I have to admit something. I have a secret that I need to come clean with. I’m an eco warrior princess hypocrite. Yes, a fully self-proclaimed hypocrite.
Mommy! You're Not An Eco Warrior Princess?
I go on and on about wanting to save the earth. I donate to the local environmental and social charities. I volunteer on Clean-Up days. I recycle everything I can, compost my organic matter and reuse when possible. But when it comes right down to it… I’m a hypocrite and I need to release the weight of guilt burdened upon me.
For you see, I am one of the worst wasters of energy I know. I’m embarrassed to admit to it, but I’ve done some irresponsible things in the name of keeping the babies asleep. Well, I might as well stop beating ’round the bush, and get it off my chest.
When the babies were very young, I used to leave the dryer running during their nap times to block out other noise from the house, even when I was not drying any clothes. I guess you can call it a 4,000 watt white noise maker.
I know, it’s shameful! While I don’t use it anymore, I’ve found a replacement in the bathroom ceiling fan which uses roughly 80 watts. The fan now does as good as job as the dryer ever did. I leave that handy-dandy fan running during their two daytime naps, and when they go to bed at night, I turn it on again if the hubby and I happen to be watching a loud action flick. That’s over four hours of fan usage per day… just being wasted away!
It’s not only the white noise. It’s the laundry too. I do oodles of it. There’s the cloth diapers I use when hanging around at home. First I soak the diapers in a solution of Borax in a bucket, then I wash them in a small, hot water load, and then I add the babies’ other clothes to the pre-soaked and washed cloth diapers in a regular, cold water load of laundry. On one hand I save the landfills from disposable diapers, but on the other hand I wonder if the amount of water used offsets this? Also, being O.C.D. I can’t bear having the little monkeys wear anything that might be remotely dirty, so after only one wear, I throw it in the wash. Totally unnecessary but I can’t help myself! A little bit of dried-on oatmeal stuck onto their onesie and I throw it into the laundry basket. I used to be like that as a kid too. My mum was always complaining that my clothes can be worn more than once you know. I can’t help it. I need to wear freshly clean clothes at all times.
I also wash my hands. A lot. Once I counted the number of times I wash my hands, and it was like, twenty-six times in one day. I’m not talking about only after using the washroom. I’m talking about after I do the dishes as I don’t like the smell of dishwashing soap on my hands. It’s icky. Or when I use a washcloth to wipe something up from the counters. I have to wash my hands after that too. Don’t like the smell of wet washcloths. Or if I touch the floor to wipe something up. I throw the tea towel in the wash, and then go wash my hands. Again.
You're A Weirdo Mommy
And there’s more I’m embarrassed, but feel obligated, to admit. While I don’t mind sleeping in cold rooms or putting on extra layers to keep warm, thus saving on heating bills, I will turn all the lights on in the room I am in. I don’t keep lights on when I am not in the room, but like it to be bright in the room I am using. Take the living room for example. I will turn on the main overhead lights, the standing lamp next to the fish tank (the fishes need to have light too), as well as the kitchen light. My husband can go a whole day without turning on a single light, but as soon as I walk into a room, I need to have it well lit. I could blame my poor eyesight. But it’s not that. I just feel there is something depressing about sitting in a dark room.
I’m a weirdo, I know. I waste energy and probably a lot of water too. I hope you, and Mother Earth, will forgive me.
absolutely definitely excessive use of water & hand-washing
a little bit of dirt for boys to play in is okay.
I know! It’s not the boys that I excessively wash, it’s my hands, but strangely enough I love to garden without gloves on and get my hands dirty in the true sense. Weird.