Reflections on Green Living in the Third World: Mom Most Traveled
What Living in the Third World Taught Me About The Green World
Written by Candice Broom
Water You Doing?
I have had some great experiences in my life thus far; living in a hut on a Mayan Indian reservation in the Belizian rain forest, teaching English to 130 first graders in China, traveling through South East Asia, and raising two boys in Laos.
Each place has not left me unchanged. I arrived with my own agenda, but departed each time with new values, influenced by the pace of life in the developing world.
Chronicling this metamorphosis might be a bigger task than I am currently planning for, but however long it takes, I hope you will come along for the ride.
Living in a developing nation or third world country puts you in touch with the Earth. However, the motivation is not philanthropically, but necessity. Poverty removes the choices available in the richer nations.
We always hear statistics about America being the most wasteful nation on the planet. Part of this is merely symptoms of the extreme privileges made possible by living in one of the richest nations in the world.
Statistics like these have started to make more sense to me: Each person in the industrialized world uses as much commercial energy as 10 people in the developing world. (cited on the Mindfully.org website from Paul Ehrlich and the Population Bomb / PBS [the PBS website is defunct but the book by the same name is available])
“How is that even possible?”, I used to wonder. But, in Belize, the entire village of San Jose didn’t have running water when I was there in 2001 (no electricity, either, so no consumption of that resource!). There were wells at which people pumped water for the day. It was really hard work, and heavy to carry!
I only “showered” every other day, and I washed clothes in a nearby river with the other local women.
In China, showering was a traumatic ordeal because our apartment wasn’t heated. I dreaded taking off even one of my many layers of clothing, so showering was definitely not a priority. The “washing machine” that we used for clothes was just a large basin that I filled with a hose. I could turn a knob and then it would agitate the clothes for about 20 minutes. When it was done, I drained the water and filled it back up with rinse water. That was very time consuming, so we all started to wear clothes multiple times before washing them!
Some of our Chinese friends didn’t have washing machines. They would wash things by hand and hand them to dry in their teacher dormitories. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone wearing the same outfit for over a week.
In Laos, we have a tank less water heater. We don’t have hot water in the kitchen or sinks; in the bathroom, the shower is outfitted with a tank less water heater. I never saw these before coming to Asia, but have recently noticed them being introduced in the US market. Learn more here: Tankless Water Heater Guide
Many toilets in Laos don’t have a tank either (the ones in our home do). They are “flushed” by ladling a cup of water from a nearby bucket into the toilet bowl several times until it is “clean”. It takes some getting used to, but it probably saves water because you only use as much as you need to do the job! Squatty Potty
Working overseas has changed many areas of my life. I can’t wait to share with you about what I’ve learned about parenting, cooking, and friendships!
Candice Broom is a blogger, writer, adventurer, and mother of two young boys. She shares her “green” tips at My Greening: Going Green and sage world travel advice at Mom Most Traveled . She has upcoming trips planned to Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Tags: Candice Broom, Going Green, Heat Consumption, Mom Most Traveled, My Greening Blogspot, Squatty Potty, Tankless Water Heater, Water Consumption
September 13th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
That was a wonderful post. It really gave me a new perspective on our “going green” movement here in the US. It’s quite a privledge that we have a choice to do it, rather than it being just a way of making do. It makes me feel less guilty about wearing clothes multiple times before washing. There’s really nothing wrong with doing so and it probably saves wear and tear on your clothes too.
Thanks Candice!
September 13th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Most interesting! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.
I feel a little guilty, having all that I do. When is it ever enough?
Growing up privileged and living as an American may put us on such a high pedestal that it’s difficult to see the bigger picture.
I’ve always known that we don’t really appreciate something until it’s gone but you’ve put everything in a much different light. What about if I never HAD? I’ve never HAD to do without.
Thank you Candace. Absolutely the best thing I’ve read in quite awhile.
Will there be more stories and insights from your travels?
September 15th, 2008 at 11:13 am
It is always interesting to read about true life experiences such as yours. Hope you write more about your travels.