Author: Chloe White
Environmental issues and climate change are becoming all too real, flooding our doorstep, burning our forests and hurting our wildlife. We are experiencing shorter winters, hotter summers, extinctions, plastic & air pollution galore. And so are our kids. A younger colleague of mine told me she didn’t feel rain for the first time until she was 5 years old because she was born at the beginning of one of our worst ever droughts.
My name is Chloe White, I am a student, aspiring journalist and mother to a beautiful and adventurous 2-year-old daughter. Stepping into motherhood, I was flooded by options of consumption, I was guilt-tripped and encouraged to buy all the baby stuff, brand new, every single time my daughter jumped in development. I was terrified of our climate future before children, and now, some days, those thoughts consume me.
The responsibility of motherhood is now expanding into a new space, the debate around climate change has become a discussion topic in mum groups, as opposed to 15-20 years ago. We as mothers bore the brunt of the burden of dealing with the pressures environmental issues are putting/put on child raising. It’s up to us to foster healthy feelings around climate change with our kids, ensuring they are comfortably sleeping in blistering heatwaves, feeling the guilt when they get a little sunburnt (or feeling overwhelmed when we have to sunscreen three screaming little kids). We feel defenceless against the harsh realities of the world, and exhausted from trying to protect our kids from everything.
So, I began looking into how mums are combating the climate anxiety, and why it is important for us to turn these fears into action (because getting shit done is what mums do best!)
I started talking to mums (including my own), and interviewing activists who are also mums, about how our environment plays a major role in the everyday tasks of parenting, and how we can do things a little differently to help slow down global warming, air and plastic pollution. From plastic and toxin free products to composting in the backyard, to taking public transport with a child instead of driving everywhere, I spoke about what the average (or should I say amazing) mums are doing to help them feel more confident and secure in our world of uncertainty.
Business owner and mother of 2 Ellie Degraeve tells me:
“Nothing goes to waste in nature, and we should aim to live by this the best we can.”
Bianca Sands, community resilience manager at Parents for Climate & mother of 2 reminded me of the importance for us and our kids to get outside, so we can appreciate and understand the need to protect nature:
“The health benefits of being in nature are something we can’t ignore, which is tricky as we get caught up and busy in our day to day lives particularly as parents but the more time [we spend] outside, taking our kids out there and taking in the things we love and appreciate outdoors is so important; and sharing that with our kids.”
Jo Wedge, business owner, mother of 5 & step mum of 3, shined a light on the importance of taking into consideration our children’s age, and their mental health when involving them in the climate change discussion:
“I think it’s really important to be positive with kids, it’s a pretty dark place out there, to be age dependent on what the discussion will be and not to burden them and be mindful of where they are at with their own mental health.”
Inspired by these stories I had a transformative experience, and realised there is a need for a bit more support around these issues. I wanted to create a space where mums can come together to give and receive advice on how to combat these climate issues, and help be a more environmentally conscious mum for our littlies.
The little spare time mothers have is precious and scarce, and finding time to sit down and read is pretty difficult. Organisations such as Parents for Climate understand that using the little time we have needs to be effective and mindful. That’s why when I came up with this series, creating 1–2-minute reads for mums on a wide range of topics was a must to create something that was insightful and though-provoking.
I added these 1–2-minute reads into a website that working mums, stay-at-home mums, daughters & sons, mother figures, grandmothers and aunties can access to read at their own pace.
The website will also include a discussion forum, for mums to jump on and put up their own environmental acts of good, or to ask questions around anything motherhood & the environment.
My aim for this space is to be easily accessible, fun, and quick to read, educational and non-judgemental. I want to highlight the good that mums are doing for the environment, because, unfortunately, even in 2024 we are still hearing the phrase ‘just don’t have kids to save the environment’ when, in reality, this notion is outdated, and the fact is we need children for a better future.
Watch this space! ‘Mothering Mother Nature’ series & digital platforms will be launching November 2024.
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