08 Apr Keen to Be Green? Raising Sustainable Kids

We ask blogger, Veggie Mama for her views on sustainability, the environment and raising her two gorgeous daughters.

On her popular blog, Veggie Mama, Stacey Roberts talks about her favourite vegetarian recipes and life with her two daughters. We asked her for her views on sustainability and the environment.

Is it important to you to live sustainably?

It’s very important to me because it’s important to be a good steward of the earth. We should treat everything with respect and common sense. We have to live here and ensure it’s in the best condition possible for our children and future generations – so we buy thoughtfully, reduce, reuse, recycle and minimise our impact wherever we can. Well, we try!

Are you concerned by ‘greenwashing’, where companies and their products pretend to be greener than they really are?

Yes, very. It’s in my nature to be cynical and dig deeper to find the truth. It bugs me when companies jump on the bandwagon just to boost their profits. It also muddies the waters for the companies that are truly producing in a sustainable way. I appreciate when corporations at least attempt to do the right thing and I applaud baby steps, but I don’t like straight-up lies to trick us into buying more.

What are your top three tips for living sustainably at home?

• Buy less! How much do you really need, anyway? Try to buy things with the least amount of packaging.

• Recycle what you can.

• This one was hard for me, but I’m finally jumping on board – go digital with literature. Get magazines, newspapers and even books (if you can manage it) in digital form, instead of buying the paper versions.

Stacey Roberts blogs at The Veggie Mama.

Words by Bron Bates // Photography by Priscilla Du-Preez