This hippy mama is mad.
Something has been bothering me and maybe it has made you uneasy or slightly resentful too. Noisy, shouting, platform-grabbing environmentalists, the new batch, are so…fake!
I’ve been natural parenting for 18 years.
- Breastfeeding
- Baby-wearing
- Cloth diapering
- Homeschooling
- Co-sleeping
- Homemade clothes
- Secondhand clothes
- Homemade gifts
And we live as carefully as we can.
- My compact car usually transports multiple people.
- Our 30-year-old couch still seats us.
- Our washable napkins are old, cut up t-shirts.
- Our home lacks air conditioning and heat.
- We do not take baths, only showers, and one teen volunteers to bathe only twice a week (yuck).
But that’s not enough
- We have to buy trash bags instead of reusing grocery bags because they’re banned.
- Urban planners want building regulations banning personal cars, without safe, convenient, and fast travel alternatives for families with children in sports or taking care of elderly family members. Mass transit in most cities is not all three.
Modern bad. Fossil fuels bad. Kids bad.
I’m confused.
Medicines, computers, electric cars, and warm clothes and housing are all faster, safer, better, cheaper because of science and technology. Environmental gains including studying endangered species and microscopic life, tracking weather patterns, and developing more robust food sources are all the result of technology and fossil fuels.
Hypocrisy
I might be missing something, but aren’t rude environmentalists still:
- Driving private vehicles to rallies
- Using air conditioning and heating
- Drinking clean water
- On the power grid
- Flushing their toilets into the sewer systems
- Drinking Colombian coffee in trendy coffee bars
- Eating Florida oranges
- Buying phones, fitbits, appliances, computers, and clothes made in other countries
- Driving on asphalt roads with rubber tires
- Flying in airplanes or private jets
???
Aren’t they still enjoying 21st century Western life like the rest of us?
Why can they dump on the world for living good, abundant lives while they get to be angry, self-righteous, and hypocritical?
It seems like the only genuine thing about them is their thinly disguised money grab. Can you see how their actions and words don’t match?
Common sense
Instead, what could they focus on that we all can apply and benefit from?
Simple things don’t cost money, only self-control and a little bit of creativity and time. It’s a visit to the past with the slogan: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
Next week:
A Sensible Approach to Authentic Environmentalism
Photo by Hammer & Tusk on Unsplash
Thought Ripples by Wendi 