousing the spill with salt, for instance, will allow you to simply brush or wipe the mess away in a few hours.”
ENERGY AND RECYCLING SMARTS
- Electricity is one of the biggest producers of carbon emissions, so stop adding to global warming by using the coffee maker and television less often. Turn power off when not in use (lights, television, DVD player, Hi Fi, computer, etc.
- Look around your home and locate mechanized toys, appliances, electrical beauty aides (hot rollers, extra hairdryers, foot massage/spa units, electric blankets), recreational games, clock radios etc. that you just don’t need. Going just a bit luddite (re: pre-industrial, handmade and hand-operated) is not just environmentally responsible. It’s aesthetically pleasing.
- Where possible, switch to green energy from a supplier who will supply electricity from renewable sources (e.g. wind and hydroelectric power)—this will reduce your carbon footprint contribution from electricity to zero, and your bill will only be a bit more expensive.
- In the cold months turn down the central heating slightly (try just 1 to 2 degrees) and ask your office to do the same. Who wants to boil like a Christmas turkey anyway? Also, check the central heating timer setting. Remember, there is no point heating the house after you have left for work.
- Turn down the water heating setting (just 2 degrees saves significantly).
- Find clever uses for water the other most precious and globally diminishing resource. I regularly recycle bath water for floor washing.
- Only run your dish washer and washing machines with a full load—this will save you water, electricity, and washing powder.
- Fill the kettle with only as much water as you need.
- Unplug your mobile phone as soon as it has finished charging. Unplug all appliances and lamps when you’re not using them.
- Defrost your fridge/freezer regularly. And if you can afford it, replace your old fridge/freezer (if it is over 15 years old), with a new machine that has an energy efficiency rating of “A.”
- Hang out the laundry to dry rather than tumble drying it.
- Buy a second-hand bike with a basket on the front for errands. Be sparing with your use of the family car, when it’s possible, and even try to . . . walk. Try to tele-commute one day a week, and carpool with other families for day trips and with co-workers for the daily commute. Better still, enjoy the train and savor these moments alone.
- When staying in a hotel, turn off the lights and air-conditioning when you leave your room. Ask for you room towels to be washed every other day, rather than every day.
IN THE SUPERMARKET
- Often, the luxury of big city living is having whatever you desire twenty four hours a day. But the cult of convenience is costing the earth. Foods bought out of season at the supermarket, have either been flown or shipped in from far away—all adding to your carbon footprint.
- Reduce your consumption of meat by buying less and better—organic, and grass fed. Support sustainable organic meat farming and consume less pathogens, hormones and God knows what in the process.
- Don’t buy bottled water if your tap water is safe to drink once filtered (especially if the bottled water has been shipped from some distant tropical island). Or invest in a super large spring water cistern for your home that can be replaced less frequently. Imagine all the plastic you don’t have to process through your house when you have one source of water.
- Try to buy products made closer to home, thus supporting your home economy. Shop for foreign goods that support ethical trade, which I know takes some research—but coffee tastes sweeter when it’s not grown by EXPLOITED labor.
- Many kids’ items, yogurt to toys, are needlessly packaged. Opt for the simplest, plainest containers. These products also often offer the best foods especially when produced by local and small business. I took up the policy to buy food whose labels didn’t scream at me. Plain brown paper bags abound on my kitchen shelves, not cartoon faces trying to sell my son more stuff.
- Have fun with recycling. If a toy or food item comes in a snazzy cardboard box, turn it into a puppet theater or a mask. Use plastic fruit containers for growing windowsill herbs or storing craft materials. Give egg containers a second life as paint palettes. Try to be less ashamed of old stuff that is useful round the house.
- Think carefully about the type of activities you do in your spare time and simplify them to factor in a lower use of energy. If the sun is shining, try to use the day to avoid anything electrical or fuel consuming. Use wind power for a kite and sunshine for a picnic. The beauty of thinking ecologically is that almost every time you’re resourceful, you’re brought back to appreciate the elements, nature and radically simpler pleasures.
soheyla Says:
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:30 pmI love this! I think this is great, i have a 4 month old daughter and i have been eating and using organic products long before this whole green/eco thing became trendy. I didn’t like all this technology before my baby is born but now it becomes even more important. I think about how it was in past decades and how to get back that way, i got rid of my cell phone, etc. I have an old style phone, my record player…, a vcr. I’m only 25 and i have more sense than a lot of girls my age..Maybe because i grew up with out these things who knows? All i know is that most moms make an issue out of tv, but the best way is to practice what you preach and get rid of the tv. End of. Movies are fine..
Nicky Says:
June 21st, 2010 at 7:16 amReally looking forward to new blog entries! Just love your work!!