Today I wish to celebrate the sacrifice and service of all those who have given their time to honor us and our country by serving in our armed forces and protecting our freedom… it is because of those men and women that we have the right to make choices.
Today, give thanks and make the RIGHT choices in their honor, in honor of our country, and in honor of Mother Earth that graciously provides for us each and every day!
Over the past 39 days I’ve been asked (countless times) my thoughts about the Deepwater/Gulf Oil disaster… I find the situation both infuriating and heartbreaking. This has become a full-scale environmental disaster and sadly, it is all man-made.
It is now believed that 12,000 barrels of oil are streaming into the Gulf on a daily basis. There are 100 miles of beaches, marshes, wetlands and barrier islands now being destroyed along the Louisiana coastline and what took nature thousands of years to create is taking no time for man to destroy. The harm created to the environment and wildlife is staggering and sadly, no amount of clean-up will allow nature to repair itself in our lifetime, or potentially even within our children’s. This is what I find heart-breaking.
What I find infuriating is that in the hour before the explosion, there were three indicators that a failure could actually occur. All warnings were ignored and resulted in the loss of eleven lives and now the environmental devastation we are hearing about daily.
Even if the oil were stopped today, let’s remember that it took a month for the oil to reach the shore so there is now at least another month’s worth of oil still on its way to make landfall….the destruction will continue to spread.
I could get extremely political with who’s at fault and who should be fixing the problem but it seems to me… umm, BP?… you BUILT it, you KNOW how it works… fix it, stop it… NOW! A private corporation created it, not our government, and only they would have the intense understanding and technology of deep sea drilling. Am I crazy to believe this? And now I understand that after creating such a disaster, BP may only be liable for a cap of 75 million dollars of the cost to repair the damage and clean up this mess. But the damage will never truly be repaired. Sickening.
I, for one, will never patronize a BP for any reason. I understand that all U.S. BPs are franchised and some may say that this will only hurt the business owner but, regardless, they are still supported by BP and I will not give them my money. There are too many other choices and I will allow myself to run out of gas and walk before I stop at one of their gas stations or stores (my husband already boycotted them recently for charging $1 for air!).
But no matter how large a boycott would become it would be matter of principal alone, because BP is too large and powerful and cannot be destroyed… I only wish I could say the same for our environment.
(*View The Washington Post’s presentation of photos of the environmental disaster and destruction of wildlife)
Now that the countdown to the final days of school has reached “10 days and counting” all my kids can talk about is all the fun we’ll have this summer and our annual beach vacation!
But any parent knows that fun in the sun also means extra caution to make sure our precious little ones (ourselves included!) don’t get fried during “sun fun”, so if you haven’t bought it already, sunscreen is sure to be a purchase in the very near future.
The concern with sunscreen is the presence of some nasty chemicals that we really don’t want to apply to our bodies daily, or even “frequently” for that matter, since they absorb into our skin and accumulate. Many are believed to cause hormone disruption, cell damage and allergies, amongst other things. They include vitamin A (retinyl palmitate), Oxybenzone, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Mexoryl, Avobenzone… augh!… just a bunch of things that we could really do without!
So instead of laboring over labels and trying (sometimes in vane) to decipher the ingredients… (drumroll, please….) Environmental Working Group has released its 2010 list and ratings of over 500 sunscreen products. Believe me, it is much easier to find one on the “best” list and just know you have a good product to keep you safe from the sun AND the nasty chemicals.
You can also look-up the products you have been using to see how they rate. Sadly, all of ours were in the “caution” category so Mom Goes Green will be doing her research too. Fortunately, EWG has done most of the work for us, so the answers are just a few clicks away.
Now check it out, slather on the good stuff and GO PLAY… summer is almost here!
Each and every day, I “cook up some love” in the kitchen by way of plenty of home cooked meals. While they may not be gourmet, they are loving prepared to keep my family healthy and nourished.
But there are also some very simple ways to cook up some conservation too… by way of not overconsuming energy and resources. At first glance it may not seem like much, but add it up over time and you’ve also cooked up some conservation! Give these simple tips a try:
See… simple! Happy cooking and conserving!…
(This giveaway is now closed for entries. See “comments” for winner announcement!)
A healthy mantra to carry through life is “don’t sweat the small stuff!” While I DO attempt to do this in my everyday life, I often fail on a daily basis, in epic ways … I seem to sweat everything! (And anyone who truly knows me would probably agree!)
Well, it just so happens there IS a time when sweating the small stuff might actually do a world of good. I will begin this explanation by first saying that I’ve always felt that going green isn’t just about installing solar panels on your rooftop or buying a hybrid car… it’s about doing all the little things in our daily life that can make a great impact.
Want to know one of my sources for all of these little “daily life tidbits”?… well, it’s a fantastic little book called “The Green Book”. It has shown me countless and simple ways to put conservation to work. It includes tips for everything from home, to work, to school, to shopping, to travel…. all organized in a tidy, easy-to-grasp package.
And if you think the “little things” can’t possibly amount to much, read this excerpt from the book:
“You create 4.5 pounds of trash every day. Over the course of your life, that will total six hundred times your average adult weight… in garbage. Broken down, your torso would be paper. One leg would be yard trimmings, the other food scraps. One arm would be plastic with a rubber hand. The other would be metal with a wood hand. Your head would be glass, and your neck would be all the other stuff. In the end, we will each leave a ninety-thousand-pound legacy of trash for our grandchildren.”
In usual Mom Goes Green fashion, I have a copy I’d like to share with a reader… interested? Well, just leave a comment here saying you’d like to win, or send a Twitter message that includes a reply to @momgoesgreen and a link to this blog. Facebook friends can also leave a comment to be entered. The winner will be randomly selected on June 4! (U.S. entries only… sorry!)
So join me in changing “the small stuff”… and I promise, you won’t even have to break a sweat!
The clock is ticking! Have you grabbed your CSA yet???
CSAs, or community supported agriculture, are the best way to share in the bounty of the freshest, organic, locally-grown produce. It’s a partnership between a farm operation and community individuals who support the growing and production of food. Members “purchase” a share of the harvest and are usually on a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of fruits and vegetables (and sometimes even dairy and meat).
It’s the perfect scenario… you get fresh and organic produce, support local growers and farms, AND avoid the CO2 emissions created to bring your produce from other parts of the country… or world, for that matter!
… so what’s with the ticking clock??? Well, many CSAs are getting ready for the season and probably filling up… quickly. You certainly want to get your spot now, so to find a CSA in your area check out Local Harvest or Biodynamics.
If a CSA isn’t the way to go for you, and you just want to locate a local farmer’s market, you can also check another area of Local Harvest or the Farmer’s Market site.
Luckily, I WON a spot in a local CSA at EarthFest at our Zoo! (Yes, for a change {instead of me looking for a winner} I was the winner!) I will be sharing in the bounty of Fresh Fork Market, so if you’re in or around Cleveland check them out… there are a few membership spots left!
Now don’t wait a second longer… grab your CSA!!!
When making the decision to “go green” the list of “should nots” is equally as important as the “shoulds”…
I recently ran across a fabulous list of the should nots that are very much worthy of a mention. This list comes from Healthy Child Healthy World and includes the top 10 toxic products that you DON’T need in your home. Without further ado, start checking the checklist!:
Please check out Healthy Child Healthy World’s original post for more great information on all of these “toxic 10”, as well as important suggestions for substituting better options…
So, how many are still in or around your home?… I’ll bet you’re about to change that, aren’t you?!?
My love of dolphins has been lifelong. I don’t remember when it started, but I know it has never ended.
I do remember visiting Sea World and coming home with a dolphin mobile that hung over my bed from the time I was 5 until I headed off to college. There is something dreamy, graceful and mesmerizing about these animals and their extreme intelligence is without question.
So when I heard about the documentary “The Cove” I was caught between that feeling of “I must see this” and “oh, I don’t want to see this…” Well, I watched it… and it is absolutely haunting.
Richard O’Barry, Louie Psihoyos and their team uncover the killing of these beautiful and intelligent animals in a closely guarded and shielded cove in Taiji, Japan. Each day, they are driven into the cove where the most visually-appealing dolphins are selected and sold to marine and aquatic parks, and the others are brutally and inhumanely slaughtered for their meat (meat that is passed off as expensive whale meat and sold for a premium price, and because of dolphins’ place in the food chain, contains extraordinary levels of mercury). Take a look…
There are so many points of this story that just sicken me. From the capture of these animals to turn them into “entertainers”, to the inhuman killings, to feeding unknowing consumers and school children(!) toxic food… it’s despicable.
As pointed out by the film, the 70′s had a massive movement to “Save the Whales”… now is the time to “Save the Dolphins”…
Please take time to see this documentary.
And if you’re like me and you want to do something, please go to TakePart… and help us make a change and stop the killing…
Every spring my family and I spend a weekend cleaning the yard (an activity that can be made fun if you just try!) and planting flowers to make everything nice and cheery.
I’ve never given much thought to what I plant other than selecting what I think is “cute” and my “color choice” for the season, but I’ve also made some poor selections when they’ve required a lot of water to keep them bright, cheery… and alive!
Whether you’re planting flowers, trees, shrubbery or an entire lawn, make sure that your choices are native to your area. Despite having favorites that you’d like to see in your own yard, it’s wiser to choose something that will naturally thrive without watering and excess water use, and will eliminate your need for nasty fertilizers and pesticides.
This concept even has its own term, known as xeriscaping… (make sure you throw that one into a sentence today, to impress your family and friends! And oooh… I need to make an addition to my A to Z list, don’t I?). Check out PlantNative.org for lists of native plant
s by state, local nurseries and organizations too! All of them can help you make the smartest choices. Eartheasy also has great tricks, tips and ideas that get as green as they come.
Remember that vinegar and water is a great natural weed killer too. Just be sure to have good aim and a quality sprayer because vinegar is NOT selective and will destroy whatever it comes in contact with.
You may not think you have a green thumb, but with a little effort you CAN have the “greenest” garden on the block!
(This giveaway is now closed for entries. See “comments” for winner announcement!)
My absolute favorite products have to be those that serve a real purpose, help the environment and also contribute to a cause… today I want to give you a chance to learn about and win one of “those”…
Let me introduce Bazura Bags! These bags are created by a co-operative of women in the Philippines desperately working to put their lives back together after a devastating typhoon last fall. Made from otherwise unusable drink containers collected by local schoolchildren (who are paid for their “supplies”), the women of the co-op create and sell these unique, fair trade bags to support themselves and recover from this disaster.
It should come as no surprise that Bazura is actually a Filipino word for “trash”!… well, not anymore! They are creating these bright and cheery bags that can be used again and again for any shopping trip or occasion when you need a simple tote. Just yesterday, I saw them for sale in the shop of Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art, so they are truly considered little works of art!
I have a market bag* to share too! Would you like to win it? Well, just leave a comment here saying you’d like to win and tell me how you’d like to use your bag, or send a Twitter message that includes a reply to @momgoesgreen and a link to this blog. F
acebook friends can also leave a comment to be entered. The winner will be randomly selected on May 24! (U.S. entries only… sorry!)
Even if you don’t win, consider buying one of your own or take a look at their site for a whole variety of products the next time you have a gift to give… and then smile when you realize all of the ways these bags are making a big difference in the lives of these women and for the sake of the environment!
(*Please note: because all bags are unique, the bag will not look exactly like the one shown above, but it will be very similar!)