Welcome

My name is Amanda. I am married with 3 gorgeous kids, living in Auckland, New Zealand.

Since becoming a mum I have reflected on the beautiful New Zealand that I was so blessed to grow up in. I look around and see how our country is changing over the years and realize that my children and my children’s children will not enjoy that same blessing if we collectively continue to treat the planet the way we do. That saddens me and I am committed to making environmentally-friendly changes in my life and to raise my kids to be mindful of the environment in their lifestyle choices. Hopefully I can be a good example.

The task of saving our earth seemed a little overwhelming to me. So instead of putting it in the ‘too hard’ basket and doing nothing, I decided to break the task down into more achievable ‘bits’. I’m committing to make small, achievable changes regularly (at least 4 per year), in a bid to ‘do my bit’.

This website is a diary of my journey. I hope it inspires you to consider how you can be more environmentally-friendly. There are others out there who are far more committed and inspiring than I, whom I greatly admire. I am just a regular consumer trying to make one small, positive change at a time - because I believe that if we all do a little, collectively it adds up to a lot.

I have called this site EcoMum because my children are my motivation to care for this earth our God has given us to be stewards over. The reality is that we probably won’t feel the effects of our mistreatment of this Earth, it is the future generations that will. Let’s ‘do our bit’ to ensure a bright future for them.

Amanda

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Computer

Recently our computer seemed to be chugging along very slowly. I was tempted to get a new one - a slimline, snazzy model like those I keep seeing advertised on the telly. The ads keep reminding me that ours is an out-of-date dinosaur and tempt me to be out with the old and in with the new!
However, I know it's just 'perceived obselecence' marketing (if you're not familiar with this term, watch The Story of Stuff and it will explain). So instead of replacing it, we got some more memory installed and now it's working just fine. I know replacing it would have been purely for aesthetic purposes and would have cost us more money. So for now the dinosaur stays as I continue to resist being sucked in by the marketing machine!
However, if you do have a computer destined for the rubbish bin, check out whether there is a recycling program running in your area. Search on the Internet or in your Yellow Pages. I know it's free here in Auckland. And if you are in the market for a new computer, consider buying a laptop or notebook instead of a desktop. Laptops require fewer materials and less energy to produce and use a fraction of the electricity to run.
Helping to conserve energy and reduce landfill.

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