Welcome to the March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage green!

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month we’re writing about being green — both how green we were when we were young and how green our kids are today. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

I have a confession to make I have no recollection of my childhood. That’s an exaggeration. I do have three or four things that I remember, but basically up until I was in High School is blank. It’s weird, I know. I don’t think it hides some deep-seated childhood trauma. I just, don’t remember. So for this month’s Carnival I’m going to be focusing on what greent things we do with Riley, because I have no way of having any idea what we did when I was a kid.

When we were pregnant, we wanted to move into a house and not be in an apartment, with no backyard. So we moved to an area where we could afford. The house that we bought was built in the early 80s and it looks like it. What is with the yellow and brown? Were they too high to realise it was awful? Oh and the fake wood. Kill me now. And the front windows which are nice and big have an aluminimum grid over the top. Just in case what you always really wanted was to feel like you were in prison while you were sitting in your living room.

So why did we buy it? It’s all part of my cunning plan. My plan to buy a really crap house with loads of potential so we could make more money from it when we sold by renovating it along the way. See? The plan is working.

One of the things that we didn’t notice when we bought the house was that our hot water tank was the teeniest water tank in the universe. If one of us had a shower, the other one would have to wait for half an hour before hopping in. It was 80L. Apparently the standard is around 250L. You get the idea. And it was corroded and leaking. So the laundry floor was always wet and gross. Plus, apparently it could have exploded at any time. Awesome.

But I resisted replacing it. Because out of all the renovating projects I had on the boil, replacing the water tank was so not sexy. I wanted to do the floors. And then I noticed that there was actual green moss growing in our laundry. And even I conceded it was time for action.

In our area, there are only two options for hot water. Electric or solar. We have no access to gas. Which means that my stove is electric as well. The phrase ‘cooking with gas’ isn’t running around for nothing. I loathe that stove.

At the time I was looking for a replacement, there were a few government rebates for having a solar system installed, which made it affordable (oh no! I’ts socialised energy!). It was also almost the same outlay as having an electric system installed. We went with evacuated tubes rather than the flat solar panels which means 95% of all our hot water energy is provided by solar. The big bonus? A 270L tank – hello consecutive showers. We’ve even got more room in the laundry, because the tank is outside. Which means when I walk in there in the morning I can think about what I want to put in the newly created space – freezer chest or linen shelving – or both? The decisions! And I can do all of that day dreaming without cringing because my feet are wet.

The bottom line? Our energy bill is now half of what it was. It’ll pay for itslelf within a year.Which is just as well. I’d hate to think that we had to pay for something so un-sexy.

Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants.

(This list will be updated March 9 with all the carnival links.)

• My Momma Was a Hippie — Jessica at This is Worthwhile is continuing her Earth Momma mother’s way of honoring nature by taking her child outside every day. (@tisworthwhile)
• Mom Did Know Best, About Diapers at Least — Guavalicious at They Are So Cute When They Are Sleeping has a dirty secret about cloth diapers: They’re easy. (@guavalicious)
• The Force that Drives the Water Through the Rocks — Shana at Tales of Minor Interest remembers her first spiritual connection with nature, granted to her through her father’s care for the spirits of the earth.
• Confessions of a Cabbage Patch Kid — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma learned about landfills and recycling through gardening. (@kitchenwitch)
• Seeing My Grandmother Through Green Colored Lenses — Michelle at Seeking Mother was raised by a grandmother who wouldn’t let anyone throw out used clothing — ever — and who believed baths were water enough for two or more people at least. (@seekingmother)
• Through Green Tinted Glasses — Thomasin at Propson Palingenesis realized her family didn’t so much choose green as it chose them, since not being green would have cost a lot more.
• Green or Die! — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing remembers berating her family for not turning off the faucets — and notes that her efforts to save the planet for another 20 years must have worked.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Green Living — Sarah at Natural Parenting is doing more to make her children’s generation green than what she had as a child.
• Natural Parenting Carnival: Vintage Green — pchanner at A Mom’s Fresh Start used to fill her own water bottles from a spring — before doing so was cool. (@pchanner)
• Getting Dirty — Molly at Molly’s Place is inspired by her mother’s camaraderie with nature. She’s going to get back in touch with the real food cycle, as opposed to the “shrink-wrapped nutrition” you can buy. (@KPMolly)
• My Vintage Green Raincoat — Mama at Maman A Droit is wearing her brother’s bright green raincoat — 16 years later! (@MamanADroit)
• Vintage Green — Darcel at Mahogany Way hasn’t realized it yet, but she is slowly turning into her parents. (@MahoganyWayMama)
• Vintage Green — mrs green at littlegreenblog reminds us that children can be green simply by being kids. (@myzerowaste)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Lauren at Hobo Mama was eco-chic before it was en vogue. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Growing Up Green — Chrystal at Happy Mothering honed her green instinct from an early age. (@HappyMothering)
• greener pastures — The Grumbles at Grumbles and Grunts has a list of ways she’s transitioning from green living as a novelty to green living as a lifestyle. (@thegrumbles)
• Vintage Green: The Hot Water Tank Is Not Sexy — Zoey at Good Goog had to go green when moss started growing around her feet. (@zoeyspeak)
• We Walked Softly — Starr at Earth Mama wrote a beautiful post about how her parents instilled a love of and respect for Earth and nature in her, and how she is passing that gift on to her own children.
• Save the Mermaids! — CurlyMonkey is learning from her daughter how to keep the mermaids happy. (@curlymonkey_)
• March Carnival of Natural Parenting: Vintage Green — Dionna at Code Name: Mama sees glimpses of her mother’s greenness frugality in her own life – but she draws the line at pantyhose soap. (@CodeNameMama)
• I Thought I Made Them Green, But Really They Made Me — Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! thought she made her parents green — until she took a closer look. (@bfmom)
• A Culture of Less — Alison at BluebirdMama explained why homebirth is the green childbirth choice. I love this thought! (@childbearing)
• 5 Ways to Embarrass Your Children While Going Green — Acacia at Be Present Mama shares some of the embarrassing things her parents did to her in the name of being eco-conscious.
• Ending Is Better than Mending? — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries is teaching us how to darn socks armed only with a light bulb. (@babydust)
• There and Back Again: A Green Girl’s Tale — Lactating Girl offers a gentle reminder that certain eco-conscious practices shouldn’t be “ideals,” but realities. (@LactatingGirl)