Mommy Greenest
Oprah says, "Go green!"
I was folding laundry the other day, watching Oprah (a guilty pleasure when the boys are at school or napping), and she had a whole show about going green. She was wearing a luxurious-looking green sweater and hosted a series of guests who were eco-conscious, inspiring and, incidentally, also all really good-looking.
The episode brought home how far I've already come and energized me with new suggestions. I learned about Smart Strips, a power strips that automatically stops the flow of energy to television or computer peripherals when you turn off your computer or television. Conventional power strips will draw power unless they're turned off at the strip, which can be a pain when the strip is inconveniently located behind your TV stand. Leaving electronics on not only wastes energy, it wastes money--an even more endangered resource in this house. So I need to get some of these.
Because The Oprah Winfrey Show is the Holy Grail for anyone selling anything, people bring their A-game to the show. And that means great little factoids in easy-to-swallow doses.
About paper napkins, from Elizabeth Rogers, author of The Green Book: "We use 2,200 of them a year, per person on average. Six a day. So if we all gave up one napkin a day, we could save a billion pounds of paper waste...from going to landfills a year." This inspired me to declare an end to paper napkin usage in my home.
When they talked about natural cleaning products, I felt strangely validated to hear someone point out exactly what I said in "Breaking Up with Mr. Clean." We've all been brainwashed to believe that a sharp stinging synthetic citrus scent is the mark of a clean home.
One woman talked about what inspired her to reduce and recycle, saying "I'm throwing it all away but where? Where does it go? Where is 'away'?" In response, a second grade teacher said she used to take her students to a landfill to awaken their sensibilities to what it means to throw away the trash.
I started 2008 with a psychic hangover from a year ended with a flurry of work, errands, and hours of holiday travel. The chaos of returning to the routine consumed me next. But now I've stabilized and I have to say, I think my big New Year's resolution will center on Smart Strips, shorter showers and recycling. Oprah's show rejuvenated my dedication to being a greener mom. Thank you, Oprah. Now if only she would send me a car.
© The Green Guide, 2008
Discuss this blog
posted by Michael_J on 2008-02-01 08:00:33
Alix,
Nice, simple and easy to do - I like your style and refreshing approach to finding ways to spread the message of how to live our personal lives a little greener and a little more conscience of the impact our actions have on the environment.
You've got a fan in Maryland!
Thanks, Michael
posted by charis on 2008-02-06 12:42:36
oprah had some great ideas - and she has an amazing amount of influence so whenever she talks about going green, it's going to do some good.
however, she overlooked on huge area of waste in our lives: disposable diapers. realdiaperassociation.org estimates that we use 27.4 BILLION disposable diapers each year in the u.s. that's alot of poop and alot of resources and alot of money going straight to the landfill. disposable diapers make up the third largest single consumer item in our landfills. in a house with a baby in 'sposies', those diapers make up 50% of that household's trash. and for those of you who think that you're ok by using 'biodegradeable' diapers - think again. it takes oxygen and sunlight in order for those diapers to decompose - and diapers don't get that when they're stuck in an airtight landfill. landfills aren't giant compost heaps. disposables, even 'biodegradable' ones, spend an estimated 250-500 years hanging out in landfills before they break down. that's a long time... all in the name of convenience.
the two main arguments i hear against cloth diapering are a) handling of waste and b) the energy and water it takes to wash them.
a) is a moot point, because honestly, it's more disgusting to dump raw human waste into our landfills. did you know that you're supposed to shake solid waste from any diaper, disposable or not, into the toilet? otherwise, you're sending raw human waste into our landfills where it will come into contact with rain runoff and our groundwater. that's alot of potential to spread disease. this is the part most people really don't like - but face it: if you have kids, you gotta deal with poop, at least in the beginning. it's nothing a simple handwash won't take care of.
and as for the water/energy cost of laundering cloth diapers.. all i have to say is this: the amount of water that goes into the production of disposable diapers is at least the same as what it takes to wash cloth, if not more. think about it: there is water involved in almost every process of diaper production. the water cost of the average load of cloth diapers is the equivalent of what the toilet flushes would be of a potty trained child - 5 or 6 flushes per day, at the maximum. toss in today's HE washers and you have even greater efficiency at getting clean diapers with less water. and you don't have the toxic environmental load with reusable diapers. the fuel expended in transporting both raw and finished materials, the chlorine and resulting dioxins pumped into the environment (and potentially sitting next to baby's skin, *shudder*), and that's not to mention the 200,000+ trees used to produce america's disposables each year.
there's also the financial burden of disposables.. americans spend roughly $7 BILLION dollars on disposable diapers each year. 7 billion clams that go straight into our landfills. does this seem extraordinarily foolish to anyone else?
this is a significant consideration that needs to get more attention in parenting circles. even for my generation, disposable diapers weren't as common as cloth - and i'm only 26 years old. the use of throw-aways as the diapering standard is fairly new and is a huge economic, environmental, and public health burden on our country and our world. it's a significant problem and needs to be addressed and i'm saddened by the fact that so few 'green' people don't even look at cloth as an option because it's 'too much trouble' or 'icky' (what diapers aren't?) or 'wastes too much water'... which i don't understand because water is continually recycled through our environment - and especially wastewater which is returned to the ground once it's been treated.
lastly, i've noticed one very pleasant side effect of using cloth - my house doesn't stink like diaper trash anymore. people don't walk through my door and immediately know that i have kids in diapers because you simply cannot smell the cloth when it's in the pail. that's gotta be a great positive for anyone!
-regards, mrs. b - mom to two toddlers in (cloth)diapers
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