Somewhere inside me, I think I have always had a green streak. Growing up in Singapore, things were very simple. We slept on cotton mattresses which was very hard and I assumed that was all that was available. Our clothes were line dried and I had never heard of a clothes dryer before. We never had a microwave or dishwasher but I knew what they were because the neighbors had them. I always wore hand me down as I had an older sister and always used the rice water (water used to rise the rice before cooking with was collected) to water the plants. I will always remember my parents telling me to turn off the tap, so as not to waste water. Everything old is new again!
Moving to Canada, things changed a little. We got a microwave and it was nearly impossible to hang our clothes outside in the winters. I still hung some clothes, and didn’t use fabric softner in the dryer, as I am allergic to the scents.
As an adult I have done a few things in my life to be green, sometimes to be different and most times to be frugal. I guess that is not a bad thing. For my first vehicle, I bought a 2 door, compact car, mainly because it was cheaper and fuel efficient. I remember my grandma saying “when you make more money, you will be able to buy a car with four doors”. That car lasted me for 14 years, and sold it when we decided that we didn’t need a second car. With a family of 5, the van won! As the kids grow older, if and when we get another vehicle, it will be more fuel efficient. Sometimes convenience comes with a cost, to the environment and our pocket books.
When I got married, I made my wedding invitations from recycled paper. First of all because I like the look of recycled paper and also because it was so much cheaper. Plus it was one of a kind. Why cut down more trees. I worked in an office so there was so much paper in the recycle bins. My wedding favors were bees wax candles that we spent hours making. All natural. Whenever we had parties, I never used paper plates. There was always someone at the party that was willing to help clean. Another money saving tip.
When the kids came along, I got a hand-me-down crib from the neighbor, and lots of clothes from my niece. So my little boy wore pink and floral undershirts and sleepers for many months. I figured why go buy more when I had a huge supply right in front of me. The child is not going to know what he is wearing.
Before I had my first child, I learnt about cloth diapers from another friend. They had a diaper service, and that is what I used. I even used the cloth diapers when I went shopping so I had a really large diaper bag. With the diaper service, I didn’t own any diapers, so when I went to visit my parents in another city, I decided to buy some cloth diapers to use when we were away. I wasn’t going to need them other than when we went away so I didn’t want to spend too much buying new diapers. I went to the consignment store and bought used ones. I brought them home, clean them with a hydrogen peroxide cleaner and was in business. When I had my second and third kids, the diaper service had closed down but I already owned some diapers so it was perfect for the other kids.
Cloth diapers have come a long way since I first used them, now they are just like using disposables. I have to be open with you, when I had the other two kids, I used disposables for them when we went out. It was just easier on the nerves when I didn’t have to drag both kids to the bathroom every half hour when you are in a mall, one being potty trained or the other with a wet diaper! When the kids were done with all the diapers, I sold them and made back some money, I thought that was a good deal.
I am also very careful about what I feed my kids. I try to keep away from processed foods. I’m not really sure what’s in them , so I give them raw foods where possible. I never understood why I did that but with what I have learnt now, I understand why, plus they can get expensive. As much as possible we stay away from the fast foods joints.
My kitchen pantry is full of Tupperware containers (partly because I sold it for a few years) for my bulk food purchases. For one, there was less packaging when you buy items from the bulk store, another is that is cheaper! I am super organized, with all those containers, I can see everything at glance and it saves me time and frustration knowing what I have and how much is left and not wasting money buying duplicates and then throwing it out later because it went bad after sitting the cupboard for so long!
As there is so much information in the media, about global warming and our depleting resources, I have made a conscious effort to learn more about becoming green. I had to watch out for the “green washing” that is taking place where companies mislead the consumer about the environmental benefits of the product and figure out what is real and what is not. After spending many hours at the library and online, I decide to write this book to share it with you. I thought, I have been thinking unconsciously about being green all my life, I have learned so much over the years and with all this research, why not write it all down and share it with others. So that is what I did. Here is a compilation of all the research that I have done and am sharing it with you so you don’t have to spend hours trying to figure it out yourself.