EcoMoms Talk and Shop for Green Cause

A gathering of women may look like a book club, sewing circle, or Tupperware party these days—but is just as likely to be part of the 9,000-strong EcoMom Alliance, where mothers talk fluorescent lightbulbs, waste-free school lunches, and local produce. Long essential to America's green movement, young women are now using it to inspire coffee klatches and find environmental approaches to homemaking and parenthood, the New York Times reports.

And what is dubbed “the mom demographic” may be effective without direct political action: One survey shows that women say they "influence or control" about 80% of discretionary household spending, and can go green with it if they choose. “I used to feel anxiety” about the environment, one alliance member said. “Now, I feel like I’m doing something.” (More environment stories.)