It’s a tough call because the things that make you a green parent are debatable. For instance are you greener if you use cloth diapers but fail to recycle, or are you greener if you recycle, grow and hand make your own organic baby food, plus buy only natural toys BUT you use disposable diapers? Which parent is greener?

What do I think defines green parenting?:

I think there are some key elements to green parenting such as…

1. Being hands on and encouraging your littles to love nature. If you’re not getting your kids outside and teaching them about the planet you’d like them to conserve, the lesson is screwy, don’t you think?
2. Making choices by weighing the risks of your actions – i.e. is it better to buy a set of plastic Legos (affordable) and be able to afford organic milk or is it more important to buy an all natural, toxic-free toy (not always affordable) and skip the organic milk? I side with the organic milk on this one. I can’t always control what my son plays with, but he’s past the age of putting Legos into his mouth while milk does go into his mouth daily and non-organic could affect his health.
3. Doing the basics – I do think that green parenting at the very least means encouraging recycling, making green cleaning choices, and doing away with disposables when possible. For example, we’ve never had paper napkins in our house, and I’m hoping my son will grow up and continue to use cloth napkins – small choices add up. The above (green cleaning, recycling, and knocking disposables) are easy things that any parent can try.
4. Talking about why we make the choices we do. My son, at age eight years, can tell you all about pollution, recycling, organic foods, tree planting and more. Yeah, he tells it in his own words but he gets it to a level that an eight year old can get it. Talking about green living is maybe one of the most important parts of being a green parent in my opinion.

I can think of other things, but the above make the most sense to me. Green choices are tough. Parenting is tougher. Add them together and it’s a lot to deal with which is why I advocate small steps here at THF. Of course I also encourage large steps, but I think if you do what you can it’s an awesome start. Maybe later I’ll gather up a list of green parenting steps – from small to large.

What do you think? What defines green parenting in your opinion?

[image via me - my son Cedar on a hike]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

As important as this topic is, many adults can’t even manage to free themselves from commercialism, so how do we also handle kids, who seem almost physically prone to want material items.

That’s what we’ll be covering this week – all week. It’s an important topic, so although, obviously, I’ll be the one posting, I want you to let me know what you think as well.

I think that the New American Dream organization sums up some major components of living with less stuff nicely. There’s more to it, of course, but to get started, here are three main points:

1. Live consciously: be more aware of what really matters in life.
2. Buy wisely: make each purchase, or decision not to purchase stand out.
3. Make a difference: use your actions and words to deal with commercialism.

Without all three components, living less commercially is less successful. Why do you think that is?

I’ll be back to kick this topic off soon.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family