Eco-Guilt The New Plague Among Enlightened Parents
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden 
on 02.17.08
Here's the first clue that you are a stressed-out eco-mom or eco-dad: you secretly find yourself spending an entire weekend trying to clear your kiddies' rooms of all the cheap plastic toys and gadgetry, only to find that a few weeks later a lot of it has crept back in. Or you carefully shop for one hundred percent organic and find yourself cringing when your children stuff themselves with conventional junk food they minute they hit the houses of some (eco-uninitiated) friends. Welcome to the new world of eco-guilt - it's like proverbial Jewish mom guilt magnified a thousand times. Every choice, from diapers to dishwashing, can leave parents with the stress of finding the greenest choice and the guilt of not going far enough with environmental efforts to keep your loved ones safe.
Don't despair, though. To wallow in the feeling with fellow guilt-ridden parents, there's the EcoMom Alliance; to get over the guilt there's Linda Buzzell's Eco-Therapy news. The best antidote to eco-guilt, is, of course, taking action. And while eco-moms have heretofore been mostly concerned with finding the best green choices (TreeHugger's "How To" Guides are a super resource in that quest), the "mom demographic" may become more politically active in future in response to lackluster government action. Via ::TheInternationalHeraldTribune
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Thanks for posting this! I am prone to eco-guilt as well, especially since green parenting is my vocation as well as my passion. I even wrote a post once entitled "Eco-Confessions of a 'Not-So-Green' Green Parent"
(http://thegreenparent.blogspot.com/2007/11/eco-confessions-of-not-so-green-green.html)
I'm looking forward to checking out some eco-therapy!!
I once forecasted a new wave of therapy based on eco-guilt. it will be the newest trend in psychology =]
Oh, thank you. I could seriously use some eco-therapy. Really. I wonder if there's such a thing as multiple eco-personalities. One minute you're the eco-avenger and the next you're the poster child for Cheap Toys & Food.
Becca:
I so completely know what you mean - it's definitely difficult to keep the eco thing going, day in and day out, shopping trip in and shopping trip out, and think about budget, too.
Eco-schizophrenia!!! The newest malady of the 21st century!
I wonder if any of these people have read Plato's description in "The Republic" of how each new generation's personality is a reaction *against* their parents' extremes. If your kid sees you constantly obsessing about saving electricity, fanatically banning them from sugary snacks containing HFCS, verbally trashing their friends who have "mainstream" families...they may very well grow up to hate your values.
Raising kids is sort of hit or miss and I think it's better to have parents who insist on being right 80% of the time, and can relax a bit, than parents who insist on being right 100% of the time and keep the whole family in a state of stress.
Great article. I have had major eco-guilt ever since I started becoming aware of all of these issues when my first son was born. I became obsessed with researching EVERYTHING before making purchases and it's the main reason I started Green Mom Finds - www.greenmomfinds.com
I figured that as long as I'm spending hours trying to find safe, green products, I might as well share the info with others!
And then there are those of us who have eco-guilt to the point of not being able to justify having kids in the first place... perhaps the biggest form of eco-guilt there is. Yes, I know, it is not sexy, pc, or conversationally generous to put it out there, but someone has to start talking about this. There are lots of "young people" of child-bearing age, myself included, who are "eco-guilting" our way into child-less-ness as the outlook worsens. I don't eat meat because the carbon footprint- but it's nothing compared to a child! How to deal with that in therapy?! I love kids just as much as the next guy- my husband and I have dozens in our extended family. But getting excited about bringing new ones into the world is becoming more and more difficult with each passing year.
Imagine the eco-guilt upon realizing human procreation is the root of all ecological issues.
I'm not a mom, but I have been doing alot of research in anticipation of being a mom sometime in the next year or so. I'm doing alot now because I know it will be harder with little ones running around, but it comes down to just being able to do the best we can. Perhaps we cannot go 100% organic, non-toxic, all-natural, USA made, locally made - but if we incorporate these things into our lives and make it habit, in the future it will be easier to make more informed decisions.
As for talking yourself out of having children because of the continuing degradation of the state of our world...well, perhaps we have forgotten why we want to save it. Life is truly beautiful. Nature is so extrordinary. If we truly believe life on earth is so worth cherishing, we would want to pass that passion on to our offspring; however, the creation a human life goes way beyond our environmental circumstances.