This is a guest post written by Karen Malone Wright from TheNotMom.com ~ Spotlighting and embracing women who, by choice or by chance, do not have children.
The exhibit hall of sponsors at BlogHer looking to connect with women and women bloggers was huge. Some brands were no surprise to find there: P&G, Playskool, Best Buy, Hilshire Farm…Mixed in were a handful of issues advocates, including the Moms Clean Air Force.
It was my introduction to a group that’s doing great work. After all, America’s Clean Air Act, enacted in 1970 and amended in 1990 is currently under attack. There’s also a nasty assault going on against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) itself.
But good works don’t mean that nothing’s wrong, and I just couldn’t walk past the booth without saying a word. Armed with my new business cards for TheNotMom.com, I tried very hard to keep my tone light as I asked the woman behind the table, “Do I really have to have children to be worried about the quality of our air? “
Her immediate and earnest response was, “Of course not!”
It turns out I was speaking with Dominique Browning, organizer and lead blogger for Moms Clean Air Force. Her personal blog is Slow Love Life, a lovely ode to “the miraculous beauty of everyday moments.” I think she was genuinely taken aback by my initial question, and now that I know what a deep thinker she is, I totally can see why.
But, I didn’t know all that then, and the piss-and-vinegar in me wanted to follow up with, “Why can’t it simply be called the Women’s Clean Air Force?” Do I really have to have the proverbial “skin in the game” to give a damn about the future of my planet?
I didn’t ask the second question. I already knew the answer. Ask any TV producer or political communicator about puppies and babies. We are a mom-and-kid loving nation. (Plain ol’ women, not so much, but that’s another post.)
It’s more than that, of course. Hazardous air pollutants can cause children to be born with horrible birth defects and suffer severe respiratory illnesses, and much worse. We’re all at risk, but it’s the littlest ones among us who are most vulnerable.
So, what say you, NotMoms? If you have a green heart, get involved. Yes, there are other organizations doing similar work, but unless it’s an effort led by women for women, it’s not quite the same.
Visit the Moms Clean Air Force website and learn if mercury is in the air where YOU live. Even better, contact your congressional representatives and let them know you want clean air. Do it for the people who will follow you…whoever they are.
Thank You, TheNotMom.com