I used to consider myself an environmental activist: arranging letter-writing campaigns in college, volunteering in the Ecuadorian rainforest, and raising donations totally nearly $20,000 for the Bilsa Biological Reserve, where I served. But after my children were born my efforts were limited to dirty dishes, dirty laundry, and dirty diapers.
Then, I watched the documentary An Inconvenient Truth and decided it was time to sift through the hype surrounding climate change. Long before I knew about political affiliations, I developed a love of the outdoors by building forts in my backyard and what I discovered, as a result of my reading, was whether we’re talking about saving the bay or saving the planet, what it boils down to is acting responsibly.
My course of action started with the revision of the syllabi for the English classes I teach so my students could watch the film and do research separating fact from fiction. When I prepped for class on the day of the first viewing, I felt exhilarated. Then, my quiet time ended. The baby woke from her nap and I loaded her into the car to pick up my oldest daughter from preschool.
I spent the next hour frantically racing around the house: fixing lunches, cleaning dishes, and doing damage control thanks to my crawling ten-month-old. Just when it looked like we’d actually arrive at gymnastics lesson on time, the baby had a blow-out. I hastily changed her diaper on the floor of the bathroom while my oldest yelled, “I’m ready to go!” from her carseat in the garage.
While my littlest screamed in the backseat and the kid friendly car tunes droned on in the background, I began to doubt whether my interests and theirs could be nurtured simultaneously. Once inside the gym, my oldest passed me her coat, and I noticed a long brown streak down the front of my black sweatpants. ‘How did the baby get dirt on her shoes?’ I wondered. I shifted her on my hips to inspect her shoes a little closer only to discover pooh dangling from my engagement ring.
While I stood in the shower later that afternoon feeling like I could never be clean enough, I replayed the scenario. Why couldn’t I smell it? Why didn’t I see it when my hands were on the steering wheel? Furthermore, how was I going to clean up the planet when I couldn’t even manage my own kid’s butt?
But I see now that as a parent I have a unique opportunity to become an “armchair activist” because so many of my chores relate directly to global warming. Maybe a trip to your local home improvement store to buy the recommended compact fluorescent bulbs, low-flow showerhead, and energy efficient appliances keeps getting pushed to the bottom of your list of things to do. Don’t worry you’ll get there. In the meantime, know that your family room might always be littered with toys and your hamper may never be empty, but by monitoring your use of fossil fuels and putting recycling into practice, you have the chance to save the world from the comfort of your own home. Now that’s a convenient truth.
Victoria Winterhalter is a freelance writer, whose blog, Befriending Forty, chronicles what happens when the person you thought you’d be meets the person you actually became. Help her countdown to 40 on her BefriendingForty blog.
About Victoria Winterhalter
