Sonya's Blog

Sonya Murray is co founder of The Baby Gurus. The Baby Gurus' pregnancy and birth education services range from private individuals to corporate for some of the UK's leading companies.

As a wife and a mother of three, Sonya brings a personal understanding of pregnancy and parenting as well as tips on multi tasking and getting the most of the work life balance. Her favourite online stores are MACCosmetics.co.uk, MarksandSpencer.com, Boden.co.uk, JoJoMamanBebe.co.uk and JoMalone.co.uk.

The Beginnings of Eco Parenting...

Published on Tuesday 8th May 2007

Becoming a parent is the most significant life change anyone can go through. It changes the way you think, feel and behave.

Back in 2000 and faced with the thought of becoming a parent I began to take a look at my lifestyle. My partner and I were both busy professionals with decent salaries, which we easily spent on enjoying the best of life (good wines, great holidays etc etc).

Our house enjoyed the regular spray of pine or rose air freshener and our oven regularly saw a ‘2 for £5’ ready meal. Vegetables were pre-wrapped and usually used just after they had passed their peak. Our rubbish was collected weekly and I’m afraid to say that we just forced our recyclables in with the garbage (please note it wasn’t as trendy to recycle then!).

Near the end of my first pregnancy I met Nicola who is now a life long friend. She was shocked at the chemicals I was using and horrified at my old veg. I honestly thought she was nuts (sorry Nicola). I found chemicals the best way to kills bugs and I hadn’t realised that veg could be better (apart from the pre chopped ones of course).

Nicola began to work her thoughts on me. On visiting her house a basket of fruit and veg had just been delivered by a local organic shop and the house smelt of fresh air wafting from the open windows. She made us freshly ground coffee and served it with homemade biscuits - a step too far I thought!

Seven years on and I’m a busy business owner with three children. I’m now an organic fruit and veg box buyer and I also love my kitchen. I’m a regular jam and chutney maker, an avid recycler and I even compost our scraps, and I’m teaching our three little cherubs about rubbish sorting and limiting waste.

I must say I haven’t managed to tackle all of my environmental challenges. I promised our first born a hand knitted scarf recently and after about 30 rows realised that I wasn’t the natural born knitter I thought I was. I soon cast aside and donated the scarf in question to Barbie as a blanket for her castle bed instead. Brilliant recycling I thought. I now buy hand knitted garments from Sue Hill Handknits until I register at knitting school... or perhaps I’ll just leave it up to the professionals… but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

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