Jolly Green Dad Blogger

Disclaimer: Not me and Lukas

 I can remember quite a while back that Dad Blogs, when it was still Dad Blogs and before it went away for quite a while and eventually became something else (I think), and which is apparently not the same Dad Blogs that I recently got an invitation to join a wile back but have been just too busy to actually sign up for, yes that Dad Blogs held a contest to determine who was the Greenest Dad Blogger on the internet.  No it wasn't me.

Sticking with the theme of my not knowing things, I also haven't a clue if that contest ever even ran, or if it did who has the honor of being named the Greenest Dad Blogger on the internet.  I suppose I should look that up, and I would if I wasn't saving energy by not wasting extra time on the internet looking up old contests that no one probably cares about.

But the reason I bring this up, and I know how intuitive you are, and that you could see this coming a mile off (probably before I even decided to pen this post), is that at the time I thought very hard about entering the contest.  Yeah, I actually thought I had a legitimate chance of making it to the Big Green Dad Blogger Dance, so to speak.

Of course this was probably a ridiculous notion, given that there is actually a Dad Blog called Green Dad.  I have never actually read a Green Dad post and had no idea that it existed back when the contest was ran, but anyone who actually calls himself Green Dad must, by default, be a greener dad blogger than I am.

But yeah, ever since that contest that I got too busy to enter came and went I have wanted to actually write a post about my greenness, and how it came about not necessarily by way of a plan, but more by location, necessity and, of course, marriage.

I am from Seattle.  I go by the online moniker SeattleDad.  Seattle is a greener city than yours. Sorry, no disrespect to your fine city, but this is true.  So yes I am on board party because they make it easy to be green here.  We have a great recycling and composting program here in the city.  It has made it fairly painless to reduce our trash output to a miniscule amount each and every week.  Growing up, I was never conscious of greenness or conservation of any kind.  But then, several years ago now I got married to a wonderful and also conservation friendly woman. She's not a fanatic by any stretch, but she is someone who would take the time to think about the choices she made and how they affected the environment. That was eye opening.

In no time I was also fully on board.  Now, along with the careful recycling and composting that we do, which has woven its way partially into my fabric (I actually walked quite a way today to find a recycling can to put some empty soda cans from a work party), we also use conservation friendly light bulbs and shower heads, turn off our lights and down our heat by habit when we are not using them, drive an alternative fuel car (not electric but perhaps some day), and buy most of our food organic and local whenever possible. We also used cloth diaper for Lukas when he was little, I recycle my tweets on occasion, and I even drank some organic craft beer the other day, because it was a good thing for the environment (wink wink).

Seriously though, another big contributor to my status as one of the greener dad bloggers is the fact that we rarely buy anything new in our household.  If we need new furniture, appliances, clothing, toys, books, etc... we are first looking to find a suitable used version.  Be it from Craigslist, consignment, or thrift we are pretty diligent about avoiding new purchases here.  Yes, this is partially mandated by the fact that it is expensive to live, own a home, and have a child in full time private care in Seattle but nonetheless it does contribute to lowering our carbon footprint.

There are other things too, little things.  But I'm sure I will remember what they are well after I hit publish.

As I mentioned, many of these decisions are based on economic factors.  But not all of them by any means.   Mrs. LIAYF and I take a certain amount pride in the fact that, albeit small in the overall scheme of things, we are trying to do our part to make the world a better place for Lukas and the generations that will follow him.

We also want him to grow up with conservation, and awareness of his impact on the world around him to be like second nature.  It will not change any of the predicted problems that countless years of widespread unawareness have put into place, but we are firm believers that change snowballs from individual efforts.

No, I am not the Greenest Dad on the Internet.  I may not even be greener than you are.  But, along with my beautiful wife, I am trying to do my small part.  And all the while teaching my son that throwing those cans into recycling rather than the trash is just something that you do without thinking much about it. It has become that way for me.

Except when I stop to think about that old contest.

Earth Day 2012 is April 22.  Tell me readers, are you becoming more green as time passes?