Many times, when I mention anywhere in the online world that I’m a mom of six boys, all the environmentalists come out to play, not realizing that I’m actually a closet environmentalist myself. Over the years, I have convinced Husband to trade antibiotics for sustainably harvested essential oils, paper products for dishware (unless we have a lazy Saturday), and toxic cleaning and personal care products for the homemade version (ever seen a man put on deodorant with his bare hands? He does in my house. And smells like lavender, too.). We stopped just short of reusable toilet paper, but not because I wasn’t game. That was Husband’s line.
My kids have helped us in this becoming-environmentally-friendly pursuit, in ways that have astonished me over the years. I never would have thought these simple ways to save the earth.
1. If it’s yellow, let it mellow. They don’t flush the toilet. Like hardly ever. You might lift a lid and get a heat wave of urine right in your face (or worse, if you’re really lucky, which it turns out I am). If I want to use a bathroom, I better be using my own, because theirs has been mellowing for days. And it smells exactly like a dead animal rotting in a swamp.
Saves on: Water and wastewater.
2. Bath water can be consumed. That’s right. Bath time is not only wash time. It’s also hydration time, because they’ll fill up the bath cup that’s supposed to be used to wash off the eco-friendly soap in their hair, and they’ll drink that nastiness instead, no matter how many times I’ve told them it’s gross. (So gross. Do you know how dirty you are?) Also, if one brother has already finished his bath and left the water in the tub, another brother will get in and wash anyway (and still drink the water). And while we’re on the subject, I’ll admit that their daddy and I only have time for showers every two or three days, so. Winning. (Don’t worry. We make our own deodorant, which we apply every morning to convince people that we have it all together. As long as they don’t notice my greasy hair.)
Saves on: Water, wastewater, energy.
3. They’ll wear the same Iron Man costume with nothing else underneath for four days straight. Or the same pair of pajamas. Or the same sweat pants. They’re not picky at all. They just want to wear what’s comfortable. For a week. This saves us the most in the summer, when it’s too hot in Texas to wear clothes. They just run around in their underwear swim trunks instead.
Saves on: Water, wastewater, energy.
4. Paper of any kind is good for drawing. This means their brother’s class list for Valentine’s Day is a good place to draw a 2-year-old version of a spider. So is that flier for lawn mowing services and the thousand other pieces of junk mail waiting in our mailbox to clutter up our counter. Might as well put it to good use. Thanks, kids.
Saves on: Paper waste.
5. Sharing is caring. If one pulls out an organic apple and puts it down, another will find it and finish it. No food is wasted around here. And when they’re finished, someone will find that apple core and take it outside to plant seeds and feed birds. (We’re still waiting for those apple trees to start sprouting, but I hear Texas isn’t so great for growing apples because it’s ten thousand degrees here.)
Saves on: Food waste.
6. They prefer unpackaged foods. Actually, that’s not true. Give them a choice between a chocolate bar and a piece of organic fruit, and they’ll take the chocolate bar (unless they ask their parents… in which case they’ll take the fruit). But their daddy and I stick to the peripheries of the store, so they don’t really have a choice. They’ll eat two pounds of organic spinach before they starve.
Saves on: Energy required to package foods, chemicals buried in food and released in air.
7. What’s TV? It’s been years since we got rid of cable and threw out the television. Our boys spend their days outside making movies with an old camera or pretending fallen tree branches are light sabers or creating hole-in the-yard art masterpieces their daddy and I will trip in later.
Saves on: Electricity, consumption messages spread through commericals.
8. Weeds are just another word for flowers. Our boys gather them into a bouquet for Mama. They give them to the neighbor girls. They pick the dandelions and make their wishes. We have no use for herbicides, and guess what? We have the greenest yard on the block. Weird.
Saves on: Chemicals leaching into groundwater.
9. Fertilization is free. Boys like releasing bodily fluids outside. No, we don’t have a dog. That’s probably just the waste of our two 2-year-olds. It’s OK, though. Just watch your step on your way to admiring the prettiest peach and pear trees in the city.
Saves on: Synthetic fertilizers, chemicals leaching into groundwater.
10. Energy is free (and plenty). We live half a mile from our boys’ school. So we walk or ride bikes or race on scooters. A little more than half a mile down the road is the neighborhood park. A mile down the road is a frozen yogurt shop and a pizza place, perfect for the monthly family night out. After all that, our boys will still have energy left over. One of these days we’ll find a way to bottle it up and patent it for selling. Or just drink it ourselves.
Saves on: gas, emissions from a car.
There are many intentional ways we teach our boys about environmentalism and social justice—because environmentalism always boils down to social justice—but I did not expect our boys to help us along the journey.
So I can only say to these six wonderful little people: Thank you. You have made the world a better place in so many ways.
I’m so glad you’re here.
