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I have a confession to make: I have been known to bring my kitchen compost bucket to my parents’ house when we visit for the weekend and I knew I’d miss our chance to drop it off at our community composting site. It’s silly, I know. A single bucket of food scraps isn’t going to make one iota of difference in the climate emergency, but that’s not why I bother. I pack the compost in the car because I want my 8-year-old son to see composting — and by extension leading a sustainable life — as mandatory, not something you do sometimes when it is convenient.
For many parents, the demands of parenting throw all sustainability ambitions straight out the window. However, for others, like myself, interest in sustainability ratchets up to new heights when they become a parent. Suddenly it isn’t “the planet” or “wildlife” that they are worried about: It’s our own child’s future.
It is an ill-timed realization. This acute awareness about the climate crisis (and waste, conservation, and energy use) hits just as you’re simultaneously plunged into a world of wastefulness — the diapers alone are enough to weigh heavily on your eco-conscience. New parents are encouraged to buy, buy, buy at every milestone. All the baby gear seems to be made from materials that are synthetic and unrecyclable, and new parents are warned not to buy anything used, lest it not be up to today’s safety standards. In that sleep-deprived haze of parenting young children the path of least resistance often feels like buying something online and upgrading the shipping to overnight, so the hoped-for problem-solving product–whether that is a sleep sack or addition flashcards — can get there sooner.
What’s a parent concerned about sustainable living to do?
You don’t need to run out and buy cloth diapers, cease flying, and become a vegan. So much of what needs to change is not about our individual lifestyle choices: We need systematic change. But we also need more informed, engaged citizens who can take part in public engagement and collective efforts to bring about that change. So, becoming more informed is the best first step to leading a more climate-conscious life. Voting and donating to climate causes should be next on your list of to-dos.
Still, there’s also an argument for parents to make some sustainable lifestyle changes: How you behave will influence your children, friends, and neighbors. A draft version of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2022 report said that “if 10-30% of the population were to demonstrate commitment to low-carbon technologies, behaviors, and lifestyles, new social norms would be established.” The data backs this idea up: One study found that the probability of an individual installing solar panels is 89% higher if that person knows someone who has already done so. Changing your individual behaviors has ripple effects.
This is especially true with your own children. If a kid grows up in a house where composting, plant-based meals, taking public transportation, and shopping secondhand are the norm (like they are in my household), then there’s a good chance they will embrace those climate-friendly behaviors in their own lives. If a child feels that reducing waste and consumption are family values, they will carry that with them into the world as adults. (They’ll also nag you anytime they perceive that you have slipped up, but that’s okay.)
The “new social norms” will naturally establish themselves, and as they do, it will shift markets, legislation, and more. As climate journalist Rebecca Solnit writes, “If enough people take up bicycling, the case for putting in bike lanes and bike lockups to encourage yet more people to cycle may result. The more people out there on bikes, the more drivers learn to coexist with them. The more people ride public transit, the more cost-effective it becomes and the more it reduces car dependency.”
So, the next time you see a fellow parent bending over backwards to make the more sustainable choice, try not to roll your eyes. It’s not just personal virtue signaling. They’re running a slow-drip campaign to raise a kid who cares about climate.
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