Has having children made you more interested in ethical living?

[onetowatch]

Hi, I'm studying Outdoor Education at College and want to see what you think to this idea I'm researching. I'm interested in the idea that having kids sparks parents interest in ecological living - intuitive/attachment parenting, green issues, sharing nature with kids / community and that parents develop valuable skills during this time that they can take back to benefit their workplace. Do you feel that you've had a really valuable time as a parent? Thanks, i'd love to know to what you think!

I think I became more aware of things like how fragile the planet is, and what sort of legacy we'll be leaving to our children and grandchildren when I became a parent.

But I can't think of any lessons I learned in the process which have benefitted my workplace, beyond what you learn by being a parent anyway - multi-tasking, prioritising work, empathy, that sort of thing.

The only difference at my office is that I make sure I put any cans in the recycling bin

cool. thanks. you say you haven't learned any lessons which benefit your workplace - but I reckon transferable skills like multi-tasking, prioritising & empathy are pretty crucial to any workplace - so there must be something in it. and the cans get recycled.

Well, I mean the skills aren't about ethical livign as such, apart from the cans

I was very very green before I had kids. Had plenty of time and money to buy 'green' products and be environmentally friendly.

But these days I am only very light green. Can't afford organic food (oh except the organic chicken which I now eat after being strict veggie for nearly 20 years!), use lethal stain removers so I don't have to bin the DC's clothes, cover my hands in anti-bac hand gel in a desperate attempt not to catch bugs and have a house full of plastic toys. In my defence I am having a little veg patch this year so we won't have many food miles.

I think that it will be easier being green when the DC's are older (they are 2yrs and 6mo), and I would love to go vegan one day but it's not practical at the moment.

Thanks. I'm the same with 'non-green' products like chemical stain removers and can't always make it to the recycling centre with all the cardboard, plastic, composting material etc that our council doesn't collect. But I do feel more connected to the nature side of things, make space for wildlife in our garden, keen to get the kids outdoors etc

Likewise green to start with - put off having kids for a long time due to environmental concerns. Recycle, Freecycle and cycle as much as poss, have an allotment and organic veg box to fill the gaps.

meglet - you dont have to pay the earth to save the planet check out www.ecoproductstoday.co.uk you can join and learn about ways to recycle and buy eco products (you can also become a distributor) even if only for yourself and get 30/40 discount

Great thread, some really interesting stuff here! I think that having your own children makes you reflect on what you would like the world to be like for them, and this makes us more interested in green and ethical living. Plus, I think it highlights how unjust the world can be and that it is so sad that children are still being brought up in poverty :-(. Send a Cow's work is trying to help address these problems as it works with poor families to develop sustainable farming solutions which can help families for generations. I think we need to consider these sustainable farming techniques more globally too, its so good to see that so many people here are interested in these issues. Plus i think the media is getting much better at reporting these issues; for example there has been a lot of attention to the tuna crisis this week. I think (hope) we are all paying more attention now - it seems that way as the Green party did really well in the elections too. Fingers crossed we can only move forward now