Oil Wives Save the Planet
7 Ways Expat Women in
Oil-Rich Countries Can Help
By Samantha Honey
As an ‘Oil Wife', a term I have come to understand refers to ‘an expat woman whose significant other works in the oil & petrochemical industries', I choose to be with my husband rather than live in a country with more eco-consciousness. While many of the countries we call our “expat home” do not have basic structures like recycling in place to minimize their population's impact on nature, it does not mean by living there that we do not care about the environment. So, how can we show it? How can we “oil wives” do what we can, where we are, to improve the state of our planet?
Here are seven green acts that I have found easy; everyday practices we can do that do make a difference; both to the environment and the way we feel about living here. Join me!
1. Create an oasis.
We can plant some plants indoors at home to improve the air quality directly surrounding us, as well as planting trees and shrubs outdoors to contribute to long term climate change for the better.
2. Buy local products.
Buying local products, made in your oil-rich expat country or in one of its neighboring countries, can reduce your carbon footprint and help grow other markets in the region, besides the oil & gas industries.
3. Turn the computer off.
Turning your computer off at the switch when it's not in use can save some of the 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide that is emitted yearly when a computer is left on 24 hours a day. And two-thirds of a computer's energy is used up by the monitor. Given that trees absorb 3 to 15 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, it would take 100-500 trees to absorb the amount of CO2 one computer left on contributes! (Source:)
4. Jog the green way.
Instead of revving up the treadmill in the gym, jog outside – or work out with a skipping rope instead.
5. Buy second-hand.
Let's purchase more second-hand furniture and goods from expats leaving the country, rather than buying new goods (and supporting manufacturers who pollute the environment)
6. Minimize packaging.
Do we really need to use and throw away all of those bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard cartons? If the country that you are living in does not adequately recycle these waste products, how about:
- Instead of bottled water purchased from the supermarket, use a filtered water machine with refillable larger-size bottles;
- Instead of cling film and freezer bags, choose re-useable plastic take away containers;
- Instead of pre-packaged nuts, seeds, spices and dried fruit, choose weighed-by-the-kilo produce, displayed market-style that has not been fancily packaged
- Instead of tinned fruits, tinned vegetables and aluminum-canned drinks, choose fresh locally-grown fruit and vegetables, and if you are really keen, making your own soft drinks using boiled water, fruit juice and sugar or sweetener.
For example:
Low-Cal Lemon Spritzer
3 lemons
A sprig of fresh mint
Water
Splenda or other artificial sweetener, to taste.
Bring1.5 liters of water to the boil. Juice the lemons and add to the boiling water with the sprig of mint. Turn off the heat and stir a few times. When the beverage is cool, add sweetener if you like, and distill into drinking bottles.
7. Take bags to the supermarket.
Bringing your own bags to the supermarket (ignoring the “crazy woman” stares that you might receive from other customers in countries where this is not yet normal practice), will both set an example and help to save the environment.
Did you know..? Plastic shopping bags choke up waterways and injure sea creatures and livestock when they mistake them for food or are foraging. As bags break down, toxins are released into the soil which contaminate crops and lead to human sickness and disease. (Source: National Geographic and )
There are so many things we can do, and none of the above are rocket-science. I bet you could name a dozen more! The bottom line is, as women anywhere, we can care about the environment. If you are an Oil Wife (or even if you are not) and it seems like everyone around you does not about the environment, do not despair. Our beginning examples will be noted and will catch on. Together, we can make a difference!
June 2008
Samantha Honey is a Feng Shui expert and expat writer. Since 1999 she has consulted to homes and businesses over four continents and in all the countries she has called home as an expat woman: Austria; Trinidad & Tobago; the UK; and the US. Now based in Qatar, her business Feng Shui By The Sea in the Gulf specializes in creating harmony in expat homes. Her clients have included American Express and Cosmopolitan, and she has written for magazines and newspapers including Australian Women's Health and Body+Soul in the Sunday Telegraph.
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