We are mothers, hear us roar
Home » Magazine » Good, issue 2 » The goods » We are mothers, hear us roarStepping out with a pushchair used to be a sure-fire way of making yourself invisible. Not any more, as eco-conscious mums around the world are making themselves seen and heard. Marching on Parliament, taking over the web and choosing greener manufacturers, mothers are forcing government and business to sit up and pay attention. Why not join them?
It was a warm, spring morning when a group of London women, green ribbons pinned to their lapels, gathered on the grass outside the UK Houses of Parliament. Among them were actresses Rula Lenska and Fay Ripley, standing side by side with the other members of the WE Climate Action Group (WE CAN) on a midnight vigil. The aim: to exert pressure on the British government to take action on climate change.
It’s not Greenham Common, but around the world there are stirrings that mothers are getting political again. Back then, it was the threat of nuclear war that motivated women with children to protest; now, it’s the threat of climate change. Among mothers, there is a growing realisation that nurturing alone may not change the world. We need to change our behaviour—and the behaviour of those around us.
One American website (www.ecomomsalliance.org) asks mothers across the world to take a ten-step challenge to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Admittedly, some of the tips are a little lame (“Don’t idle during drop-off and pick-up”) but the point is made that if all mothers in the US followed the plan, they could reduce the country’s CO2 emissions by 300 billion kilograms. So far 11,000 ‘moms’ across America have signed up—a force to be reckoned with for any political party or manufacturer.
In New Zealand, smaller eco-conscious mothers’ groups are popping up in most major cities. Earlier this year Lianne Earles, founder of popular website organicbaby.co.nz, started an eco-mums coffee morning at Wellington cafe The Organic Grocer.
“Most ante-natal groups I went to were only interested in talking about pooey nappies and sleepless nights. I wanted to talk about other things too.” The first get-together attracted 20 mums and the conversation ranged from organic food, to sourcing glass baby bottles, to peak oil. Lianne admits that a lot of the chat is still baby-focused—lets face it, it’s difficult to contemplate political action when you’ve got cracked nipples and a teething baby—but the opportunity is there to discuss a wide variety of eco-related topics.
One of the easiest ways that Kiwi mothers have found to share their green inspirations is through online forums like The Nappy Network (www.thenappynetwork.co.nz). Started in Christchurch to promote the use of modern cloth nappies, the site has grown to cover the whole gamut of eco-living; it includes extensive debates on everything from bokashi bins (62 posts) to the alternatives to bottled water (79 posts). There is such a good mixture of practical information (natural alternatives to fly spray) and intellectual discussion (the best eco-reads—and, yes, our magazine’s there), you can find yourself engrossed for hours.
Active member Nicci Duffy says the site has spawned many face-to-face activities, like video evenings and nappycino mornings (coffee and cloth nappy advice). They have yet to march on Parliament, but The Nappy Network was behind a local council initiative to subsidise cloth nappy packs for several thousand Christchurch families. “Our main focus has been to educate people,” says Nicci. “Christchurch now has the highest uptake of cloth nappies in the country and I think that’s a great achievement.”
The phenomenal increase in the use of cloth nappies in recent years (now around ten to 15 percent of New Zealand babies) has largely been due to these grassroots mothers’ groups. Recently, seven cloth nappy suppliers—all run by mums—banded together to form the New Zealand Nappy Alliance, a professional organisation ready and willing to go head-to-head with the big disposable nappy manufacturers.
“You can see that companies like Huggies are concerned by the way they’re resorting to new technologies such as a composting plant,” says Nappy Alliance spokesperson Kate Meads. They claim that they’ll be able to compost 65,000 disposable nappies a day this way, but what happens to the other 945,000 nappies that New Zealand babies go through each day? They still have to go somewhere.”
Kate says using cloth nappies is often a starting point for mums on a journey towards greener living. “They get talking to each other, and start to realise what else they can do. They become interested using in other recyclable products and working towards a greener future.”
This was certainly the impression I had after attending an eco-baby workshop in Whaingaroa earlier this year. The one-off event was organised by the community recycling collective, X-treme Waste, and attracted around 25 newish mothers. While cloth nappies were discussed, all the mums were keen to move onto other subjects. Some had travelled from Hamilton because they wanted to meet up with like-minded people. By the end of the morning, they were signing up for permaculture courses, recycling and other sustainable living events.
Joining groups isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I wasn’t too keen myself until my children came along. Now, if I can make the world a better place for my kids by joining in, I will. I’ll march, blog, campaign, whatever it takes—and I’m sure every mother out there feels the same. As you slave over the oven tonight making your darlings dinner, or pick up their clothes from the floor for the hundredth time, consider this: as mothers we are part of one of the largest demographics in the world. Imagine what we could do if we all banded together to bring about long-lasting environmental change.
