Mom Goes Green

Waaaay back in my previous life – about 2001 BC (Before Children!) – one of my favorite indulgences was having fresh cut flowers in our home, at all times.  It was a little OVERindulgent, but it sure brightened up the place, no matter the season.

Since having kids, this has taken a backseat to many other things that command our disposable income.  But one of my shortcomings was that I only looked for cheap flowers without any consideration of how they were grown, where they came from or how they got here… oops!

I’ve since learned that about 70% of flowers sold in the US are imported and grown using highly toxic chemicals, including pesticides, fertilizers and fungicides… doesn’t sound so pleasant to take a big “whiff” now, does it?!  This is a danger to us as consumers, workers cultivating the flower crops and florists working with them daily.  It also pollutes the land and groundwater and creates an unhealthy environmental effect.

Enter: organic flowers! These farms instead use environmental, sustainable practices (without toxins) to insure that everyone in the chain, including the environment, isn’t put at risk.  And it also simply supports local, domestic farming. Diamond Organics, California Organic Flowers and Organic Bouquet will help put you in the right direction to locate a florist that offers organic flowers or simply buy online if you want “green” blooms.  You can also look for the VeriFlora label or ask your florist if they are VeriFlora certified and you will know you are buying organic… and NOT bringing those toxins into your home or sending them to someone you actually like!

Along with this recent “enlightenment” I also discovered that I have quite a bounty of floral vases that are crowding that useless cupboard above my refrigerator (yeah, you know the one I’m talking about!).  Most of these vases are created with such a variety of glass, they can’t be recycled (hence trash!).  But before you let them hit the can, consider giving them back to a local florist!  Many will happily accept them, and honestly, I would not be one bit irritated if I knew that my flowers were arranged in a reused vase!

And if you’re lucky enough to live in Northeastern Ohio, like me (okay, so it’s not so lucky in the dead of winter!), a co-op between Green Lotus and Cleveland Blooms will actually pick them up from your doorstep(!) so they can be cleaned and sent back to a local florist who wants them, so you don’t even need to do the legwork!

Even though that “flower fund” has now been redirected to “Barbie” and “Planet Heroes” you can bet that, when I want to treat myself to a bouquet, I will be doing a search for organic flowers and calling Green Lotus when my blooms head for the compost pile!

Let me say, very loudly, that this is not my opinion, nor my comment.  This was a statement made by a speaker at the International Conference on Climate Change, hosted by The Heartland Institute, currently taking place in New York.

It was pointed out to me by a family member who knows my passion, knows about my blog and seems hell-bent on disproving everything about global warming.  (From here I will refer to the “family member” as “FM”) but “FMs” case is based on a belief that “all of you nut-jobs think we should get rid of cows.”  Wow.  It is so much bigger than that.

If you want to read the article, I will attach it here, but it’s infuriating… and I hate to even link to it.  Czech Republic President, Vaclav Klaus, was the speaker claiming that “global warming ‘alarmists’ are propagating hysteria like communists, with the goal of controlling the public”, while he also believes that the planet actually needs to be saved from us (environmentalists).   Another keynote speaker also suggested that physicists and scientists have subscribed to the belief of global warming simply to save their jobs and get funding for research.

I don’t like to get too political in my views and the topics that I blog about, but this stuff boils my blood.

I wish I had 5 minutes to stand before their conference and say:  “Let’s presume that man-made global warming does NOT exist in any way, shape or form – that there is nothing, at all, we can do to prevent it.  Now ask yourselves:”

• What is WRONG with simply taking steps to reduce energy-waste?
• What is WRONG with efforts to reduce carbon emissions?
• What is WRONG with striving to reduce pollution?
• What is WRONG with recycling?
• What is WRONG with protecting our food and water supply?
• What is WRONG with protecting rainforests, oceans, animals and their habitats?
• What is WRONG with taking steps to insure that if global warming IS real, we aren’t sitting idly by, letting the problem worsen?
• If we take all of these actions, even if they are unnecessary, how will it HURT? Answer: it won’t.

I choose to “err on the side of caution.”  If I can take free or low-cost steps to see that I’m not personally worsening the world that I will eventually leave to my kids, WHY WOULDN’T I? I have lost nothing. Do they really believe that industrialization has NOTHING to do with it, even though the past 50 years have seen the highest rate of emissions, as well as the highest rate of warming?  The way I see it, those opposed to making simple adjustments just don’t want to change their ways, sacrifice a little, rethink common practices and give up the overindulgent conveniences of modern life that are spread out before us.

I love “FM”, but my mind is made up.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “I refuse to be a part of the problem.”  We’ll have to agree to disagree.

Well, there’s plenty of debate over this question.  There are oodles of research and sites with opinions and discussions and disagreements over what is real, what is embellished and what is pure fiction.  It’s mind boggling, to say the least.

I will first say ‘yes’, I do buy only organic milk.  It costs a lot more and that is a price I am, personally, willing to pay because I have children that drink it daily (although I have debated, in my own mind, whether cow’s milk is necessary at all).  Organic milk does give me a greater peace of mind for many reasons.  These are the things I have learned that have helped me reach this decision:

Naturally-fed cows, with a better quality of life, produce a higher quality of milk – it is shown to contain more antioxidants, vitamin E, omega-3 and beta carotene.
Organic milk cows cannot have bovine growth hormone (BGH) administered, which is used to increase milk production.  By forcing cows to produce an abnormally high volume of milk, they are prone to painful udder infections.  Bacteria from the infection flows right along with the milk and pasteurization does NOT remove it (this nauseates me)… and then isn’t the hormone still present too?…
Some research also shows that consumption of non-organic milk, that may contain hormones, can cause early puberty in children (this scares me to no end… again, I have children drinking it. I was most effected by studies of Hispanic homes, where the consumption of milk is not nearly as prevalent, and this evidence of early puberty does not exist).
Organic milk cows do not have high residues of pesticides and fertilizers transferred to the milk from genetically modified feed, as does milk from non-organic cows.
Organic diary farming requires a higher standard for the well-being of the cows and they must receive time “at pasture” instead of a lifetime of confinement (the animal-loving part of me has a hard time overlooking this as well… look at that face!).

Let’s presume that all of the facts are false… what have I lost?  Some extra money, that’s it.  But then… what if some or ALL of them are true?  The consequences for that seem a lot more costly than money to me.

If the price were the same, wouldn’t you choose organic?  You decide.

Before my pursuit of green, I was a serious offender… I was one of those people who used to leave the charger for my cell phone plugged in AT ALL TIMES!

I’ve since learned the err of my ways.  The Department of Energy estimates that 20-25% of the energy used in our homes is actually consumed by electronics that are in stand-by mode or even “turned off”.  Just because it’s not actively being used DOESN’T mean we aren’t using electricity… they still pull and consume energy if they are plugged into an outlet.  They also estimate that this collectively costs us $7 billion per year and would require 37 power plants to produce this volume of “unused” electricity!  And this energy waste amounts to approximately 97 billion pounds of CO2 emitted into our atmosphere… a major environmental offense!

The best way to avoid this useless consumption of energy is by plugging the worst household offenders into a power strip.  Simple as that.  I’m talking about computers, printers, scanners, monitors, TVs, DVD/VCR players, TiVos and DVRs, game systems, chargers, stereos (are those “so ’90s” now?!?!) and just any of those electronics and large appliances that don’t need a constant power supply.  In fact, up to 75% of the energy they pull is actually consumed when they aren’t being actively used!

I have also learned that while small household appliances do pull a very small amount of electricity if they have a clock or power indicator, they aren’t the major culprits, so you don’t need to get neurotic.  But if you do have a microwave, radios, clocks, etc. that you don’t often use, unplug them.  Even consider unplugging your electric washer and dryer. And when you do need them, just plug them back in.

With power strips, a flick of one switch can often nearly eliminate this “phantom” power use.  Even if you only plugged in your TV and all of its associated systems, it could save about 2% on your energy bill, since the power strip reduces approximately 15 watts of power down to two watts! And if you want to make it zero, flip the switch and just unplug the power strip!

So, “strip” those bad boys, flip the switch, unplug it and cut the waste.  (Some days I wish my kids were on a power strip so I could unplug their energy too!)

I am so proud to have just been named one of the “Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs” by RNCentral.com!

There are a lot of great blogs out there, so to be acknowledged for making a difference is quite an honor!  This list is also a great resource for all of you… whether you want information about eating right, managing stress, pregnancy and newborns, weight loss, mental health, going green (like me!) or overall, general health, it’s worth taking a look!

Thanks RNCentral.com!  I appreciate the kudos!

I am adamant, ADAMANT(!), that no matter where I shop, I bring my reusable bags.  I never, EVER accept plastic, no matter the circumstance.

In fact, when our daughter recently had over a hundred boxes of Girl Scout cookies to distribute, I had to find something to put them in for handing them out to our buyers!  Part of me wanted to go out and buy reusables to distribute with them, and hey… that probably would have been a great idea!

But what also “gets me” is that I actually WAS able to find plastic bags to use for the cookies, because I had a stash of them.  Gasp!… a confession.  However, I am pleading ignorance, or a lack of paying attention for having them.  I’ve found that if I’m not paying close attention at the grocery store, a cashier will inevitably find something in my purchase that they deem “plastic bag necessary”.  Greeting cards, ice cream, my organic chicken… every other week it seems, as I unload the loot, a blue plastic bag ends up staring me in the face and laughing, mocking me and non-verbally (of course!) saying “and you thought you could get rid of me!”  I want to yell back “I TRIED!”

I have come to realize that when I hand over my reusables I still need to say “no plastic, for anything, AT ALL… thank you.”  If they ask what I would like them to do with my greeting cards, I point out the space between two boxes.  If they ask about the ice cream, I assure them it won’t melt before I get home.  If they ask about my chicken, I direct them to my reusable with the red tag… if it leaks, I’ll wash it.  That’s what it’s for.

I guess our reusables DON’T speak for themselves.  And if we miss the opportunity to tell them “No. Plastic is NOT necessary, ever” they may never know.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –  Martin Luther King Jr.

I am fully aware that no, he wasn’t talking about reusable bags(!) but I DO believe that his point was that “our voices really do make a difference.”  Speak up… there is no “matter” too small.

Well, that was harsh.  But research has shown that it’s true.

I’ve talked about my frustration with my neighbor cutting down all of the trees in her backyard, and then (as if a “tree-hating virus” had attacked the street) my other neighbor cut down healthy trees too!  We were all heartbroken at this senselessness, but there was little we could do to stop the insanity.

I wish I could have shared the results of the latest research with them before the chainsaws-went-to-town.  We all know how environmentally important trees are – for providing oxygen and shade, improving air quality, conserving water, preserving soil and supporting wildlife (as both food and habitat), but the latest research has found that trees actually make people live longer and feel happier… and that doesn’t really surprise me.

According to studies:  (1) treed streets have a lower rate of crime, (2) residents have happier relationships and (3) perform better in tests; (4) trees help us to psychologically rejuvenate and they even (5) impact our “physical, psychological and social well-being”; (6) residents live longer and (7) have an overall better health and (8) children behave better in a “nature setting” than in a treeless area, especially those with an attention deficit concern… all I can say is “amazing”.   The research even showed that those with less access to green space (even if only a nearby park) have a shorter attention span, poor management of major life issues and poor impulse control.

I’m definitely not a supporter of money spent frivolously on silly research but I admittedly like that these studies support what I’ve suspected all along:  aside from the environmental importance of our precious trees, they truly have an altering effect on our well-being.

Today, I’m asking you to… hug a tree, love a tree, feel grateful for every tree you see… and please, don’t cut the healthy ones down… because they have a greater impact on our lives than we ever realized.

*(tree hug photo:  Jim Sabo)