Eco-Angst

"So should I use the glass bottle that might break or the used sippy cup with the bisphenol-a?” she asked. “Which is better, the locally grown but not organic vs. organic but shipped in from Chile?” he asked. A bath or a shower? CFL with mercury or standard incandescent? And so it goes in the age of eco-angst. So much information, so many options, and so much concern, it can leave one feeling anxious and overwhelmed and a bit like a deer in headlights.

Indeed, in the latest Gallup poll, 36 percent of the U.S. population “worries a great deal” about global warming, and when asked what will be “the most important problem facing our nation 25 years from now,” Gallup respondents listed the environment third, just behind a lack of energy sources and Social Security. Way ahead of terrorism, education, unemployment, race relations, and the budget deficit. Add in being a new or expectant mom, sprinkle in some extra hormone fluctuations, and the picture can turn pretty ugly. So what’s a new mom to do?

First, take a deep breath. Dr. Gavin Schmidt, who studies climate variability at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Manhattan, says, “There’s a scientific reason to be concerned and there’s a scientific reason to push for action, but there’s no scientific reason to despair.” 

This is not to say that we can kick back and continue business as usual; rather, we can make educated choices and help create a healthier future for our children, ourselves, and all of the species on this planet we call home. Despair vs. hope . . . it really is up to you to choose.

My son Corbin was born just a month after September 11, 2001, and in that four-week interim, I can’t even begin to tell you how many strangers came up to me on the street expressing their sympathy for what was most surely an awful time to be bringing a child into the world. I was shocked by the inappropriateness of these complete strangers but more so, I was shocked by their sentiments, for I felt completely the opposite. Every time I felt my belly I thought, “How fantastic to be bringing forth new life during this period in history. For with each child born comes new hope!” And this seems just as relevant now as it did then. Or does it?

Given the issues we face in today’s world (climate change, the energy crisis, rising incidences of environmentally linked diseases that may possibly contribute to some cases of asthma, autism, cancer, and so on) it only makes sense to imbue one’s choices with a portentous sense of urgency. But in so doing, we add a level of stress to our days that is just not going to help anything. Though our choices today, with a global economy and the far-reaching effects of technology, do indeed have the power to affect generations and species as never before, it is by no means the first time mothers have feared for the future of their children. Think of French mothers during the French Revolution. Native American mothers in the face of U.S. cavalry. Southern moms during the Civil War. We human beings are a resourceful bunch and will find a way to survive the current crises; there is hope to be found in our power to do so.