The Rise Of The EcoMum: The Horror, The Horror

In no time, the conversation turned lively — not about the literary merits of Geraldine Brooks or Cormac McCarthy but the pitfalls of antibacterial hand sanitizers and how to retool the laundry using only cold water and biodegradable detergent during non-prime-time energy hours (after 7 p.m.).”

You look for a door. But the room is spinning. Shrinking. Shrinking. Voices begin:

“It’s like eating too many brownies one day and then jogging extra the next,” says Kimberly Danek Pinkson, 38, the founder of the EcoMom Alliance, speaking to the group of “efforts to curb eco-guilt through carbon offsets for air travel”.

Women are formed into an EcoMom circle in Palo Alto. “Executive mothers” are following a “10-step program that urges using only nontoxic products for cleaning, bathing and make-up, as well as cutting down garbage by 10 percent”.

Eat your greens. Your greener greens.

“I used to feel anxiety,” says Kathy Miller, 49, an alliance member, recalling life before she started investigating weather-sensitive irrigation controls for her garden with nine growing zones. “Now I feel I’m doing something.”

Then there is the issue of the materials used in imported toys. “It’s ‘Mom, these come from China,’ ” Pam Nessi, 35, said of her daughters’ recent inspection of two of their dolls. “It can be overwhelming. You don’t want them to freak out.”

Relax. Breathe in. Listen to the pan pipes. Green. Green. Reverend Green with the lead piping in the EcoMum circle. No, not the lead, the sun-fed asparagus with polenta and lead free stuffing.

Green. Green with envy at Kathy’s growing zones. Is prozac organic?

The green shoots of recovery…

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