Big foot

She might be small but her footprint is huge....

Once upon a time, before people picked up on the whole environment cause and the term carbon footprint even existed in our everyday vocabulary I walked this earth with a featherlight touch. The sad thing is I didn't even know it at the time. For 35 odd years I had never driven a car, loved public transport, walking and even cycling. I became a vegetarian at the age of 9 and mostly lived in houses that were bereft of luxury whitegoods such as clothes dryers and dishwashers, clothes were put out to dry in the sun and tea towels were put to good use drying up dishes. In short, my footprint on this earth was quite dainty indeed.

But it seems I am just a late bloomer. In the last year just as everyone else who were already meat devouring, gas guzzling, whitegood loving folks are trying to change their evil ways to improve things I have gone the opposite way and have become the most monstrous big foot. I blame my then impending and now current state of parenthood for the change in my ways.

For starters I now have my drivers license. I'd never really wanted to drive, didn't give a hoot about cars and it was a whole world that didn't mean anything to me. Suddenly after I became pregnant I developed the fear...the fear of being trapped at home or in my local area with a baby and realised that everyone else I knew drove a car and I wanted a piece of the action. In record time I learnt to drive and got my license first go. A big suprise, but the even bigger suprise was that I discovered that I just love hooning about in the car. Ed has even caught me eyeing off other cars on the road and looking at the drive section of the paper and wanting to discuss which cars I like and dislike and what card I'd buy if I had the money - it's a whole new world to me! And just as everyone else is talking about better ways to get to work than driving, I am plotting out my next car trip with relish.

In other areas things aren't looking so hot either....now I am a home owner my house is full of energy sucking gadgets and big whitegood items. And while I'm happy to report that I'm still a vegetarian at the moment at the rate I'm going I wouldn't be suprised if I started ordering rare steaks next time I'm at lunch.

And now Madame Ivy has arrived things are even more out of control. Where our washing machine maybe got a work out twice a week it now is on every day washing endless little suits, socks, hats, wraps, cloths and vomit stained items of my clothing. The clothes dryer seems to whir day and night. For someone who exsists soley on breastmilk somehow Ivy even seems to have created more dishes for us to wash (or perhaps it's all the food Ed and I have been eating in lieu of sleep) so it also gets a go each day.

Then there is the southern end of our young girlie to contend with - our bin, once emptied once or twice a week is now a daily concern filled with disposable nappies, baby wipes and plastic bags to contain the mess. In short, in less than 12 months I have gone from a carbon midget to a big foot, all because of one 52 cm long person. I'm starting to think the responsibility for the environmental destruction of the planet rests soley on the tiny shoulders of the babies of the western world. What do you have to say about that Peter Costello? When you would like us all to have three of these environmentally destructive midgets each - it could be the end of the world as we know it!