The Art Of Going Green

Having a child turns one's perspective inside-out and upside-down.

Nothing spurs a person to go green the way having a kid can.

I've been doing the research, reading up and surfing and finally decided I'll jump on the bandwagon too. I want to make sure that I do my share to preserve whatever I can of our much-abused earth so that there's a semblance of a liveable environment for my kids to grow up in.

So here's the thing: I've been trying to go green - organic, recycling and all - but it's much easier said than done. For starters, organic costs. Anywhere from 50% to double or more what you'd normally pay for the usual goods. So I compromise: I go organic where I feel it's necessary and where it doesn't feel too much like it's costing me an arm, a leg and my torso.

I even dabbled with the notion of making my own laundry detergent (because companies aren't required to list the ingredients used in detergent, gawd only knows what crap they put in there to 'clean' our clothes). But I did the math: by the time I got the washing soda ($5), borax (scrap that, I can't find it anywhere on the shelves in s'pore or in kl) and the soap (any bar soap), it would cost just as much or more than buying organic laundry detergent. So can the whole idea. I ended up buying and stocking up on organic laundry detergent (RM17.90 from a local M'sian manufacturer).

Then there's the recycling. There are no facilities for recycling at our current condo in S'pore. The recycling bins on the way to the MRT station is more often than not crammed full with all sorts of junk that I doubt it would make any difference if I just chuck the recyclables down the disposal chute. It makes me feel a considerable amount of guilt when I have to do that but, what can one do? I separate the paper and cardboard; collect them and take them down on a Sunday when an uncle comes by in a lorry to collect junk. Back at Bungaraya, there are at least serviceable recycle bins and they are NOT crammed with junk and non-recyclables and we used to (my family still does) diligently set aside our plastics, metals, glass and paper.

I turn off all the mains and switches whenever they're not in use, most notably when we head out or at the end of the day. The hubby, however, either doesn't see the point, forgets or is plain lazy. I dunno, I grew up in a household where it was drummed into our heads to always switch off the electricity whenever not in use. Why waste electricity and money? It's one of many habits that I'm glad to have carried over with me from childhood into adulthood ever since I've learned that it also affects greenhouse gases.

The ultimate, I suppose, would be to go vegetarian. I highly respect friends and people who are able to go all the way. I take my hat off to them. I can't stomach those videos that I posted earlier on about why we should go vegetarian but I can't imagine not having fish, at the very least. Now hubby is making me feel guilty for eating the fish that I do (apparently the fish that us Chinese favour are usually reef fish and who knows how much we're contributing to their being endangered). I'm hoping that eventually, I'll get there. Hubby did say that he could go vegetarian if he wanted to. I'm thinking, if we were in India, we could probably survive and thrive as vegetarians. I LOVE Indian vegetarian.

But I'm trying to remind myself: small steps, small steps. At least I'm doing my bit, however small it is. Hopefully that small bit will keep on increasing as I find my way around.

What are YOU doing to preserve Mother Earth?