Does Parenting Make You Green?

Like many others, my path to living a more Green lifestyle was greatly
impacted by the desire to be a parent. My wife and I tried for numerous
years to get pregnant, but without success. After numerous tests and
additional setbacks, we learned that our best (and perhaps only) hope was
through in vitro fertilization methods. It took three "cycles" but
ultimately we did become pregnant and are now proud (and tired) parents of 3
month old twin boys (Stone and Ty).

Often when a couple turns to fertilization processes, it is because there is
an "issue" with one partner or the other. In our case, it was both of us.
But at least we live in a day and age where science and technology has
progressed to the point that we can experience child birth and subsequent
parenthood. It wasn't very long ago at all that we would have had to
consider adoption as our only option towards parenthood.

How did this experience impact us and help us become more Green? As we
progressed through the process, we learned much more about environmental
factors that can and do impact the reproductive systems of men and women
alike. And while we certainly are not young first-time parents, both my wife
and I are in otherwise excellent health. As we shared our tale with friends
and family, we were stunned by the number of stories we heard about other
couples who were having difficulty conceiving. While some of this may be
attributed to fact that many were in their 30's, again, most of those we
know are also in excellent health. So what's going on?

I believe that environmental factors have played a huge role here. We are a
generation that was born just after the "golden" age of chemicals and
pesticides and have had them used around us for the better part of our
lives. This is probably only part of the reason - but I feel there must be a
tie-in to the environment somehow with the boom in fertility clinics. I have a very good friend who is a partner in one of these clinics in the Sacramento area and he has said that they have more business than they can handle.

Now that we are parents, we are of course very aware of the products and (soon) food we purchase for our babies. I was checking in on my old hometown paper in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Contra Costa Times, and this article caught my eye. There is a group of fathers who call themselves the "Grateful Dads" and they meet weekly to take their babies, toddlers and young children hiking in the East Bay hills and trails. Not only does this provide the dads and kids with valuable bonding time (as well as a well-deserverd break for the moms), but it's exposing the kids to our beautiful outdoors at a very young age. This can only help to teach our next generation to appreciate our environment as much as possilbe - and I applaud the Grateful Dads on many levels for this program. Maybe it's time to look into a Seattle chapter?

David R. Kaufer - President and Chief Green Office (Green for Good, Inc.)

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