Can parents
save the world?
We're doing alarming damage to our world but surely parents, as one of the biggest consumer groups, can turn the tide?
It was the Wombles who really got me thinking. My husband was singing the song to our little girl and something struck a chord, what with all that making good use of the things they found.
We're doing alarming damage to our world but surely parents, as one of the biggest consumer groups, can turn the tide?
Melissa Corkhill, editor of The Green Parent magazine and mum of two, certainly thinks so. "There is an increasing awareness of green issues," she says. "Having a baby is often the catalyst for parents thinking more carefully about their environmental impact.
One small step leads to another and often people starting to live a greener life inspire others to think about their own lifestyles too. We can all save the world if we join together, stop fighting and start living consciously!".
- Waste not, want not
- Cosmetic changes
- Full of energy
- Food for thought
- Clothing concerns
- Tackling transport
- Holidays
Waste not, want not
Teaching our children the difference between rubbish and recycling is one of the biggest ways we can get them involved. From the age of two, my daughter Rachel has loved helping us sort out the paper from the plastic and cans (although we handle the glass!).
We keep a stack of colourful boxes in the corner of the kitchen, one for each material, so it's already second nature to Rach in our daily routine. Melissa thinks steps like this are incredibly important.
"Today's children
will be the next generation of greenies, hopefully," she says. "I often hear
of children who are encouraging their parents to recycle more and be more conscious,
because awareness is being raised in schools."
If your house does not benefit from kerbside collections, visit your local recycling bank, where children can be lifted up to put the items through the right slots. And try to think beyond the usual cans, paper and bottles - look at www.recyclenow.com for a full list of re-useable items such as car batteries, mobile phones and printer cartridges.
Turning kitchen scraps into compost is another great waste-saver. Melissa says: "Starting a compost bin is simple, tuck a bucket under the sink, fill it with scraps and torn up cardboard and add it to a compost bin in the garden every few days.
Within six months you'll have beautiful rich compost to add to the garden." Again, make sure your children put their fruit peel and leftovers in the correct bin. Garden Organic (www.gardenorganic.co.uk) offers great tips on getting started.
Cosmetic changes
I'm the first to hold my hand up and admit that our baby toiletries could be much greener. The good news is that the Internet is bursting with eco-friendly suppliers. A great place to start is www.allthingsgreen.net, which gives links to companies such as Ethical Babe and The Natural Nursery, selling organic, recycled and Fairtrade baby lotions, oils and cotton wool.
Now High Street chains are catching up too, launching bio-degradable wipes and nappy sacks and recyclable plastic bath items. As Babies R Us spokeswoman Justine Pryce says: "Parents are intelligent people. We have started to see over the last three or four years that people are recycling more and I really think that for retailers, this is the first step." Also, don't underestimate farmers' markets as a great source for natural soaps and lotions - visit www.farmersmarkets.net to find the nearest to you.
Full of energy
The Energy Saving Trust (www.est.org.uk) estimates that householders can save £300 a year by following simple tips. The Green Parent's Melissa says: "Turning the heating down by one degree or the taps off whilst brushing teeth are small but effective changes that can be made."
Pre-schoolers might not be able to help insulate the loft or lag your hot water tank, but there are plenty of energy-saving habits they can get into, such as completely turning off the TV and other electrical appliances instead of leaving them on standby.
Set a good example by switching lights off when leaving a room and never charging mobile phones overnight, so when your little ones are old enough they'll automatically follow your example.
Food for thought
Stressed in the supermarket? Shopping with toddlers and babies (especially one of each!) can be a nightmare, so invent games in which bored children can help.Show them the Fairtrade logo to hunt for Fairtrade items on the shelf, and get them to put loose fruit and veg into bags rather than going for sealed-pack varieties.
You can then
re-use these bags for sandwiches, saving yourself a few pennies and pleasing
the Women's Institute, who want to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic
supermarkets produce!
You can also slash global "food miles" by visiting farmers' markets or growing your own! We have two excellent farmers' markets nearby, one on a riverbank and selling delicious pancakes, so it's a big hit with the kids and we get the chance to ask the stallholders how the food is produced.
Even if your garden is small, children will love growing fruit, veg and herbs in tubs and windowboxes. Ask garden centre staff for easy-to-grow ideas, bearing in mind what your child is likely to eat.
And a word of advice from The Green Parent - "Of course, producing your own compost goes hand in hand with growing vegetables."
Clothing
A shocking report by the Environmental Justice Foundation has exposed the dangers from chemicals to cotton farmers in many third world countries. Leading designer Katharine Hamnett is among those supporting the EJF's Cotton Campaign, saying: "By insisting on organic cotton and fair pay for garment workers and by paying one per cent more for a tee-shirt, you can change the world and make it a better and safer place."
Marks & Spencer, Next and Babies R Us have all launched organically grown cotton ranges in soothing neutral tones and with surprisingly competitive price tags. Even more cost effective are washable nappies.
Emma Pearce, who runs Butterfly Babies (www.butterfly-babies.co.uk), says: "Even using the organic nappies, you still save about £500 on a first baby and more again on a second or third." Eight million disposables go into landfill sites each day, so as Sustainable Wales' Real Nappy Campaign says: "It's time for a real change."
Transport
My daily journey home from primary school used to include a stop at the sweet shop then a carefree race across the fields with a gang of kids from my street. This is a long-gone privilege in today's world, but children won't collapse with shock if they are not driven to school.
Ask their teachers to consider setting up a walking bus, which relies on adult helpers to act as the "driver" and "conductor," picking up passengers along a designated route. If you only use your car occasionally, why not consider ditching it altogether and joining a car club?
Providing quick and easy access to cars for short-term hire, they are the way forward according to dad-of-two Mark Strong, a transport planner who helped launch Brighton's City Car Club (www.citycarclub.co.uk).
Mark - who brought son Mattie home from hospital in a club car at just six hours old - says: "It takes a bit more planning and it's very different if you are in the middle of the country, but if you just need a car to get to the supermarket or the occasional trip to the country, it works."
Holidays
With a fresh global warming report by economist Sir Nicholas Stern, and the Conservatives' proposals for green air miles, carbon emissions have never been so topical.
If you are flying on your holidays this year, take a look at www.climatecare.org, where you can work out the CO2 emissions your flight will cause and neutralise the balance. If you haven't yet booked your holiday, consider a fully organic trip.
Take a look
at www.organicholidays.co.uk
for self-catering breaks on organic farms or catered options using local, organic
produce. If camping, many sites have recycling facilities - if not, suggest
it to the owners!
With the backing of Anita Roddick responsibletravel.com was launched to offer enviromentally responsible holidays.
From modest beginnings they have now booked over 20,000 travellers on holiday and their best selling trip is a family adventure to Egypt, proving that families are prepared to do their bit to save the world.
Useful contacts:
- www.Responsibletravel.com
- www.Thegreenparent.co.uk
- www.Greenpeace.org.uk
- www.foe.co.uk Friends of the earth
- www.Woodland-trust.org.uk
- www.Carplus.org.uk
- Tourismconcern.org.uk
Where to next?
- Germ warfare - why our obsession with cleanliness could be doing our kids more harm than good.
- Best for baby: How to look after your newborns skin and avoid the 'chemical soup'
- Cottoning on to organic - why parents might switch from cotton clothes when they disover the uncomfortable truth about how they're made.
- Pass the parenting manual. What is a parent coach and do families really need one?
- Breastfeeding and allergies: What you eat can affect your baby
