Eco-Fatherhood - The Green Bar Has Been Raised

Two steps forward, one step back

That’s the phrase that comes to mind as I sit back and reflect on my new role as a dad. Our first child was born a little over a week ago (and in case you are wondering, is not the baby pictured here) and just as everyone has said all along, it’s been a truly life changing experience! It’s amazing, challenging and unlike anything I’ve ever faced before.

One thing is for sure - being suddenly responsible for the health and well being of a little human definitely has a way of inspiring focus and action. At the risk of sounding cheesy (and borrowing a line from “As Good as it Gets”), it makes me “want to be a better man”. Unfortunately, being a ‘better man’ doesn’t necessarily equal being a more envionmentally responsible man!

With new changes come new challenges. In the case of taking care of a baby, many of those challenges seem involve struggling to maintain some semblance of eco-responsibility. During the last year I’ve made great strides on the environmental front. Let’s quickly review some of the improvements:

• Greatly improved composting/recycling efforts
• Decreased garbage output (largely due to the above efforts)
• Reduced water consumption (outdoors & indoors)
• Decreased power usage (turning lights out when not needed etc) and installation of power-saving devices (CF bulbs, energy efficient furnace etc)
• Increased usage of eco-friendly products (for cleaning etc)

Since bringing the baby home there seems to be increased power usage, increased water usage, increased garbage output, and increased use of products I wouldn’t consider eco-friendly!

[Sigh…]

Oh well, I guess there’s no point being too hard on myself. I’m only just getting the hang of being a new dad - being an eco-friendly dad will come with time I’m sure.

On the positive side, it should provide me with a new subject to write about here on the blog! lol

Technorati Tags: babies, sustainable living, environmental responsibility, eco-friendly, earth-friendly

Written by Bentley on September 25th, 2007 with 3 comments.
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