Two months ago, my family and I moved from urban, comsumer driven Singapore to live ‘A Green Life’ in a villa surrounded by the green, lush, rice paddy fields of Bali. Our three girls aged 10, 9 and 4 are going to the Green School, a totally untraditional, non conventional school compared to the traditional conventional British school they attended in Singapore.
The Green School’s vision is green: ‘Delivering a generation of global citizens who are knowledgeable about and inspired to take responsibility for the sustainability of the world’.
Our children study in open bamboo classrooms in the middle of the green Balinese jungle and they’ve started talking in a green, environment friendly, global awareness way. “Mummy do you realise that our toilets are not environment friendly?” I hear them say. I’m green about how to respond, as I know that suggesting to get a green toilet seat or even paint the toilets green will not be the right environmentally ‘green’ answer.
Is the grass greener on the other side? Are we being naïve green? Will we prefer ‘A Green Life’ to our urban, consumer driven lifestyle that made us want to reach out for something greener? Do I want to go the whole ‘green’ hog or do I still enjoy the conveniences of flushable toilets and modern life to ever change? Can I really cope with my mid-life change to a slower, less efficient, more peaceful lifestyle that Bali brings or am I addicted to the perils and conveniences of modern city living?
The jury is still out on this one. I will keep you posted of my green journey.
