I care about the environment, I really do. I try to minimize my consumption of the earth’s recources. I don’t by products that have CFC in them, turn off the lights when I go out of a room and I remember to use the least amount of water when I brush my teeth. It all started when I decided to become more environmentally consious and use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers so I would be setting the right example for my daughter. Mind you, this decision was one of those I took when I was very pregnant. I thought that it was a good idea at the time, bought the diapers and did the research. Baby Lulu was born and I did use them but it was so much work and extra laundry that I have up on them a couple of months later. I took the easy way out and got those evil disposable diapers. I looked for biodegradable ones, couldn’t find them and gave up on the idea (well I did try). Now that I am potty training, I keep telling myself I am doing this for the environment too.
Time flies and I find myself the mother of a toddler, a toddler that won’t take a nap easily. So I schedule my morning outings a couple of hours before she should be napping so she falls asleep in the car. When that fails I drive around aimlessly until she does. Sometimes I actually drive around more than I actually drive going to and from the places I actually should be going to. I think I could cut my fossil fuel consumption in half if she would just sleep on her own. I tried explaining why she should care about our petrol use, but she doesn’t really seem to care. She should, she needs the earth more than I do.
I don’t use plastic containers, it is my mother’s fault . Germs can live in plastic forever no matter how well you wash it, is what she always says. Which is why I throw away all of those pesky plastic containers. I should recycle, but I did a search for recycling plastic in Kuwait and didn’t find anything. We don’t get newspapers so we don’t really generate that much paper waste. I tried to make a list of things that I should be recycling and came up with aluminum cans, aluminum foil and plastic. Thankfully my housekeeper collects old milk jugs and I use lots of those, between myself and my daughter we drink lots of milk. Zip loc bags are probably another item which I abuse. They are so useful, I just pop Lulu’s snack in them and run along. I should use a reusable container but I sometimes just forget or find it easier to use them and throw them away when I am done. Maybe if I had a cute lunchbox or made a cute reusable oilcloth lunch bag I would be more inclined to remember to use them. Fortunately, Lulu would not touch any kind of artificial milk and was breastfed until recently when she decided to wean herself. Breastfeeding is very environmentally friendly. No packaging, extra energy or transportation is used up in the process. Governments should be promoting breastfeeding just for the impact on the environment.
You know what else is an amazing invention? Extra absorbent kitchen towels. Everything from spilled milk (which you should cry over if your carpet is cream colored and it is pink strawberry milk) to greasy little hands call for paper towels. I try to use soap and water or regular towels, but sometimes I just take the easy route. If you think about it, using towels and washing them is also bad for environment; detergent, water and electricity.
I guess I should try harder. Maybe I should make that my 2010 resolution, to be more conscious about my impact on the environment.
