EcoMoms

I have to say that I read this article a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t parody. I thought maybe I had missed the punch line since I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes.

It seems that the environmental movement continues to creep its way into the lives of the guilt stricken well-to-do. It has now morphed into being expressed through the tears, anxieties and check books of the well-heeled dilettantes of Berkeley California and other destinations of the learjet liberal with too much money and time on their hands.

EcoMoms is a new fade movement. These women of means drive their SUVs to meet at each others 10,000 square foot homes to discuss how to reduce their carbon footprints while consuming fine wine and hors d’oeuvres. Its really quite lovely.

From the New York Times

Move over, Tupperware. The EcoMom party has arrived, with its ever-expanding “to do” list that includes preparing waste-free school lunches; lobbying for green building codes; transforming oneself into a ‘locovore,’ eating locally grown food; and remembering not to idle the car when picking up children from school (if one must drive). Here, the small talk is about the volatile compounds emitted by dry-erase markers at school.

Perhaps not since the days of ‘dishpan hands’ has the household been so all-consuming. But instead of gleaming floors and sparkling dishes, the obsession is on installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, buying in bulk and using ’smart’ power strips that shut off electricity to the espresso machine, microwave, X Box, VCR, coffee grinder, television and laptop when not in use.

‘It’s like eating too many brownies one day and then jogging extra the next,’ said Kimberly Danek Pinkson, 38, the founder of the EcoMom Alliance, speaking to the group of efforts to curb eco-guilt through carbon offsets for air travel.

Okay, so the founder says, using the brownie analogy, that its okay to use all these resources for the television in every room, DVD player, coffee grinder, laptops, etc as long as you pay out to offset that in some way.

‘I used to feel anxiety’ said Kathy Miller, 49, an alliance member, recalling life before she started investigating weather-sensitive irrigation controls for her garden with nine growing zones. ‘Now I feel I’m doing something.’

The notion of ‘ecoanxiety’ has crept into the culture here. It was the subject of a recent cover story in San Francisco magazine that quotes a Berkeley mother so stressed out about the extravagance of her nightly baths that she started to reuse her daughter’s bath water. Where there is ecoanxiety, of course, there are ecotherapists.

Its BERKELEY - does anything else need to be said? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Of course there are people who are more than willing to make money off the guilt these po’ lil’ dilettantes are feeling. I mean, there’s the King of the How - to - Make - Money - off - Wealthy - Guilt -Consumed - Suburban - Wives, Al Gore.

‘Activism can help counteract depression,’ Ms. Buzzell added. ‘But if we get caught up in trying to save the world single-handedly, we’re just going to burn out.’

Ms Buzzell is a therapist who will help you with your anxiety and depression. I’m sure she’s quite good at it. Just bring your checkbook and/or gold card.

Seriously, think of the children of these high strung freaked out women!

The matter of toys is particularly thorny. At the EcoMom party in San Rafael, women traded ideas about recycled toys for birthday presents and children’s clothing swaps. Then there is the issue of the materials used in imported toys. ‘It’s ‘Mom, these come from China,’ Pam Nessi, 35, said of her daughters’ recent inspection of two of their dolls. “It can be overwhelming. You don’t want them to freak out.’

At last years Step It Up rallies, a day of environmental demonstrations across the country, the largest group of organizers were ‘mothers concerned about the disintegrating environment for their children,’ said Bill McKibben, a founder of the event and author of ‘The End of Nature.’

The woman doesn’t want her CHILDREN to freak out? Then she needs to quit being freaky. Common sense doesn’t even seem to seep into this equation at any level. BTW, its not the end of ‘nature’. It’ll be the end of mankind. Nature and the earth will take care of themselves.

This is one of those control issues in which people want to think they are powerful enough to actually have an impact on mother nature. If you’ve ever been in a tornado than you know that you are just a little ant in the big scheme of the universe. You have absolutely no control over the forces of nature.

BUT - if it makes you feel better to spend money in hopes of buying some protection against hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes and whatever else scares you - by all means - make a donation and I’ll plant a tree in the woods behind my house, put your name under it and let the Lord of All Things Environmental know that its there to offset 10 acres of YOUR carbon footprint.

I’ll make it very simple and no trees will be killed through an electronic transaction through my paypal account. NO ANIMALS WILL BE HARMED IN THIS PROCESS! It is formaldehyde, plastic and chemical -free! Completely environmentally friendly.

Donations made through this paypal account will go directly towards offsetting your impact on the destruction of the universe due to driving an SUV and using a computer. The more you donate, the better you’ll feel.
Trust me


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