When we become parents, our thoughts often turn to the sort of world we are passing on to the next generation, writes Sheila Wayman
WHEN YOUR first child is born, the future suddenly stretches a lot further than your next foreign holiday or your next step on the career ladder. Priorities change as you become totally responsible for a fragile life, and you start thinking about the sort of world that's being passed on to the next generation.
Every lifestyle choice you make shapes your home environment, which in turn moulds the mind and body of your child. The idea of a gentler, greener world seems not only an enticing but a practical prospect.
And few parents come with better green credentials than the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan, the father of four children ranging in age from nine to five.
While Green principles underpin the way he and his wife, Victoria White, raise their children, family life is "always trying to keep the show on the road, not sitting back strategising," he says. "I don't think of it as a conscious thing, it's part of what you are."
Since his election as a Green Party TD in 2002, and appointment to the Cabinet five years later, he has tried to keep a balance between office and home life. "The nature of politics is that it's very engaging: I've set out to maintain a balance and I have to pull myself up sometimes. I try to keep weekends free, as much as is possible."
He says that he's luckier than many of his political colleagues, in that his Clonskeagh home is close to the Dáil and his Dublin South constituency is relatively compact.
Ryan singles out food, travel and "how we spend our time" as particular areas where they put Green philosophy into practice and try to set patterns for family life.
"Not from a virtuous sense, it's what we like doing," he stresses. "Walking to school is more pleasurable than gathering everybody into a car, being stuck in traffic and then looking for a parking space.''
Growing lettuces, tomatoes and other vegetables on an allotment in Stillorgan has also been fun for the Ryan family, and is a way of connecting food to its source. "If you have the time and the concentration, it's rewarding."
Ryan's experiences as a parent have, in turn, influenced his political thinking. "I was conscious of my three-year-old rushing around the supermarket, wanting the latest Ninja Turtle chocolate or Simpsons cereal. I thought it fundamentally unfair and unhealthy the way they advertised food."
It prompted him to research and campaign on the issue, and then, as Minister, incorporate a ban on the advertising of junk food to children in the Broadcasting Bill last May.
As the family heads to Co Galway for a three-week break, he credits White with teaching him that holidays are all about hanging out with the children and not trying to do too much.
However, he adds that he is no parenting expert. "People might see me in the supermarket, each child heading in a separate direction, each screaming a different note in a different key, and they'd say 'That guy has no control over his children'."
Mother of two Anthea Howbert has always been interested in environmental issues, but for her green parenting is not about restrictive measures such as a vegetarian diet, no nappies (apparently it's all about getting in tune with your baby and anticipating the moment) and no television.
"One of my big problems with the environmental movement is that people get so extreme about it, they put other people off. It's about small steps, not about cutting yourself off from society.
"My main interest is introducing our children to nature; getting plenty of time outside with them, so they're not fearful and not afraid of getting dirty.
"I often feel children have become accessories. They have to look perfect and well dressed. We're scruffy - that's the way we live."
Originally from Michigan, she now lives outside Ashford, Co Wicklow, with her husband Tig Mays and their daughters, five-year-old Ivy and two-year-old Freya. The couple run a garden design business, Howbert and Mays.
Living in the countryside is a double-edged sword, she says. "It introduces children to nature and then you have to drive everywhere. Is that green?"
However, they were living in the city when Ivy was born and she found that difficult, "navigating my pushchair through the traffic," around their home on Donore Avenue in Dublin 8.
She would encourage other parents to introduce their children to nature, to grow vegetables so they can see where food comes from. "Even in a small garden, you can grow strawberries in a pot," she suggests.
She is very aware of the effect of the commercial world on children. "I make an effort to avoid shops with them. It makes it easier for everybody." She also tries to keep her children's television watching to non-advertising channels.
"Toyshops I find depressing, there is nothing I want to buy." She favours more "old-fashioned" toys such as blocks, puzzles and marbles, "props for make-believe games. Children can have too many toys and they can't focus. Having less is more." She feels Ivy and Freya are very content. "They are at their happiest when playing outside in their bare feet."
Melissa Corkhill, the editor of Green Parent, a bi-monthly magazine published in England, lives out her beliefs both personally and professionally.
"I see green parenting as a way of bringing up children with an awareness of environment and green issues."
She also emphasises the importance of "natural parenting," that is "staying close and tuned in to our children," through breastfeeding, attachment parenting and co-sleeping.
To those just thinking about making changes, Corkhill says: "Green parenting saves you money. Every change you can make is a step on the way to a greener life."
The mother of two girls, aged nine and six, she launched the magazine when her youngest was one year old. "There was no other natural parenting publication around. I thought it was important to have an alternative to the other parenting magazines.
"It is a life-affirming way of parenting," she adds. "Our family relationships are so close because of the choices we have made.
"People think green living is self-sacrificing. I think it is the opposite. Once you start living this way of life, you realise the inherent pleasures."
Seven steps to greener parenting
1 Look at the bottom line:use reusable cloth nappies - a Dutch study recently concluded they were seven times better for the environment than single-use ones. Forget terry squares and giant safety pins, modern cloth nappies are just as easy to use as disposable ones, say advocates, and can save you about €1,000 per child.
If you can't face the extra washing, biodegradable nappies are preferable to standard disposables, although critics say it is very difficult to create the right conditions for composting them. See www.clothnappiesireland.comor www.thenaturalbabyresource.co.uk
2 Feed them right:breastfeeding is by far the greenest, cheapest and healthiest way to feed a baby for the first six months. When introducing solids, avoid jars of baby food - cook and puree vegetables and fruit and, in later months, a bit of whatever you're having yourself. Opt for organic when possible, or at least try to buy local produce.
3 Cut the consumption:resist the impulse to buy up the baby shop when expecting your first child. See what you can borrow or buy second-hand. Seek long-lasting, wooden toys with non-toxic paint and don't underestimate the play potential of ordinary household objects, such as a cardboard box or a few spoons. Use your local library for free books, DVDs and CDs. See www.woodentoys.ie or www.mimitoys.ie
4 Leave the car behind:a car seems indispensable when babies and their baggage arrive, but try making more journeys without it. Walking is good for your head as well as your body so choose a pram or buggy that is comfortable to push on long walks. Babies can go on a parent's bike from about the age of one and then progress to bikes of their own when they are older. Using trains and buses is fun for young children and sets them up for travelling unaccompanied in a few years' time.
5 Go out more:head outdoors with your children whenever you can. Whether in the garden, a park, the countryside or on the sea shore, introduce children to the beauty of the natural world and take the time to let them explore at their own pace. If possible make an area in the garden where you can grow vegetables or fruit together. See www.thekidsgarden.co.uk
6 Holiday at home:if you're lucky with the weather, there is no better country in the world for a family holiday than Ireland; if it's cold, wet and windy, perhaps not. But you know what? The sun always shines in children's memories of holidays and it's the time together that really matters.
Go prepared for all seasons and make the most of it. So much less hassle than trailing through an airport. For information about Ireland's first ecotourism destination, see greenbox.ie
7 Clean out:standard household cleaning fluids and aerosols contain many toxins that are bad for a baby as well as the environment. Consider chucking them all out, in the knowledge that the increase in childhood allergies and asthma has been partly attributed to over-clean homes.
If digging out vinegar, lemon juice and the bicarbonate of soda for a clean-up seems a little too green for you, buy eco-cleaning products instead. See www.ecoshop.ie