Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage green!

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month we’re writing about being green — both how green we were when we were young and how green our kids are today. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

I grew up in a moderately eco-conscious family. It was always second nature to me to do things like turn off the faucet while brushing my teeth or recycle pop cans. I was always interested in things like recycling and saving endangered species, but as I got older I quickly dismissed those things as ideals. It’s difficult to not become cynical in this disposable world where so many things are taken for granted.

When I ventured out into the world on my own, I continued to unconsciously do environmentally friendly things. It wasn’t until I was pregnant that I actually began to consider the big picture encompassing those actions. I started to look into things like natural childbirth and breastfeeding, I learned those ideals often went hand-in-hand with natural parenting. I used the internet (Oh, I love you internets) to find information on places near me that recycled plastic and how to grow an organic garden. I realized it’s not only important to buy organic foods, it’s important to buy whole foods.

I realized those so-called ideals aren’t really ideals—they’re how the world should really be. Ideals are something to model your life after. Ideals are something you strive to achieve. My daughter deserves to grow up in a world that is not lined with plastic. That is not an ideal. That is a fact.

My passion for being environmentally friendly has become something of a religion to me. I grew up in a home without religion and I am an atheist myself, but I thoroughly believe that we need to respect and cherish our planet. Just because I don’t believe in a higher being doesn’t mean that I believe in anarchy or don’t have morals, every action that I take affects our planet’s and our society’s future. I believe that there is biological meaning to life and that we are ignoring that meaning. This planet must survive for our civilization to survive. We are all made from recycled carbon and nitrogen. We need to be sustainable or we will cease to exist.

I take every opportunity to preach my ideals and the steps I am taking to get to them. Having my mother as my best friend means that she is quite often subjected to this sermons and now the ones who originally influenced me to care about the planet are being influenced by me.

Now my parents (partially) understand the importance of buying organic. My in-laws have even started collecting plastic to give to me to recycle. I’ve explained to many friends the ecological consequences to their actions—often without being asked to—and many of them have changed their ways.

I may not have come from the most eco-friendly family, but they laid the groundwork for who I am now.

Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants.

(This list will be updated March 9 with all the carnival links.)

• My Momma Was a Hippie — Jessica at This is Worthwhile is continuing her Earth Momma mother’s way of honoring nature by taking her child outside every day. (@tisworthwhile)
• Mom Did Know Best, About Diapers at Least — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has a dirty secret about cloth diapers: They’re easy. (@guavalicious)
• The Force that Drives the Water Through the Rocks — Shana at Tales of Minor Interest remembers her first spiritual connection with nature, granted to her through her father’s care for the spirits of the earth.
• Confessions of a Cabbage Patch Kid — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma learned about landfills and recycling through gardening. (@kitchenwitch)
• Seeing My Grandmother Through Green Colored Lenses — Michelle at Seeking Mother was raised by a grandmother who wouldn’t let anyone throw out used clothing — ever — and who believed baths were water enough for two or more people at least. (@seekingmother)
• Through Green Tinted Glasses — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis realized her family didn’t so much choose green as it chose them, since not being green would have cost a lot more.
• Green or Die! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing remembers berating her family for not turning off the faucets — and notes that her efforts to save the planet for another 20 years must have worked.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Green Living — Sarah at Natural Parenting is doing more to make her children’s generation green than what she had as a child.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Vintage Green — pchanner at A Mom’s Fresh Start used to fill her own water bottles from a spring — before doing so was cool. (@pchanner)
• Getting Dirty — Molly at Molly’s Place is inspired by her mother’s camaraderie with nature. She’s going to get back in touch with the real food cycle, as opposed to the “shrink-wrapped nutrition” you can buy. (@KPMolly)
• My Vintage Green Raincoat — Mama at Maman A Droit is wearing her brother’s bright green raincoat — 16 years later! (@MamanADroit)
• Vintage Green — Darcel at Mahogany Way hasn’t realized it yet, but she is slowly turning into her parents. (@MahoganyWayMama)
• Vintage Green — mrs green at littlegreenblog reminds us that children can be green simply by being kids. (@myzerowaste)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Lauren at Hobo Mama was eco-chic before it was en vogue. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Growing Up Green — Chrystal at Happy Mothering honed her green instinct from an early age. (@HappyMothering)
• greener pastures — The Grumbles at Grumbles and Grunts has a list of ways she’s transitioning from green living as a novelty to green living as a lifestyle. (@thegrumbles)
• Vintage Green: The Hot Water Tank Is Not Sexy — Zoey at Good Goog had to go green when moss started growing around her feet. (@zoeyspeak)
• We Walked Softly — Starr at Earth Mama wrote a beautiful post about how her parents instilled a love of and respect for Earth and nature in her, and how she is passing that gift on to her own children.
• Save the Mermaids! — CurlyMonkey is learning from her daughter how to keep the mermaids happy. (@curlymonkey_)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Dionna at Code Name: Mama sees glimpses of her mother’s greenness frugality in her own life – but she draws the line at pantyhose soap. (@CodeNameMama)
• I Thought I Made Them Green, But Really They Made Me — Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! thought she made her parents green — until she took a closer look. (@bfmom)
• A Culture of Less — Alison at BluebirdMama explained why homebirth is the green childbirth choice. I love this thought! (@childbearing)
• 5 Ways to Embarrass Your Children While Going Green — Acacia at Be Present Mama shares some of the embarrassing things her parents did to her in the name of being eco-conscious.
• Ending Is Better than Mending? — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is teaching us how to darn socks armed only with a light bulb. (@babydust)
• There and Back Again: A Green Girl’s Tale — Lactating Girl offers a gentle reminder that certain eco-conscious practices shouldn’t be “ideals,” but realities. (@LactatingGirl)