Tonight, I need to thank my good friend and fellow blogger Lynn Miller, from OrganicMania, for including La Marguerite in her recommended list of ‘Top Mommy Blogs‘, to Alltop. Lynn’s effort paid off, and starting now, La Marguerite will be featured on Alltop, along with all the other mommy blogs on Lynn’s list.
Lynn’s Alltop announcement got me thinking. Moms need to have a bigger role in the climate discourse. We are talking about Mother Earth after all. The qualities that come to us as mothers, as in giving, protecting, nurturing, and sustaining life, are the same ones that are needed to remedy climate change. For we need to take care of our planet, the same way it has sustained us for thousands of years. Even the climate narrative is imbued with motherly words. Think sustainability, climate protection, Climate Security Act, Environmental Protection Agency, just to name a few.
Sure there are the Eco-Moms, and the mommy bloggers, and a few token names in the environmental stratospheres. Frances Beinecke, at the helm of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Laurie David without whom An Inconvenient Truth would not have made it to the Oscars, . . . I can’t think of others right now.
Looking back on the recent G8 Environment Summit, there were three women and twelve men. During this week’s Senate debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, 16 out of the 100 senators debating were women. When Richard Branson convened his summit, not a single woman, other than accompanying wives, was invited.
Things are changing though. Although, I did not vote for Hillary, I did appreciate the women’s movement behind her. Women all over America are rising, and deciding that their voices need to be heard. Now I am urging these same women, and the ones behind Obama, and McCain also, to apply the same zeal to protecting the world and its children. For decades, women have gathered for book clubs and Tupperware parties, and Bible study groups. The EcoMoms idea, or something like it, needs to spread.
Absolutely I agree that more women ought to be involved in public affairs.
However, that they are mothers or not – I don’t think makes a big difference to their consciousness of public affairs. In fact, you could argue that a mother will be less likely to care about the long-term and the “big picture”. After all, some things we’re talking about may mean short-term discomfort. I see many mothers who cannot even deny their children chocolate in the supermarket – would these women make their children walk to school to save fuel?
Most women would give their lives for their children – but they’d give the lives and future of the world for them, too – particularly if the latter is an abstract sort of loss, as we’ve discussed before.
On balance I don’t think mothers have more or less consciousness of these issues, or are more or less likely to make decisions with the long-term and “greater good” in mind, compared to fathers or childless people.
Nonetheless, more participation by women is essential.
You are right Marguerite. As it becomes more necessary, and tools are created to improve, organize, and understand how to work together, mothers will play a crucial roles . They will play roles as catalysts, advocates, and early adopters of these new technologies.
Mothers form strong networks throughout all societies. As we can already see, mothers are some of the most active internet users. You are smart to target them.
“Most women would give their lives for their children – but they’d give the lives and future of the world for them, too – particularly if the latter is an abstract sort of loss, as we’ve discussed before. ”
I don’t believe that if any mother would understand the true nature of the problem, she would give up the future of the world for trivial desires of her child, because that world is the place where her children – and their children in turn – need to live in.
I don’t think bringing up a healthy, happy and literate child would have to conflict with a sustainable society, so it would be to her own (as in: her childs) benefit to benefit her own and her child’s desires, as well as communicate this same message to everyone she knows, and help others with it. No mother can save the world by herself.
It’s mainly about reaching their hearts, and this can be best done mother-to-mother I think.
I hope that this meme will be taken up by other blogs… A little talk on blogs can be a very fast way to connect disperse groups together.
Hi Marguerite, thanks so much for the nod – I love your blog, the community here at La Marguerite, and your inclusion in green.alltop.com is richly deserved.
I would like to clarify: I put together a list of top green Mommy bloggers, not Mommy bloggers per se. (Oh, the semantics!) Alltop was already all over the Mommy bloggers. All I did was to put together a ranking of top green Mommy bloggers using Technorati Authority and inclusion on the Green Mom Blogroll. You can see the results here: http://green.alltop.com
When you consider that Moms control most of the household budget, our focus on buying green – or not buying anything – can shift the economy.
Here’s just one example: last fall I participated in a buzz marketing study of Moms and cars – the Moms were demanding hybrid minivans. The car company (GM) hadn’t even thought that far ahead…but they heard the Moms’ voices. $ talks.
I think it would be great to see more green at http://www.kirtsy.com/
It hasn’t even got a “green living” category right now.
A group of Eco-Moms could take care of that.
Kyle, I understand your point, and I certainly have shared some of my own experiences as a wannabe green mom too often indulging my teenage daughter’s not so green lifestyle, for peace’s sake. That is not for lack of wanting – to be a green mom – however! And this is why green mom groups can play such an important role. A place to support each other in our intents, and our struggles as very imperfect wannabe green moms. I see these groups as centers for local politics as well.
Lynn, great example!
Meryn, I just submitted this post to Kirsty. Nice site. The other moms who read this blog should submit some of their own stories as well!
James, nice to have you visit. Thanks for the encouragement.
Kiashu said: “In fact, you could argue that a mother will be less likely to care about the long-term and the “big picture”.”
I don’t think you can equate a piece of chocolate at the supermarket with “the big picture.”
Good parents want what is best for their children, both long and short term. Like everyone else, parents need the information to make the right decisions. I am sure we would all do what it takes to leave a clean healthy planet (for our children’s future, or for other people’s children’s future) if we knew what to do and were sure it would make a difference. But how is the average person supposed to wade through all the confusion and misinformation to figure what those right things are? It is no easier a task for parents than it is for non-parents.
You can certainly equate a piece of chocolate at the supermarket with “the big picture”.
This is for two reasons. The first is that in our lives we get into habits. And if our habit is to give in to every trivial thing, it’ll be very hard for us to say no with the bigger issues.
The second is that the trivial is what many parents necessarily focus on. They’re so busy getting through each day that they don’t spare a thought for the future. If a parent can’t deny chocolate to their child for the sake of the child’s future health, they certainly won’t deny them a drive to school for the sake of their fitness, or the sake of the planet.
Kyle, I think you are being a bit pessimistic on the parent front. Parenting is very susceptible to fads. If there are enough books, and articles, and buzz about green, and kids’ health, I guarantee you parents will listen, particularly parents of very young children.
[…] Why a Green Moms Carnival? Well, as La Marguerite so aptly puts it, “Moms need to have a bigger role in the climate discourse. We are talking about Mother Earth after all. The qualities that come to us as mothers, as in giving, protecting, nurturing, and sustaining life, are the same ones that are needed to remedy climate change.” Read more here. […]