Hello Green Swappers! Welcome back to another month of challenges, and the first month of autumn! Where the greens swap out for reds, browns, oranges and the dark purple, velvet black, pumpkin colours of the impending spooky season (stay tuned for some scary swaps next month!)
This month, however, is themed around those of you who are a parent of some kind – a mom, a dad, a guardian, a pet parent, a plant parent, a Tamagotchi keeper, you name it – because, in many ways, we are all the responsible protectors of our very planet, descendants of those who came before, and prospective ancestors of those who will inherit it next. With that in mind, especially since it’s back-to-school month for all you human–child parents out there, then these Green Swaps are inspired by the first mother there ever was; Mother Nature herself. This time, we’re taking care of her.
Sustainable houseplant parenting
You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking that houseplants, by their very nature, are sustainable items from the outset. They’re literal plants! Tiny iterations of their woodland counterparts, stuffed inside hand-painted ceramic pots and lining your windowsill in view of the moon. Except, there’s more to it than that. From the plastic repotting to the source of watering, there’s actually a handful of green-fingered ways you can make yourself a more eco-loving plant parent. Here’s just a few:
- Pick your plants from sustainable shops
It’s not storks that deliver your leafy babies, but stalks certainly grow them, and you can often find bundles of them inside your local plant nursery. Most plant sellers tend to be sustainability conscious, but it’s always important to double check, choosing local, independent shops whose owners source their plants locally – because, pot twist (like a plot twist, but it’s their pot), most houseplants are not native to the UK and are actually imported in – even your Monstera has monstrously sizable air miles. Beyond the distance travelled by their plants, choose a store who doesn’t use pesticides and favours recycled plastic pots and peat-free soil.
- Water with the rain
Your plants might be indoor plants, but that doesn’t mean they can’t experience the refreshing great outdoors – you just need to collect it and bring it in. Why? Because tap water isn’t as pure as rainwater; it’s filled with salts, minerals and the chemicals used to treat it. It also builds up in the soil. Not to mention the water consumption that comes with regularly watering our inside forest. Using rainwater is not only better for the plants, but for the environment. And thankfully for us, we live in the UK – rain is basically a renewable resource at this point. So stick some buckets outside and wait for the heavens to open for happy hour. Source your plants drinking water from Mother Nature herself.
- Choose pots and soil that are eco-and-Earth-friendly
Most of your plants wear plastic bottoms, and as we’ve talked about in earlier Green Swaps – plastic will not last-ic (except that it will, and for half a millennia). To ensure you reduce your plastic use when buying new plants or plant pots, search for those that are reused and recycled, or ask the seller if they have any spare that they might give you for repotting. But if you can, instead of purchasing new ones, try to reuse any you might already have to prevent unnecessary waste. There are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives if you do need to acquire more, including ones that are made from Earth-friendly fibres and other sustainable, biodegradable materials. And it’s not just the pot that makes a difference; did you know that soil is a non-renewable resource? The most common types of potting soil contain a substance known as “peat” – and it’s been used for years! But the carbon footprint of peat extraction is pretty high, so in recent years peat-free soil swooped in to save the day. It’s sustainable, and there are plenty of soil options available for a variety of purposes from an array of sources, such as Jungle Houseplants. Or you can make your own by composting (we talked about that before, remember?). Put your houseplants on a peat-free diet, give them soil that’s good for their soul.
Sustainable human parenting
You’ve spent the whole summer with your kids – forgoing “quality time” for an overwhelming quantity time; every single day, uninterrupted, they’re just… there. Skulking about to the tune of inexplicable shrieking, periodical grumbling and anti-ASMR snacking. But thankfully; it’s back to school month. You can package your little prince or princess in perfectly ironed uniform and ship them back to their teachers with a blown kiss and that shuddering exhale you’ve been holding since June. Bye sweetheart, see you at 3! And not a bloody moment sooner.
But parenting never ends, not even when your child is back at school. It’s a full-time job, an underpaid job, working evenings and weekends and the graveyard shift. But it’s also possibly the best, most fulfilling thing you’ll ever do. So do it right. Do it sustainably. Here’s a few ways how:
- Grow your own veggies
What you grow in-house does not need to be transported to your house, and therefore dramatically cuts down on carbon emissions. It also reduces chemical use; the chances are you don’t have a selection of harmful pesticides stacked up under the sink. Also, this is something you can do with your children, teaching them about sustainability and resourcefulness, preparing them for a greener future growing up.
- Buy local and cook at home
However, if raising vegetables is a little too tricky whilst your trio of toddlers are busy growing, then buy locally. Cook at home. Fast foods and dinners out are not priorities to your precious beings, simply spending time with you is. And let’s face, they’re going to kick up a fuss over whatever they’re eating either way – at least at home, they’re not insulting a five-star chef.
- Get crafty with your kids and make their toys
A child’s greatest resource and mightiest toy has always been and will forever be: their imagination. Stick them in a cardboard box and it will transform into a rocketship to the stars. Hand them a stick and watch it magic into a wand. Point at the clouds and they’ll see characters floating up there between them. Despite the day and age we live in, full of iPads and toy cars and almost-sentient dolls, all the toys a kid will ever need are ones infused with love and imagination – which you, yourself can make. Zip down to B&M, buy some glitter, card, pompoms, and get crafty with your tiny, creative being.
- Ditch the car
Listen, your kid already has/had a set of fineeeee wheels as you toured them round the town in their pram. They’re not going to notice the difference between a bus, train or limo. They’ll be too busy imagining a tiny creature bounding from lamppost to lamppost as you travel (no? Just me?). But the world will notice. The reduced carbon footprint that comes with actual footprints as you walk places instead – that will be blindingly obvious to a future Earth that’s healed. So leave the car at home once in a while. Go for a walk. Hire bikes. Carry your child like the mule it often thinks you are when it dumps all its school stuff on you after 3pm. You don’t have to sell your car or write it off completely, just every now and then. Leave it on the drive – and don’t drive.
- Buy second-hand or use hand-me-downs
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; it’s not preowned, but simply preloved. And loving something for a second time is also a declaration of love to the planet, encouraging reuse and recycling, rather than a surge of fast fashion and excess production in creating an endless line of new things to buy. So borrow from your neighbour. Zip down to Oxfam. Let lil bro wear big bros uniform. Your children are one in a million – but their clothes don’t have to be.
Nature and nurture
Plants and people; they’re a lot alike. They need water, nutrients, sunlight, kind words and space to grow. As a parent of either, it’s your job to not only provide those things, but to give it to them sustainably, because the very first home of any of us, children, adults and flora, alike – is this blue and green Earth. The better we protect our planet-sized place, the more us kids of the Earth will thrive in return. We were all little seedlings once. Children being cared for as we rooted ourselves in the world, spreading our branches into all corners of who we were going to be. It’s in our nature to nurture, and it’s our responsibility to pass that on to any and all who look to us for guidance. Mother Nature showed us how. This is how we thank her.
