Reducing Your Baby’s Bumprint Tip of the Week!
It is my goal as a parent to try and reduce my baby’s ecological “bum”print on this here earth. I think that this is an important goal as a parent. Not only from an environmental perspective, but from a social one as well. If we raise our children to be conscious of the way they live their lives and how this relates to the health of our planet right from the start, we have an opportunity to raise a generation of people that don’t know how to think any other way.
Think of how far the 3 R’s have gotten us. I remember being in elementary school, learning about reduce, reuse and recycle. Lord help my parents if they dared to throw away an aluminum can after that. It pains me to this very day to see my mother throw away a Becel container. What is so hard about putting it in the recycling bin instead? She shrugs at such a question. Sometimes she recycles, sometimes she doesn’t. It doesn’t bother her either way.
So my question is, what is the difference between her generation and my own? I seriously think it comes down to the 3 R’s being drilled into my school-age brain. They literally became a part of who I am. It isn’t that my mom doesn’t care about this planet, it just isn’t automatic for her to reuse an aluminum pie plate for something else later.
So… in my attempt to help us to raise a generation of automatic recyclers, reusers, “bum”print reducers, fuel consumption reductionists, lovers of nature, and the best stewards in the history of this planet, I will now come up with a weekly tip to reduce your baby’s “bum”print on our Earth.
Tip #1- Buy Bulk
Not only is buying bulk easier on your wallet, it is way easier on our planet. Just think of the packaging you are saving from our landfill and the natural resources you are saving that would have been used to make the packaging. So next time you need to buy some quick oats for some yummy oatmeal, head for the bulk section! (p.s. I reuse my plastic bags from the bulk section)
It also makes shopping more fun, what kid doesn’t like to help scoop the goodies into the bag?
See you in the bulk section.
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What has long bothered me about many natural alternatives is that they aren’t available in bulk. I’m not talking about dry goods that you scoop out of a bin, but things like natural dish soaps, dressings and sauces. I’m glad to see that Costco is finally starting to carry organic salad dressings in their mondo 1 liter size but I’m even happier to report that my local natural food store even offers natural Tamari (soy sauce), amongst other things, in huge quantities (I’m talking a milk jug-sized bottle of the stuff!). Hurray! I love shopping at Famous Foods in Vancouver for things like this. They also have lots of pre-measured bulk items, which means that even the most extreme germophobe can eat in peace.