making the earth greener one tiny baby at a time

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Being Eco-Conscious...When You're Barely Conscious

I just had a baby and can barely wrap my brain around everything it takes to keep this wee bundle alive. And seriously? I need to think about being a "Green" mother? Oh, ok. I'll do it in my spare time. I'll fit it in between my mid-morning nap and my daily massage. I'll just make sure my nanny and personal chef have given the unicorns their vitamins.

As a new mother I have quickly adopted the phrase, "as much as I can." I'm not going to be that perfect environmentalist who only dresses my kid in clothes made of bamboo and gets a special attachment for my toilet to spray the baby's dirty diapers...yikes. But I can't get swept up in the runaway train that is new-parenthood and throw away every thing the child touches for a clean, fresh, germ-free one.

So I'll be a hybrid! I'll tell you the things I've learned, the experiments I've tried, and the stuff I just totally gave up on. Hopefully I can spare you some of my greatest errors...like deciding to do 100% cloth diapers the first week my husband was out of town. Or thinking I could handle our new "Worm Factory" alone. I'll try to keep the posts short so you can get in and out and learn something. I'll put up new posts on the regular schedule of "when I have the time." And don't be mad at me, but I will probably end each post with a totally depressing environmental fact.

Let's do this! Come on! We can do it! We can make the world a better...oh god...I am so tired...let's save the world after this nap.



totally depressing environmental fact:
the highest point in the state of ohio is a landfill

6 comments:

  1. hi rebecca,
    congrats on the new blog!
    just wondering if/where you got your worms? sounds kind of gross but i'm hoping to start my own worm factory and am looking for some red wigglers!
    best,
    ryan

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  2. Count me as an eager subscriber. I really want to hear about the cloth diaper thing, as we are thinking of transitioning. I have already in these five weeks learned the hard lesson of "as much as we can."

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  3. The worm factory was purchased at the Studio City Farmer's Market. You can buy the whole kit, or just a pound of worms for a composter you already have. I must say, Ryan, your porch is the perfect place for a worm factory of your very own!!

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  4. OMG! What a great start to your blog! I'm hooked already (and I'm a disposable diapers mom...sorry). I wonder if people hike to top of that landfill for the view?

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  5. front porch worm factory is up and running! thanks for the tip on the booth at the studio city market, rebecca; i'd completely forgotten they were there. those folks are a little pricey though, so if you're looking for some additional wigglers, i found a guy in glendale who's a lot cheaper ($23 a pound -- that's right, worms by the pound!). here's his info: chris jung / 818.472.2593 / majjj@aol.com

    the city also has a program set up in griffith park a couple times a month, where you can take free workshops and get worm bins and composters subsidized for a fraction of the retail cost. i might check out one of the upcoming workshops if you're at all interested... http://www.ci.la.ca.us/san/solid_resources/recycling/composting/bin_sales_events.htm

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  6. This is great Ryan! Thanks so much!

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