I recently got an email from a friend who is planning a trip with her baby and was asking for advice. Someone I don't know replied to the email and said, "we went against our normally green standards and used anything we could think of that was disposable."
That really made me think. You claim to be green, yet when you go on vacation, all bets are off. Why? Why give up something you're determined to do, just because you're on vacation? Do you feel entitled to be a little wasteful, since you're so not-wasteful the rest of the time?
I have some friends, and don't get me wrong, I love these people, they are very very very cool, but they are self-proclaimed almost unreasonably green. The husband dictated that the wife use cloth diapers for the baby (even though he rarely helps her clean them), they drive a hybrid, they used low-VOC paint in the house, they don't like lotions or baby wipes made from petroleum products (big bad oil, they say), they think having "too many" kids (insert your own definition there) is "irresponsible" since it is bad for the environment, etc. Yet, they bought a HUGE beautiful brand new house when they got together and donated or sold ALL of their possessions from their previous relationships and bought all new stuff as they "started over" together. Whoa. Then, there was a basement-type room in the huge new house that was finished and perfectly fine, but the hub decided to rip it out and make a brand new room as his "project." The perfectly fine room was completely scrapped, because it wasn't good enough for him.
I just kept thinking, if you're going to be green then darn it, be green. Don't say you're green then not actually do it when you don't feel like it.
I'm reminded of what it means to be a Sunday Mormon or Sunday Christian: just going to Church on Sunday and forgetting about it every other day of the week. You're still a Mormon those other days. You're still a Mormon on vacation .
If you decide to do it, then stick with it. Isn't it like that with everything in life? We decide to get married. We hit rough patches, but I have to remember, I decided to do this. I'm not giving up. I'm not "taking a break" because all of a sudden it's a little more tough that I anticipated. Or, I decided to buy a condo. I've got to make the best of it. I decided to move to Seattle. I'm not going to complain about the gray skies (although there is some sun today! yay!). I weighed out all the options in my mind, then I decided to do these things. I dedicated myself to these things. Why only exert half an effort?
Last example. Some people are on the bandwagon where they only feed their babies organic foods. Organic rice cereal, organic fruits and veggies, organic juices, etc. But, these same moms talk about giving their babies a taste of frosting from a cupcake or licks from a popsicle. And I asked one of them, "If organic is so important to you, was the frosting organic?" She laughed, "haha, no!" But that's my point. You can't guarantee that 100% of the foods your kid eats for his or her entire life are going to be organic, why bother? Is it really that important? (It's not really important to me, in case you haven't noticed.) When you're at a party or a potluck or a Church activity or whatever, are you not going to let your kid eat anything since you can't say emphatically it's organic?
But maybe I'm wrong. What would you guys say? Are things in or out, like I'm thinking? Or is a little bit of good better than no good? If you eat some organic, does it make you feel less guilty about eating non-organic? If you use CFLs in one room, do you feel less guilty about using the super-bright bulbs in the bathroom? If you read your scriptures all during the week, do you feel less guilty about taking the weekend off?
6 comments:
I have to say I disagree with your line of reasoning here, unless you are talking about evangelistic people who annoy the world with telling everybody HOW green they are.
1) I bought organic baby food whenever I could, but my baby surely got tastes of non-organic things. I bought organic because it was his first food and I wanted to make sure it was as healthy as possible BECAUSE he did not let me make my own (afraid of blender) and didn't like it when I tried. I felt organic was the next best thing. We try to buy organic when we can even now and subscribe to an organic produce service, but not everything is because we can't afford it. I believe some is better than none and I don't think organic qualifies as all or nothing. Pesticides leach easily through the skin of a banana, for example, but not so much through the skin of an orange - maybe I'd buy organic bananas, but not oranges. I also do a lot of shopping at Trader Joe's where it is easier to find things without High fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. I think these are just common-sense approaches to eating healthier. And, I believe in moderation when it comes to food so I'm going to introduce my kid to healthy stuff that just came out of the ground and I'm going to let him try out that cupcake too (on rare occasions). That's just my own parenting philosophy.
2) I use organic baby products (Burt's Bees to be specific) because I don't like the idea of washing my baby in a tub full of pthalates (or however you spell that), etc. There are a lot of things that manufacturers can put in baby products that the FDA does not require to be in the ingredient lists, so I prefer products that specifically state that they are free of X,Y,Z. Just a personal preference. Now, do I use huggies wipes because they are affordable at Costco? Yes. Do I love Aveeno products because they are fragrance free? Yes. Again I would argue that some is better than none. I think this new law governing the use of pthalates and lead, etc. will make me actually consider going back to J&J though for cost reasons.
3) Cloth diapers on vacation sounds like a nightmare. Where do you store them? How do you launder them? If I was into cloth diapers, which I tried and didn't have the stomach/energy/husband-support for, I would totally go disposable on vacation too - or G Diapers maybe. It's not a matter of feeling entitled to be more wasteful on vacation, it's just logistics. With all the crap you have to take with you on a vacation with a baby, you save yourself one more headache by buying the diapers when you get there.
Now: I do not judge people for buying non-organic foods. I do not judge people for using Johnson & Johnson or whatever and I do not personally use cloth diapers. I just don't think this is a black-and-white issue, though, and I think you can be kind-of green and it doesn't mean you are spiritually skimping or a hypocrite or something.
I guess the some-better-than-none argument is a good one. After I posted this I got to thinking about exercise, and it's definitely better to do some than none. So if it works there, why wouldn't it work somewhere else? I just the, as Danielle says, "telling everybody how green they are" people just bug me sometimes and I had to get it out of my system.
This subject is intense. I decided that we are to enjoy what we have been blessed with on this earth and food is a big part of it. My children love organic. I am a huge supporter, but some organic brands they didn't like, and then some they LOVED. Then I found a really awesome flavor that wasn't organic, and I don't feel a bit bad about it. I try to roll with the direction my child and I are going and show them we can bond and enjoy so much on the earth. I have also found that some organic fresh fruit turned out to be nasty when the owner said it was fine. I came home with tons of fruit flies everywhere! That is when I decided that what I see that looks good and healthy in the store organic or non is usually going to be good for you, but home grown ALWAYS wins for me. I LOVE homemade carrots. A huge part of it is listening to your body and respecting it's needs. But I think that Organic is really sooo good in so many ways. Thats why I make homemade bread it's good for us and it brings a feeling of warmth and togetherness all at the same time. I don't know, but that is my two cents.
In my women's health class we were talking about the history of menstruation and new products that are on the market for your period.
I wasn't aware of this but you can go green with your period too....as if taking your canvas bags to cosco isn't enough! Yes, that's right!
It's called a menstrual cup, and a popular one is called the Diva cup! Because, lets face it, it's so Diva'ish' to be green! It's just this little cup that you insert like a tampon...take out, wash out, re-use!
Kinda crazy! But, I would like to try it for the shear bliss of knowing that I'm not clogging the landfills with my tampons =)
Every little green thing helps =)
We are of the mindset that you do what you can, when you can. As you mentioned in your comment - food, doing the green thing, exercise, maybe even reading your scriptures is all about trying to do as much as you can. In our case, we try to buy organic for Alice as much as possible because she has a higher chance of developing a childhood autoimmune disease. I feel like any little decrease in toxins is better than ignoring it altogether.
It's not about guilt. It's about doing your best. And none of us is perfect, so our efforts are bound to be less than perfect as well. I'd rather do something than nothing.
Oh! And about traveling with a baby. We've done a lot of traveling with Alice, who, as you know, isn't a year old yet. Plane trips, car trips - the whole thing. Lots of them. I've found there are certain things that are much more difficult to do when you're traveling. Cloth diapers are tricky, because there isn't a place to clean them (I wouldn't trust a public toilet) - and it's very difficult to pack your own made-at-home baby food. Not to mention that the airport folks don't jive very well with the little ziploc containers filled with food (ha ha!). In my experiences, jars of baby food are much more likely to pass through security than homemade. I've seen many scenarios of this, and I always go with the easier thing, because traveling is challenging enough without also having security confiscate your baby food (yes - very unfortunate!).
Sorry for the loooooong comment. This one is sort of a hot button issue, I guess! :o)
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