Comments on: Is Staying At Home Greener than Working?

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:31:02 +0000

“It’s WONDERFUL having lots of fun with my son, but I haven’t yet managed to weave organic clothing from the cotton that’s sprouted in my backyard. ”

he he he

I have yet to can my home grown tomatoes that I have yet to grow!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:56:56 +0000

I’ve been thinking about this very issue. My husband and I both work part-time and we’re trying to get ourselves set up to have a small family farm on 6 acres in our free time (what free time?). Really, I think that making choices like starting a garden or putting up a clothes line paves the way into finding time to be “green”. If you make centered habits part of your life, like the biking family mentioned above, everything else adjusts to fit.

By: Sommer

Sommer — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:48:56 +0000

Joy,

I’ve done both and really the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. When I’m home fulltime, I want to be working. when I’m working I want to be home. I think you have to find your happy medium and do what works great for your family. Health insurance is pretty important and you get to be home way more than most moms. I love being home with my kids but I work from now pretty much full time with my blog and it is very hard to juggle the kids and get work done. It seems to be like everything else, there’s a trade off. We are more green because of it! Great post, as always.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:13:50 +0000

It’s tough isn’t it? I do convenience foods sometimes, I will admit. One thing that I think helps make it easier on working parents is to let go of the guilt about doing everything. I mean, do the things that enrich your soul, but just remember that we live in community and we aren’t expected to be completely self-sufficient. I think that we need more “green” options for takeout - places where we can pay a deposit on re-usable containers, that type of thing.

Also, I think we all can purposely slow down our lives. We don’t have to sign our kids up for every team or club that comes along, and same for ourselves. There is a neat story I read about a family in Portland who gave up their car and do strictly bike commuting - with small kids and 2 working parents. They found that it is very possible, but the biggest adjustment was limiting the extra-curricular activities - you just can’t get across town fast enough to do everything they had done before. But what happened is they were all happier, more relaxed and more connected as a family.

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:04:12 +0000

I work from home as a writer and am not as green as you describe - but I could be locked in solitary confinement and still not manage to make clothes from scratch orat make a garden thrive - I didn’t do so well in home economics:)

Being at home has allowed me to make the greenest choices in my daughter’s feedings. We’ve been able to breastfeed longer and make most of her food from scratch. However, I know many determined (and more organized) women manage this and leave the home. To me they are gifted beyond belief.

What you accomplish with more “time off” really depends on your skill sets, quality of life and state of mind. For instance, the ocean relaxes me. Unfortunately, I live in dry Texas, so I believe I’m operating at 75% of my capacity. I’d have to move to test this theory.

What I have been able to accomplish without a commute is tons of research about healthy and organic living for my baby. And I’ve been able to share that knowledge with my busy, corporate working mommy friends through my like-minded website, Organic Baby Resource.

So, Joy, I figure if you are using your talents in the classroom to teach others about the benefits of being green and also sharing your knowledge here with so many mommies, then your green-factor is being multiplied many times beyond the projects that you’ve put on hold.

Having said that I hope you get time to relish in those things that bring you Joy this summer.