More please

I recently read a great piece on the culture of toddler couture, and although it didn't directly relate the trend to environmentalism (or lack thereof), I see a huge connection.

A common thread of all layers and degrees of environmentalism is the reduction of... well…EVERYTHING. We have too much stuff, and use too much energy making and powering all this stuff. And even with all we have, we want more. We want to stand on our piles of stuff and play King of the Mountain – and also show how much bigger our mountain is than yours. We consume like maniacs and hoard like a society overwrought with OCD. We are all guilty of it. We have too many cars, articles of clothing, junk we do not need, babies, you name it, we want more of it.

Speaking of babies, stop buying stuff for your child! She’s 6 months old. She doesn’t know that you bought her an $800 stroller and the coolest kiddy shirt you could find on the Upper East Side. Please, please, PLEASE…I beg you, stop using your child’s chest as a bulletin board to reclaim your youth. It’s really creepy.

Speaking of strollers, stop with the SUV baby strollers. I hate strollers in general. No, I’m not a mom so I shouldn’t judge, but I do take public transportation and strollers take up SO much room. Honestly though, that’s not even my biggest beef. Besides the fact that I don’t even want to think about how much plastic is in the buggy or how many toxins it was exposed to when it was assembled in a third-world country by children barely out of the stroller age for pennies a day, my biggest complaint is when mothers use them like weapons, children and all. They shove them into people, in front of people, into closing doors, and then look at you with a “Do you mind?” expression when their stroller hits your shin. I am, however, a huge fan of the baby slings. They keep the child close to the mother, are as inexpensive as $40, and are normally made out of natural and renewable fibers. And hey, you don’t have to give up your youth entirely, they even have hipster baby sling (without lewd comments).