The daily struggles of an Eco Warrior

For the past couple of weeks, the Eco Women have been having an email conversation about some of the daily Eco Dilemmas they’ve recently faced as Eco Warriors.  Situations where their desire to save Planet Earth was pitted against forces more powerful than they are  — their children’s desires to be like their friends.

The Eco Women’s children are a savvy bunch of Eco Kids.  They KNOW why it’s important to save Planet Earth.  They can tell you what plastics are easily recycled and they understand why it’s better to drink water from a reusable bottle than buy bottled water.  These are kids who worry about the rain forest and about polar bears.  They GET IT.

However, the Eco Kids are just that — kids.  They’re susceptible to marketing and peer pressure.  They want to be like their friends and have some of the same stuff as everyone else.

This puts the Eco Women in a tough position?  What’s more important?  Their beliefs or their children’s wants?  Can the two be reconciled?

Here are two of the Eco Dilemmas that the Eco Women discussed:

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Dilemma #1: In the past couple of weeks, both of Recycla’s daughters have received gifts of personal care products — including lotion, lip balm, and soaps — from friends.  Unfortunately, in every case, the items contained ingredients that Recycla doesn’t want her children using, including parabens and triclosan.  Recycla’s daughters are 8 and 10 years old — they’re nearing the age when they’re going to care what their friends think about them and are going to want to use the same products that all the cool girls use.  Recycla wants her daughters to stand up for what they believe in, but she also understands the lure of floral-scented lotions and soaps.  After all, she herself was once a big fan of Love’s Baby Soft.

Solution: Recycla’s younger daughter has very sensitive skin.  VERY sensitive.  So much so, that the child cannot even have her face painted, unless she wants to live with a painful rash for the next 48-72 hours.  So Recycla was able to explain to her that the lotions and soaps in question could be harmful to her skin and the child decided on her own that she didn’t want to risk it.  Instead, mother and daughter will make a trip to their local organic grocery store and pick out some soaps and other good-smelling things that the child can use.  In the case of the older daughter, she appears to have already forgotten all about the troublesome lip balm and soap she received.  Recycla has put them away for now and, if her daughter asks about them, they’ll have a conversation about good ingredients and bad ingredients and then see what they can come up with.

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Dilemma #2: Captain Compost’s sons pack their lunches for school most days and have asked if they can pack Lunchables just like some of their classmates.  Unfortunately, Lunchables are a double whammy of Eco Evil: 1)  They’re nutritionally worthless — full of salt, fat, and a host of artificial ingredients.  This is not how Captain Compost wants her sons to eat.  And, 2) the lunches are wasteful, as they’re packed in containers that are not fully recyclable — thereby using more of Planet Earth’s resources and adding more stuff to landfills.

Solution: Captain Compost brainstormed with her sons about alternatives that would be more nutritious and more eco friendly, but also FUN (very important to elementary school boys).  They decided to pack lunches that have similar foods in them, but are healthier.  Instead of refined white flour crackers and American Cheez, the boys pack wheat or multi-grain crackers and cheese without artificial ingredients.  Instead of fruit punch flavored with high fructose corn syrup and packed in a single-use pouch, the boys choose between  water or 100% juice packed in a reusable bottle.  Instead of fruit gummies, the boys choose fresh fruit or veggies.  They still get a dessert, but it’s more likely to be an organic Newman-O than an Oreo.  And all of that is stored in reusable containers that the boys bring home every single day.

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These are only two of the dilemmas the Eco Women have faced as parents and are only the tip of the iceberg of what’s to come.  Other skirmishes have included:

• The Battle of the Crappy Plastic Toy — “Mooooooom!  Can I please have this [name of toy that will break in five minutes]?  Pleeeeeaaaaase?”
• McDonald’s Meltdowns — “Why can’t we go to McDonald’s?  I wanna Happy Meal!”
• Walking & Whining — “Do we have to walk?  Why can’t we drive?  It’s a whole half mile and my legs are so tired.”

And, the fact is, that not all Eco Dilemmas are the result of our children.  All Eco Warriors have to make decisions (and, possibly, compromises) on a daily basis.  We have to decide if we feel like taking that extra step or not.

For example, Recycla recently hosted a 40th birthday party for her husband.  Before the party, Recycla decided to use paper plates instead of regular plates, which she will admit was rather wasteful on her part.  And, she didn’t even buy eco paper plates — oh no, she bought the cheap ones from the grocery store.  Shocking, she knows.  Then, when Recycla was buying food and drinks for her two dozen guests, she actually reached for a case of bottled water and put it in her shopping cart.  Then she stopped and thought.  And thought and thought and thought and thought.  For several minutes, Recycla pondered the pros and cons of what she was doing.  Then she put the case of bottled water back on the shelf and, for the party, filled pitchers with water and ice instead.  Recycla hopes that the Eco Sin she committed by using cheap paper plates will be somewhat offset by her decision not to buy bottled water.

What about you?  What Eco Dilemmas have you faced and what did you do?