Mom Goes Green

This past weekend Mom Goes Green got back to nature… as a chaperon of the Girl Scout Brownies camping weekend!

We were good citizens of the planet by walking delicately on developed paths, talking about the importance of nature and including recycling in our weekend.  It’s so sweet to see how those little girls embrace the idea of taking care of Mother Nature and respecting the earth.

When we returned from camp, it was another beautiful day and (although exhausted!) we wanted to enjoy what remained of the weekend, so we headed to a park, on the lake, near downtown Cleveland.  The lake was whipping up some fabulous winds but no one seemed to mind.  What I DID mind was an astonishing collection of plastic bags that were matted to hundreds of feet of chain link fence that surrounds a nearby marina.  I wish I had a camera with me so I could show you this amazing eyesore, but I assure you, it was disturbing.

I don’t think this is so much of a commentary on Cleveland as it is of our overuse and reliance upon these disastrous plastic bags!  I wish I could have picked every single one of them out of the fence and tossed them back at the litterbugs that allowed them to become trash.  I also worried about them eventually blowing into the lake. If I had more time, I would have collected them, but dusk was coming and I had sleepy kids and no gloves!  I just wonder when adults are going to realize what our sweet, little Brownies already understand.

I recently learned about Ireland’s “charge” for plastic bags.  If you don’t bring your own reusable, you will pay 33 cents for every single plastic bag you leave with.  FABULOUS idea!  As a result, the use of plastic bags has dropped 94%.  I applaud you, Ireland!  San Francisco has also banned plastic bags, so why can’t we make that happen everywhere?  I know there will be plastic bag advocates who will come up with some reason for this being un-American, but I will always disagree.  A reusable bag can be purchased for 99 cents, and the resources they will save and the pollution they will prevent is immense.  (Let’s remember, there are 4 to 5 TRILLION plastic bags distributed worldwide each year and the negative effects are immeasurable!)

I also want to mention a wonderful new program from Payless ShoeSource, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy.  Buy this adorable reusable bag for $1.99 and $1 will go to their “Plant a Billion Trees” Campaign, so a tree can be planted in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (the most endangered rainforest in the world). With this project everyone wins, so buy some!

I already own about 15 reusable bags, but I don’t think I can pass this one up.  Mom Goes Green is a bona fide REUSABLE BAG junky and I will never let a plastic bag become fence decoration!

(Mom Goes Green is EXHAUSTED from chaperoning a Girl Scout Brownies weekend camping trip… {where do they get that energy and the ability to function on such little sleep?!?} so today’s post is by guest writer Janelle Sorensen.  Today is National Healthy Schools Day… enjoy the great info!)

When my husband and I first toured schools to find the one we wanted to enroll our daughter in, I’m sure I was silently voted one of the strangest parents ever. Why do I feel I was secretly endowed with this title? Because every room and hallway we were taken through, I sniffed. A lot. And, according to my husband, I wasn’t terribly discreet.

I didn’t have a cold or postnasal drip. And, I’m not part bloodhound. I was simply concerned about the indoor air quality. My daughter was (and still is) prone to respiratory illnesses and I wanted to be sure the school she would be attending would support and protect her growing lungs (in addition to her brain). For many air quality issues, your nose knows, so I was using the easiest tool I had to gauge how healthy the environment was.

While air quality is a significant issue in schools (the EPA estimates that at least half of our nation’s 120,000 schools have problems), parents are also increasingly concerned about other school health issues like nutrition and the use of toxic pesticides. Many schools are making the switch to healthier and more sustainable practices like green cleaning, least toxic pest management, and even school gardening. What they’re finding is that greening their school improves the health and performance of students and personnel, saves money (from using less energy, buying fewer products, and having fewer worker injuries among other things), and also helps protect the planet. It’s truly win, win, win.

To highlight the issue, the Healthy Schools Network coordinates National Healthy Schools Day.  This year, over three dozen events will be held across the country (and more in Canada) on April 27th to promote and celebrate healthy school environments.

What can you do? Healthy Schools Network recommends simple activities such as:

• Adopting Guiding Principles of School Environmental Quality as a policy for your School
• Distributing information related to Green Cleaning or Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
• Writing a letter or visiting your Principal or Facility Director to ask about cleaning products or pest control products
• Walking around your school: looking for water stains, cracks in outside walls, broken windows or steps, and overflowing dumpsters that are health & safety problems that need attention. Use this checklist.
• Writing a Letter to the Editor of your local paper on the importance of a healthy school to all children and personnel

You can also help support the efforts of states trying to pass policies requiring schools to use safer cleaners. (Or, initiate your own effort!) There are good bills pending in Connecticut, Minnesota, California, Massachusetts, and Oregon. According to Claire Barnett, Executive Director of the Healthy Schools Network, the key pieces to promote on green cleaning in schools are:

• Not being fooled by ‘green washing’ claims—commercial products must be third-party certified as green (to verify claims)
• Understanding that green products are cost-neutral and they work
• Learning that “Clean doesn’t have an odor.”

She encourages parents and personnel to tune into one of the archived webinars on green cleaning (like the first module for general audiences) at www.cleaningforhealthyschools.org.

The fact of the matter is that whether you’re concerned about the quality of food, cleaning chemicals, recycling, or energy use – schools need our help and support. Instead of complaining about what’s wrong, it’s time to help do what’s right – for our children, our schools, and our planet.

What are you going to do? There are so many ideas and resources. Find your passion and get active on April 27th – National Healthy Schools Day.

Additional Resources:

• Creating Healthy Environments for Children (DVD): A short video with easy tips for schools and a variety of handouts to download and print.
• Getting Your Child’s School to Clean Green: A blog I wrote last year with advice based on my experience working with schools.
• Healthy Community Toolkit: Healthy Child Healthy World’s tips and tools for being a successful community advocate and some of our favorite organizations working on improving child care and school environments and beyond.
• The Everything Green Classroom Book: The ultimate guide to teaching and living green and healthy.

(Thanks, Janelle!  Visit Healthy Child Healthy World for more great resources and information! — MGG)

Just the other day I was driving through the neighborhood with our kids and a smell started to fill the car (and it wasn’t “compliments” of either of the kids because there were no “accompanying giggles!”).

We rounded the corner and I immediately spotted the TruGreen (ChemLawn) truck.  It was sitting in front of a house and idling(!) while the “lawn tech” doused the yard in streams of harsh, nasty, polluting chemical fertilizers and weed killers.  My first reaction was (sincerely) “my god, I used to let that happen in my yard”.  And then I felt ashamed that I ever let it happen.  Next, I wanted to tell my kids to briefly stop breathing.  Then I envisioned screaming at the lawn guy to “turn off his truck!” … followed by knocking on the door and vigorously shaking the homeowner.

Why such the obsession for having the greenest, most pristine lawn on the block?  Do they think the weeds will crawl in the window late some night?  Or someone will pass “judgment” based on their lawn? The reality is that these chemicals are pollutants.  The runoff works its way to ground water, pollutes surface water through the soil and causes major contamination.  It also threatens wildlife and the beneficial insects.

I think about walking through the lawn and then walking into our homes, WITH our shoes, and I shudder.  Every chemical you just walked through spreads itself all over your home and into the indoor air.  And what about those precious LITTLE BARE FEET that touch the lawn?  It’s like walking into a chemical field.  I could never dream of subjecting our kids to such dangerous conditions.  Research has shown that chemical lawn fertilizers and pesticides can present numerous symptoms, including respiratory problems, nervous system disorders, and aggravation of pre-existing conditions (such as asthma) and our children happen to be the most vulnerable.

Now consider this: Each year, in the US, over 103 million pounds of toxic chemicals are applied to lawns in our pursuit of “visual appeal”. That’s all it really is… an aesthetically pleasing look.  This post could go on forever (and in the very near future, I will give more information about regular practices you can adopt to have a healthier lawn) but for now, if you feel you MUST pamper your lawn, at least consider greener solutions.

Check out NaturaLawn of America or (if you’re in Ohio) GoodNature, provider of lawn care for our beloved Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.  This hasn’t even scratched the surface, but there are great do-it-yourself solutions that I promise to provide… soon!

But, for now, to top things off, the very next day there was a ‘hanger’ dangling from a door knob on the front of my house.  TruGreen’s “Anthony” was offering me a monthly estimate of $53 to contaminate my yard… and family… and the environment.  Thanks, but no thanks, Anthony.  Move on.

It’s April 22… the 39th celebration of Earth Day!  While I am rarely at a loss for words, today I’m going to say less than normal.  I think Earth Day speaks for itself.

I am reminded, however, that this misuse of the planet has been going on for a long time… is anyone old enough to remember the 70’s commercial with the “Crying Indian?” I remember being very little and seeing this on TV… and feeling a sadness every time I saw the Indian cry.  It may be 30+ years old, but it still gets to me.

Today, we have the Blue Man Group to remind us that, while the vehicle for the message is modernized, the message has not changed.

So, I’ll leave you with two more thoughts:

“The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. Humankind has not woven the web of life.  We are but one thread within it.  Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.  All things are bound together.  All things connect.” ~ Chief Seattle, Divamish Indian, 1855

“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility.  To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” ~ Wendell Berry

Happy Earth Day… celebrate!

If you do a Google search for “Earth Day” you’re likely to find hundreds upon hundreds of suggestions about how to spend April 22, and am I going to do that too?  Yea, I am.  But first things first…

Earth Day is a birthday so to speak – a day to celebrate the earth.  It was created in 1970 as a way to remind us to appreciate nature and learn how to protect our environment.  And while it is celebrated in the spring in the northern hemisphere, it is actually observed in the autumn in the southern hemisphere (both days being the exact “middle point” of the season).  Internationally, it reaches over 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, so this (like the newer Earth Hour project) is a worldwide event.

No matter what you do to celebrate the day, it can be truly significant.  If you simply take notice of the earth and how lucky we truly are, you have celebrated!  So here are some simple ideas, if you don’t have some terrific ones of your own!

• See “Earth” – the Disneynature film that is sure to be a crowd pleaser!
• Plant a tree – buy a tree for your yard or sponsor the planting of a tree.
• Plan an eco-friendly meal – eat organic, locally-grown produce and get a taste of the earth!
• Attend an Earth event – check your local zoo, botanical gardens, nature center or community’s programs.
• Read a book – if your children are burnt out on their own nature books, check out the local library for some new selections.
• Clean out the clutter – and donate what you own that no longer has a purpose, to keep it out of the trash and landfills.
• Go for a walk – your own neighborhood or a local hiking path can remind you of the wonder of nature.
• Pick up some trash – this can be coupled with your walk and accomplish even more!
• Break ground for a garden – as organic as you can get!
• Adopt nature – sponsor an endangered species or an acre of rainforest.
• Make recycled crafts – your own home (and recycle bin) is full of supplies!
• Change a habit – whether it’s cleaning products or a pledge to recycle more, every change is a good change.
• Switch to CFLs – buy some!  And when an old incandescent burns out, switch ‘em out!
• USE those reusable bags – vow to make this a priority!
• “Talk about it!” – talk about what Earth Day really means… with your kids, your friends, your neighbor… anyone that might need to know or need a little “push!”

There are still a few days to make your plans, but just be sure to plan something.  But I truly believe that teaching our kids to respect the earth and appreciate this amazing planet is the best way to celebrate… kids that are taught to be “environmentally aware” grow up to be environmentally aware adults!

And remember… April 22 isn’t the only Earth Day… EVERY day should be Earth Day!

As part of our Spring Break ritual, we spent yesterday at an annual indoor amusement park and yes, we were breakin’ rules!

Every single one of the two dozen entrance doors had a huge sign screaming “NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES!”  I entered prepared for battle knowing that, below the stroller, we had four stainless steel bottles filled with water, and healthy snacks, including bananas, cereal bars, crackers and raisins.

We were immediate approached by a security guard that needed to see inside my purse and survey the goods.  While my purse “passed” I was expecting a ‘flag’ on the rest of it.  When he took a look under the stroller, he didn’t flinch at the bottles!  (Wheww!)  The other bag held the snacks and my cameras and when he asked to see inside I hoped to just pull out the cameras and be done with it, but I grabbed the whole bunch of bananas and pulled them out instead! (Oops!)  WHAT made me think a bunch of bananas was a camera, I’ll never know, but the security guard just smiled and said “that’s fine.”

It was such a relief that we weren’t sent back to our car for simply trying to make healthy choices during our visit, but this isn’t always the case.  Last summer we were nearly cast out of a children’s amusement park for bringing our own food. Our choices of food (to buy) included everything from chick’n nuggets and fries, to cotton candy and ice cream, but not a single, solitary, healthy choice in the whole joint.  Staff approached us as we all ate yogurt and told us to “thrown it away or get out”!  I was livid, but we tossed them (to avoid ruining our kids’ day) but I actually went to battle on that one and later emailed the management (even suggesting healthy foods that had a long shelf life).  Their reply?  “We’ve tried. No one wants that.”

Could I really be the only parent who wants to have healthier options when we visit amusements parks and other “kid activities”?  I don’t think so (and don’t get me wrong… I do allow treats!), but sometimes there doesn’t seem to be ANY choice other than those disgusting processed, fried, fatty or sugar-dripping foods.

Suddenly it doesn’t become so much a “green” matter of recycling, organic foods, eco-friendly serveware or avoiding bottled water, but how NOT to give them a smorgasbord of things I don’t feel really guilty about later.

Been there?  I’d love to know if you have a solution… or are you simply a “rule breaker” too?

The more I read and research, the more uneasy I become with the dangers that lurk in our (seemingly) healthiest food sources… especially where our kids are concerned.

I’ve talked about produce, the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15”, and shared what I’ve learned about organic vs. non-organic milk, but what does it all really mean?  Well, it means A LOT when it comes to our children… even more than I originally realized.

We know that pesticides are used in farming to protect crops from damage.  We also know that pesticides can contribute to cancer, lung disease and reproductive problems, but our little ones (especially) are being put at risk.

Consider these three important facts:

• Research has shown that pesticides can also change brain chemistry, leading to behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, as well as nervous system damage.
• Children absorb pesticides more easily and their bodies have a harder time breaking them down.
• Pesticides can actually block the absorption of nutrients (so while you’re forcing down the broccoli, the nutrients aren’t getting through).

Those three things are reason enough for concern. So what do we do?  Well, consider these actions:

1. buy organic for the high-risk produce and anything your child consumes a lot of.
2. soak, scrub and/or peel the other produce to decrease the pesticides.
3. buy local – produce that requires lengthy transportation to reach the markets often have POST-harvest pesticides added too!
4. purchase fruits and veggies in season – if they’re not, they often come from another hemisphere and will contain even MORE pesticides.
5. eat a variety of fruits & veggies to avoid excessive consumption of the same pesticides.

There are days when I would like to put our kids in a plastic bubble to protect them (but then, of course, the plastic from the bubble would be bad for the environment!) so I just need to use what I know, put it into everyday actions and protect those precious little bodies.

(This giveaway is now closed for entries… congratulations “Marisa”!)

Last year was the first time we really participated in Earth Day.  We planted a small tree in our yard (that shortly thereafter became a deer’s lunch… but at least we tried!), read some books about the Earth and had an eco-friendly dinner complete with some dirt for dessert (don’t call the authorities – it was just the dessert that LOOKS like dirt!)

This year I was so excited to learn that Disneynature is premiering its first film, Earth, on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.  The trailer looks just incredible.  Narrated by James Earl Jones, this film tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across the planet we all call home.  Earth combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet’s wildest and most elusive creatures.  In fact, it’s directed by the same creative team behind the Planet Earth series (that we love!).

To make this an even more impactful event, Disneynature will also plant a tree in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (the most endangered rain forest in the world), in honor of every moviegoer who sees the film in its opening week.  If a weekday viewing isn’t possible, you can plan for the weekend too, and still make a difference!

To top off this great effort, Disneynature has also offered a giveaway to a Mom Goes Green reader.  This Earth-branded package (valued at $60) includes a canvas tote, a biodegradable tumbler, a fleece blanket and a tree seedling (that hopes NOT to become a lunch!).  To enter this contest, just leave a comment and tell me how you will spend Earth Day this year. You can also send a Twitter message that includes a reply to @momgoesgreen and a link to this blog or write about this giveaway and link back.

A random winner will be selected one week from today’s post (US residents only, please… sorry!)

So plan your Earth Day activities, schedule a viewing of Earth and enter to win… all in celebration of this great planet we share!

I’ve never been someone who loses sleep over “keeping up with the Joneses”… or “The Greens”, for that matter!  I’ve made that perfectly clear when I admitted that I have gnarly trees in my yard (that I refuse to cut down) and how my lawn is not nearly as pristine as the one next door since we’ve stopped chemically fertilizing and weed killing and refuse to clear our backyard of trees so the lawn can be greener!

But what if you WERE compared to your neighbors?  What if your utility company said you “weren’t being as green as your neighbors”?  What if you got a letter, with a frowning face, that said you were being wasteful?  GASP!  Who me?

As crazy as that sounds, it’s actually happening.  Utility companies in some cities, including Sacramento, CA, and Austin, MN, are sending homeowners assessments of their energy consumption that compare them to neighbors with like-sized homes and energy supplies.  If you rank lower than average, you get a “smiley face”… if not, a big “frowny face!”  And amazingly, it’s working.  They are actually seeing a reduction in energy use by those who receive a dreaded negative rating!

I really think I would go nuts if I found out my “tree chopping” neighbor consumed less energy than me.  Sure there are a lot of factors to consider, but still!… it lends itself to the whole psychology of being compared to someone else, and that just might light a bigger “green” fire under me! I would consider it a huge challenge to keep up with the “smiley face” neighbors!

So where do you think you would rate? Would you want to know?

Back at the beginning of the school year, I talked about my mission to eliminate the trash that our daughter could potentially generate from her lunches during the course of the school year… 67 pounds of it, in fact!

67 pounds is truly the estimated annual weight of lunchtime trash generated by the typical child.  When you think about all of those disposable “things” (the drink containers, single-serving foods, wraps, napkins) it’s really not surprising.

While I did plenty of shopping to find all of the perfect items (mostly in blazing pink, because our girl is a girly-girl!) I have discovered a solution that could have saved me all of the hassle (and CO2 emissions from on-going shopping!) It’s a product from a great company called Kids Konserve.  Their Waste-Free Lunch Kit has everything you need:  a recycled cotton lunch bag, a stainless steel bottle, two stainless steel food containers, a food cozy (for wrapping foods) and a cloth napkin!  The stainless steel components give you peace of mind too, so you don’t have to worry about all of those horrible chemicals leaching into the foods!  And it’s super cute to boot!  I wish I had discovered this a lot sooner!

And although the school year is in the homestretch, they don’t need to be just for school lunches… they’re perfect for picnics, playdates, travel or anything on-the-go, AND Earth Day is just around the corner, so this is the ideal time to make this change.

In celebration of Earth Day, Kids Konserve is also offering all of my buddies a 10% discount on any purchase, now until April 30, 2009.  (Just enter: mgoesgreen at checkout.)  And when you think about all of the wraps, napkins and single-use food containers you WON’T have to buy now, you’re going to save a lot of money in the long run!… (you can thank me later!)

So, while you can’t actually “take back” 67 pounds of trash, now you know a simple way to prevent it!