EcoHearth: Come Home to the Earth

I packed us up—my car, my toddler, myself—for a 12-hour ride, intending to follow my parents all the way home, all the way to Alberta, Canada. This trip was to be the big one. Could I do it? Could I find a way to practice what I preach, could I travel naturally, even with a toddler on the road? Travel with a toddler, eating only homemade and healthy, and no disposable diapers? Was I crazy?

I hit the road, following my parents (the dogs in tow), to discover if I was.

Packing our suitcases and keeping what we needed in the front for immediate use, I made sure I had a bag of clean cloth diapers, a few training panties, some natural paper towels (cut in half in an old wipes holder) and a squirt bottle of my homemade "aloe and white-tea body wash". In another bag, I added a few small toys for my daughter and an insulated bag for healthy snacks and drinks. On the floor behind me, I shoved our pillows and a couple of blankets, and put our ice chest on the backseat.  My mother had dressed my daughter, for which I was grateful, while I was packing the car. The kiddo seemed in a good mood; the weather was nice. We set off down the road.

Traveling can be difficult, especially with a small child. Driving through beautiful countryside seems less picturesque with a toddler screaming in the backseat. Many of us might be tempted to just drive through the McDonald’s for a “happy meal” and buy a carton of disposable diapers at the convenience store across the street. Been there, done that. Don’t want to go there again.

Didn’t have to. When I realized it was time to change her diaper, I discovered that my mother had managed to find a disposable. I grabbed one of the cloth diapers, but had no diaper pins. So I seized a second diaper from the bag, made a double-decker diaper, folded them inside one pair of panties, then topped them off with a second plastic pair. My little one resembled some bizarre film creature with a strangely large, rounded “bum.” I laughed so hard, I cried. The kiddo caught my laughter and added her own to it, and my parents enjoyed the moment, too. No need to head to the convenience store. Even reducing the diapers down to one, my new diaper system worked well all the way “home.”

Between the two cars, with all the adults and dogs and a toddler, I think we must have stopped everywhere possible between my place and the Canadian border. The kiddo was asleep for most of that time, so it worked out fine for me.

After much ado we made it to British Columbia, Canada, and it was lovely! I was excited to drive through this beautiful country. In the end, our 12-hour journey had turned into 21 hours, but we had made it safely and even pulled off the long journey with homemade panache, naturally.

Brittani Garbo is a WAHM (work at home mom) who, once her child was born, began making her own cleaning products so her baby wouldn't have to breathe toxins from commercial ones. Her website, Miss Brittani's Natural Living, presents the recipes for her homemade cleaning products, all of which are made of natural ingredients that are safe for children and the earth.

Updated 2/14/10; originally posted 3/28/09.

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