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From the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/us/16ecomoms.html?pagewanted=all
I'm reasonably ecologically conscious, but this drove me mad. Everything becomes toxic. Look at this:
"At the EcoMom party recently, some guests took the hostess, Liz Held, to task for her wall-to-wall carpeting (potential off-gassing), her painted walls (unhealthful volatile organic compounds) and the freshly cut flowers that she had set out for the occasion (not organic). Their problems with the S.U.V. in the driveway were self-explanatory.
All the new eco-perfectionism did not seem to faze her. “I look around my house and think, ‘I haven’t changed all my light bulbs,’ ” she said. “But it doesn’t fill me with guilt. I think about all the things I’ve done so far. I just try to focus on the positive."
First, if someone came into my house and told me how I should live I'd be escorting them to the door. That's rude. Second, some of the things that they talk about aren't proven (off gassing from wall to wall carpeting?)
I object to anything that doesn't work. For example, washing in cold water. I'm sorry, but I wash at 40 because that's how clothes get clean--and sheets, towels and nappies go in at 60. My washing machine is A-rated for water and energy use and has its own heater; I'm not wasting water and energy by heating a tank full of water that then cools down on the way to the machine.
I've encountered a similar phenomenon with people (usually on cloth diapering sites) who won't use bleach. I agree that some people (my grandmother) overuse bleach. But if you actually have germs that need to be killed (e.g. your baby has a yeast diaper rash and the yeast is in the diapers) there are 2 things that will reliably kill them: very very hot water and bleach. There is a reason hospitals use bleach and not tea tree oil. (And, for that matter, there's a reason they use hand sanitisers, that other hate target. In a hospital, hands need to be clean. Period.) Since you can't boil wash anything with elastic, you need some bleach in there.
This seems to me like it's part of the whole competitive motherhood demographic, which is not something I go for.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/us/16ecomoms.html?pagewanted=all
I'm reasonably ecologically conscious, but this drove me mad. Everything becomes toxic. Look at this:
"At the EcoMom party recently, some guests took the hostess, Liz Held, to task for her wall-to-wall carpeting (potential off-gassing), her painted walls (unhealthful volatile organic compounds) and the freshly cut flowers that she had set out for the occasion (not organic). Their problems with the S.U.V. in the driveway were self-explanatory.
All the new eco-perfectionism did not seem to faze her. “I look around my house and think, ‘I haven’t changed all my light bulbs,’ ” she said. “But it doesn’t fill me with guilt. I think about all the things I’ve done so far. I just try to focus on the positive."
First, if someone came into my house and told me how I should live I'd be escorting them to the door. That's rude. Second, some of the things that they talk about aren't proven (off gassing from wall to wall carpeting?)
I object to anything that doesn't work. For example, washing in cold water. I'm sorry, but I wash at 40 because that's how clothes get clean--and sheets, towels and nappies go in at 60. My washing machine is A-rated for water and energy use and has its own heater; I'm not wasting water and energy by heating a tank full of water that then cools down on the way to the machine.
I've encountered a similar phenomenon with people (usually on cloth diapering sites) who won't use bleach. I agree that some people (my grandmother) overuse bleach. But if you actually have germs that need to be killed (e.g. your baby has a yeast diaper rash and the yeast is in the diapers) there are 2 things that will reliably kill them: very very hot water and bleach. There is a reason hospitals use bleach and not tea tree oil. (And, for that matter, there's a reason they use hand sanitisers, that other hate target. In a hospital, hands need to be clean. Period.) Since you can't boil wash anything with elastic, you need some bleach in there.
This seems to me like it's part of the whole competitive motherhood demographic, which is not something I go for.
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