moregreenmoms.com

Happy moregreenMother's Day!

Being a mother is a very big job. I don’t care if you have one child, or seventeen. In almost every household I know, we keep the train on the tracks and we very often chart its destination. We wake up every day just trying to do the best we can to protect and nurture and cherish our families. To quote my favorite former boss, “some days we’re the bat and some days we’re the ball.”

Therefore I understand that a LOT of what I’ve explored on moregreenmoms is rather more than a slight inconvenience. Those who have heartily ingested the research have encountered a new level of awareness that requires added brainpower to assess, investment to address and commitment to uphold. Like we need ANYTHING else on our plates!

And believe me, if you have been a little touched by what you have learned, I will confide that it has turned my world upside down. So in order to survive drinking from a fire hose these days, I have chosen to shift my mindset from being constantly overwhelmed to becoming endlessly inspired.

Every twist of my newly “examined life” seems to offer rich fodder for further consideration, whether it is in choosing how to dispose of the Polly Pocket collection we have now outgrown, scanning a Google map of my roof to research solar panel installation or collecting our worn-out tennis shoes to send to Nike’s reuse-a-shoe campaign. The multitude of small tasks can offer a plethora of creative opportunities to enrich our daily routines. How can we reduce, reuse, recycle – and happily re-tool our entire approach?

For example, when is the last time you gave much thought to your dry cleaner? I was very loyal to my former service, which faithfully delivered to my doorstep for 12 years. But when I asked whether they might consider a greener cleaning protocol, specifically safer chemicals and less plastic, I could tell they were not at all prepared to make the shift. So I marched into a newly launched San Francisco operation called SFGreenClean, www.sfgreenclean.com, and the dialogue began.

I learned so much about the toxic chemicals associated with this ironically “dirty” industry, as well as the waste created by disposable hangers and the unhealthy plastic residue we drag into our houses each time our clothes come home that I jumped at the opportunity to make the switch. I now receive my weekly delivery from them instead and it arrives in a Prius.

The real point here is that by reaching out and engaging in these dialogues we not only enrich our knowledge, but also forge a personal connection to the products, services and people that comprise our consumer experience.

These small moments of engagement bring the humanity back to the inanity. They bash down our walls of detachment. They make it possible to tackle an endless stream of responsibility and obligation that looms like a tsunami on the horizon. They deliver gratification for those otherwise isolated and thankless tasks that have added up to melt away our years.

So on this, my first green Mother’s Day, my pledge is to check in, rather than check out. I plan to turn the computer off, bury the Blackberry and indulge in the innocence and laughter and joy that I am privileged to experience in my household when I am wise enough to let it dominate all else.

I can’t wait to tear open the cards hidden in little backpacks bearing backwards s’s, sunny skies and rainbow hearts. I’ve got my fingers crossed for a noodle necklace, lots of sloppy kisses and a precious face to share my pillow in the morning.

There is no question that if this monologue has captured you, our priorities align, somewhere…. Let our growing knowledge not force us to stumble, but rather charge us to blaze forward with the strength and power and grace that we learned from our mothers who taught us all to be the best women we can be.

The world can wait for just one day while we all drop everything to hug our children. Tomorrow will bring a new dawn for change and we will all be there to meet it!

p.s. Mom, you are the gold at the end of every rainbow I chase. You are the truth, the courage, the strength, the source of my spirit. You are my everything and I love you today and always! HMD! xoxoc

Happy Earth Day!

My six-year-old son asked me at breakfast last week, “Mom, how long have you been green?” This has become a slightly obsessive topic of our daily exchanges as we fret over plastic litter on the beach, discuss how pesticide can hide in the little bumps of raspberries and negotiate how much bath water one little person could possibly justify.

The green transformation that has occurred in our household over the past 8 months has not been lost on this little fellow. He has watched his beloved Oreos disappear from our shelves, learned to refill his Sigg water bottle before sports practice and mastered scraping his plate into our compost bin after meals. In fact, our cleaner behaviors have now threaded through the fabric of his everyday existence. He is unquestionably on his way to becoming a responsible steward of our planet.

What started in August 2007 with a switch to safer nail polish has resulted in a complete upheaval of our lifestyle. Yet it has been entirely painless (if you don’t count the insane lack of sleep I have suffered to become better educated on topics ranging from endocrine disruption, genetically modified organisms, clean technology and the Precautionary Principle). And on this Earth Day, with the launch of my Weblog, it is my sincerest hope that whatever insights and information I can offer through moregreenmoms may inspire others to adopt a greener outlook toward ALL decisions we are privileged to make in our daily routines.

I have been fortunate enough to tell the simple story of our family’s green make-over to audiences at several schools and organizations in the San Francisco area over the past few months. After each presentation, I receive calls or emails from many people claiming that I’ve inspired them, and I believe I have. But what I really hope is that in the absence of offering a definitive blueprint of essential “next steps” my message compels each person to do something that will result in a healthier outlook for our collective future. That one thing for me, learning about safer cosmetics last summer, resulted in an entirely new way of living for our family and we are all better for it.

I can’t help but wonder how a Pacific Heights housewife, who couldn’t tell a paraben from a penguin a year ago, has become a credible symbol for greener living in my community. But really that’s the magic of my story. I have no agenda other than to leave a healthier inheritance for my children. And I have met countless others who not only fear the tragedy of diminishing life quality, but have also taken action to promote change. The field is WIDE open and in order to safeguard a brighter future for our children and our planet we must all jump into the game and play our hearts out.

During this educational journey, I have been inspired by the work of countless researchers, environmental leaders, doctors and writers who are seeking to orchestrate an essential u-Turn in American awareness. However, one of the most compelling, yet applicable, philosophies I have encountered comes from Yvon Chouinard, founder and owner of Patagonia. During a recent interview exploring his exemplary business practices and moral code, he referred to his firm commitment to “lead the examined life.”

The simplicity of this statement encapsulates my newfound willingness to consider how my actions reverberate when I opt for organic foods, non-toxic cleaning products, solar power, recycled paper and countless other items that lessen the pounding of my presence on Earth. My days of handily wielding two carts at once down the aisles of Target have been replaced by a visceral sadness to walk through its doors and now see aisles of synthetic fabrics, mountains of wasteful packaging and shelves of processed food.

Less has become the new “more” for me and the effort to consider the implications of my purchases, as well as their relative necessity, has resulted in not only a financial savings, but something far more precious, the re-cap of precious time once spent chasing the beauty industry's newest miracle mascara.

In closing, I want to refer back to my son Beau’s newfound environmental sensitivities. I had to answer his question about how long I have “been green” and my response was, rather lamely, “not long enough.” But like him, I am forever changed by what I now understand about the implications of my everyday behavior. I have discovered the potent potential of leading by example. I wholeheartedly believe in the saying, “information is power,” and I am willing to be a voice amongst many who seek to connect the dots and provide a snapshot of a newly “examined life.”

Young Beau feels very strongly that Earth Day should actually become the ONE day we take a break from proclaiming environmental awareness. He thinks it should become our day off so that every OTHER day can be Earth Day. Listen to my wise child. We can no longer afford to take action once a year, and tip toe down this road taking widely spaced baby steps. The time to commit to change is now and no matter what that change may be for you, it is essential and it makes a difference.

So drive to work, drink a soda from a plastic bottle, eat a fabulous steak for dinner and enjoy a guilt-free long hot bath. You have one last hall pass because from now on, Earth Day must be EVERY day. Our children will thank us for safeguarding what is left of the precious planet that is in our collective care. And we will thank each other for authoring a hopeful new chapter to grace the precarious legacy of our generation.