Dear Emma and Ciara,

Before either of you were even born, I did everything I could to ensure you would be healthy babies: I ate organic, healthy food; I exercised and practiced yoga; I drank nutrient rich herbal tea every day; and I cleaned our home with natural, safe products. We celebrated your arrivals and rejoiced in your healthy, strong bodies.

But despite my efforts to keep our home and our bodies clean and healthy, years of working on environmental policy had taught me plenty about the many forms of pollution and toxins that exist in our world. Turns out, keeping you safe and healthy for 9 months on the inside was the easy part. Keeping you safe and healthy for the rest of your lives…? That was going to be a real challenge.

College, graduate school and years as an environmental educator taught me about pollution and toxins, but it was motherhood that inspired me to become an activist and dedicate my life to pushing back against the polluters themselves, particularly the polluters creating global warming pollution.

All people deserve clean air, water and soil, but I will fight like a tiger to try and make sure you both have access to those essential resources. I do the work that I do day in and day out to ensure you can both grow up in a world capable of supporting and nurturing you instead of in a diminished world that threatens your existence. If I work long hours or answer an email when I’m supposed to be ‘off’ please know its because I’m determined to do everything I can to shift us from polluting energy sources and products towards a cleaner future for you and your children to come.

I love you to the moon and back –

Mom