Mom Goes Green

This weekend is the mother of all “picnic times!” The 4th of July picnics, parties, cookouts and celebrations will go on all weekend!  (I know they will for us!)

But it can also be a time of excess, waste and lots and lots of traditions that aren’t green at all and it can leave you feeling a little blue!

So here is my list of things to keep in mind as you celebrate:

• Cookouts – skip the charcoal & lighter fluid and go for propane grilling.  Even if you’re headed to a picnic area, you can prepare the grill items at home and bring them along.  Did you know that newspaper is a great insulator for any containers and will keep your hot foods incredibly hot!  (But remember to bring the newspaper home for recycling afterward!)
• Food – choose fresh, locally-grown, organic produce and meats.  Whatever you can buy local, choose it!
• Coolers – no cheapo Styrofoam coolers… they may be convenient but they don’t last long, and after buying a few Styrofoam versions you could have actually owned a “real one” that you can use again and again and again!
• Dinnerware, flatware and serveware – if you’re at home (or even away), choose the reusables… just avoid throwaway plastics and paper at all costs.  And if you are away from home scrape off the food scraps, bring home the reusables and wash ‘em!  You can even go crazy and choose some compostables!
• Table covering – three words:  CLOTH, not plastic!
• Containers – three more words: REUSABLES, not throwaways!
• Beverages – whenever possible, mix up big batches of beverages (lemonade, iced tea) and have a large container of water, and use (or bring) the reusable glasses or tumblers (again, no Stryrofoam or plastic, pleeeeze!).  For those refreshing “adult beverages”, choose an organic and/or local brew and remember to…
• RECYCLE! – it goes without saying… bottles, cans, cardboard & paperboard… have a can or container ready to receive it all!

Happy 4th of July! Celebrate your freedom and exercise your right to choose “green”… and add it to the red, white and blue!

Have you heard about this weekend’s greatest camping spot on the planet?  Well, it just so happens that you won’t need to go far… it’s your own backyard!

This Saturday, June 26, is the Great American Backyard Campout!

The National Wildlife Federation created this day to encourage families to reconnect with nature and the outdoors, and remind us that we can manage life “with a little less”.  You can set up tents, cookout over a fire pit, explore your surroundings, play flashlight tag, star gaze and our kids’ ever-favorite… gorge on S’mores!  Shut down all the lights, computers and TVs in your house and even save a little electricity while you’re at it. (Indoor latrine, via flashlight, permitted of course!)

If you want to find out who’s camping nearby, or register your own outing, check out NWFs site for more information.

I think this is a great opportunity to join families all over the country in embracing everything the great outdoors has to offer… it’s free, it’s fun… it’s the perfect way to reconnect with our families and nature.  Now grab your sleeping bag and let’s go!…

Is World Environment Day new to you? Last year was the first time I’d ever heard of it myself.  It actually commemorates the day the United Nations General Assembly established its first global effort aimed at protecting the environment in 1972.  It’s meant to bring worldwide awareness to the environment, enhance political attention and bring action for future generations.

This year’s theme is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future” and will celebrate the incredible diversity of life on Earth as part of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.  Seems a bit ironic considering we’re into day 46 of the tragic and catastrophic oil spill in our Gulf, doesn’t it?  The pessimistic side of me would say that it’s more like “Destroying Species. One Corporation. Devastated Future”, but the optimistic side of me keeps hoping that changes will come and there will be lessons learned so this is never, ever, allowed to happen again.

For today, I will push the soapbox aside and just invite you to join me in celebrating this planet and our environment. WED has a list of things you can do, from A to Z, to make a change and make a difference.  (Actually, the list ends at W… go figure… but there are still plenty of things you can do!)

Despite everything happening that is completely out of our control, don’t be discouraged. While we can’t control many things in our world, we can certainly control what happens in our own little corner of it!

Happy World Environment Day… we do live in quite a remarkable world.

This Thursday, April 22, 2010, marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! Created in 1970, it is a way to remind us to appreciate nature and this amazing planet we live on, and learn how to protect our environment and all of its inhabitants. 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).

This year, find a way to celebrate. Take notice of all that we HAVE to celebrate and no matter how small and insignificant your actions may seem, they matter… they add up… they make a difference…

• Plant a tree or sponsor the planting of a tree
  
• Buy local and/or organic and make a fabulous meal
• Attend an Earth Day event
• Read a book (or a blog!) about going green
• Read an earth/recycling/nature book to your kids
• Clean out the clutter and donate it
• Go for a walk/hike/bike ride
• Pick up trash in your neighborhood or community
• Break ground for a garden or plant some veggies
• Adopt nature or an endangered species
• See an “earth” movie (“Oceans” is premiering!)
• Make recycled crafts with your kids
• Vow to use earth-friendly cleaning products only
• Improve and increase your recycling practices
• Switch some lightbulbs to CFLs
• Buy and use reusable bags, always!
• Keep your car parked for the day… and walk!
• Turn off some lights
• Reduce your water consumption
• Buy a composter or a rain barrel

Take action, talk about it, MAKE a difference… EVERY day should be Earth Day!

Ready for the answer?… Cleveland, Ohio!

Oh, quit your groaning!  I don’t want to hear the pitiful “mistake on the lake” jokes and all the incessant “your river caught on fire” stuff.  (The truth of the matter is there were a LOT of rivers catching on fire over 40 years ago in industrialized cities, but it just so happens there was a news crew in the area and we got plenty of (unwanted) coverage, and this fire actually ignited (no pun intended) the conception and passage of the EPA’s Clean Water Act…  so shush!)

Anyhow, why should you be in Cleveland for Earth Day?  Well, because our beloved Cleveland Metroparks Zoo hosts EarthFest, the longest-running Earth Day celebration IN THE NATION and the largest environmental education event in Ohio!  (… See, I told you!)  This year’s celebration will be held on April 18 and includes over 175 exhibits for climate change solutions (from transportation, to home, to food choices).  And the zoo will be wind-powered for the day too!

This year actually marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day (April 22). It was created in 1970 as a way to remind us to appreciate nature and learn how to protect our environment.  While I truly believe that EVERY DAY should be Earth Day, this is a great time to celebrate planet Earth!  Hopefully you will find an event that is as much educational as it is a celebration.  Check out the Earth Day Action Center,  the EPA Event page or your local zoos, nature centers and communities for event possibilities.

Whatever you do, just celebrate and embrace Mother Earth for Earth Day and continue that momentum every day of the year!  If you can’t come to Cleveland then, sadly, you will miss the Earth event of the year… maybe another time. 

(See…  Cleveland isn’t sounding so bad after all, is it?)

Once again the Mom Goes Green household proudly participated in Earth Hour 2010!… and the kids were no less excited than they were last year!

They eagerly stacked pillows all over the floor so we could snuggle up to read some books by flashlight and assisted Daddy in getting a fire roaring in the fireplace so we could make “S’mores”!  Undoubtedly our book was about climate change and I might have been annoyed by all of the interruption of questions, but it meant they were listening… and understood… and cared.

They knew it would be fun but they also excitedly talked about how people all over the world were switching off their lights too.  I can’t tell you how many times they asked where the lights were going off!  I’m excited to say that I can actually show them…. thanks to this fantastic collection of photos compiled by Boston.com you can show your kids that they really did participate in an incredible worldwide event.

In this presentation you can click on the photos and watch as the lights dim in these amazing places all over the world… take a look at this list:  Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Seattle, Singapore, Beijing, Moscow, Sydney, Athens, Jakarta, Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Atlanta, Hong Kong, Oslo, Albany, Hiroshima, New York City, Abu Dhabi, Bucharest, Capetown and Cairo! When else can you imagine these cities and countries banded together in a unified cause… Earth Hour brought the world together in support of our common thread… Planet Earth!

I loved being a part of Earth Hour again this year. It “moves me”… what can I say!?  Now I’m also excited to see how many students from our daughter’s school participated.  Last week I sent home a notice with all 402 of them(!) announcing Earth Hour and, if they sign the pledge that says they participated, some of them will be randomly selected to win an eco-prize reward including BPA-free water bottles, pencils made from recycled newspapers and TerraCycle pencil bags (made from upcycled drink pouches)!

If you and your family participated, THANK YOU! If not, look and be inspired… and take a moment to enjoy the view of this spectacular event…

Have you marked your calendar?  This Saturday, March 27th, 2010, from 8:30-9:30 pm is Earth Hour!

Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, with 2.2 million homes and businesses turning off their lights for one hour as a “vote” FOR the earth, and a “vote” AGAINST global warming.  By 2009, this movement had grown to hundreds of millions of people, and even darkened the Sydney Opera House, Rome’s Colosseum, The Eiffel Tower in Paris, The Parthenon in Greece, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Las Vegas Strip and New York City’s Times Square.

Last year people from all around the world switched off their lights in a unified vote because, regardless of where you live, we all depend on the same planet! This is the perfect time to turn off the lights, discuss global warming and the importance of “being green” as a family and consider taking actions to assure that we aren’t polluting our earth and overusing resources in our everyday lives.

For more information, go to www.earthhour.org and sign-up to be “officially” counted!

Want to know what we did last year?… click here… now…

Will you “vote” with me again this year?

The chores are done, the day’s “to do list” is complete, the kids are asleep and you need to relax… drinks anyone?

I’m sure many of you are waving frantically enough that I’ll feel my monitor shaking!  I, for one, am always up for a nice, new, green adventure that goes beyond the daily routine of regulating water and energy usage, keeping harsh chemicals at bay, reusable bags and recycling!

Thanks to Paul Abercrombie, I can look forward to an adult beverage adventure in his new book Organic, Shaken and Stirred.  It’s the first book of its kind, full of unique creations and, the photos are so deliciously tempting, I want to lick the pages… and then grab my car keys and head to the store!  (Okay, so a bike would be greener transportation, but balancing the bottles can be tricky!)

In all seriousness, just like all of the foods and beverages we consume, cocktails made with organic alcohol and ingredients also mean organic growing methods that are less harmful for growers, better for our environment and more sustainable. (See, when you host an “Organic Mojito Night” you’re actually being environmental!)

Speaking of… I love, love, love Mojitos… so this speaks to me…

Prickly Pear Mojito

• 2 ounces organic rum
• 3 organic mint leaves
• ½ ounce freshly squeezed organic lime juice
• ¼ ounce organic prickly pear juice (canned or fresh)
• splash of club soda

Combine the first four ingredients in an ice cube-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into an ice cube-filled glass. Top with the club soda and give a quick stir.

Mmmm… can you already taste yourself relaxing?

Now, the next time you host a party, whip up a tasty concoction for a few friends, or simply settle in for the night with your beloved, skip all of those commercial, syrupy mixers and eco-unfriendly ingredients, and instead… get Organic, Shaken and Stirred.

The next few weeks will be high time for parties! (I love parties! And I mean for any and all occasions!)

And of course, who DOESN’T love a party!?! BUT, they can also become occasions for an abundance of waste and trash making.  Whether you already have a party planned, are helping to host a party or might just throw together an impromptu soiree(!)… here, once again this year, is my standard list for keeping it turned toward the green end of the dial:

• Try evites or create your own electronic invitations instead of mailing the paper store-bought version.  Sure, you might have a few guests who aren’t email users, but where you can minimize… minimize! (Be careful if you mention your party on Facebook… your guests list may grow exponentially!) For guests requiring mailed invitations consider using last year’s holiday cards and turn the front of the card into a postcard.
• Decorate using live plants and maybe even give them to guests at the end of the night.  Toss pine cones or evergreen clippings from your yard (or your neighbors!) into a bunch of beautiful bowls or vases you already own.
• Turn off an excess of lights.  Blaze up the soy candles. It creates great ambiance too!
• Turn down the thermostat. Bodies = heat, so set it to the cooler side!
• Use your real plates, serveware and glassware. Or, if you don’t have enough, consider buying biodegradable and/or compostable tableware.  Eco Products offers a variety of tableware made from corn, sugarcane and paper.  Or check out Verterra for tableware with some real character – made of leaves!  Orrrr, if it’s in your budget, rent real tableware and utensils… not in my budget, but maybe someday!
• Hit a dollar store for linens.  (I bought four-packs of cloth napkins for a dollar last year!)  Skip the poinsettia print.  Pick flat colors so they can be used for many other occasions.
• Consider local beers and wines (if you have local choices) or locate organic choices… not always easy to find, but they are certainly out there!
• Buy organic fruits, veggies and meat-products.  I know that is an expensive proposition, but as many as you can afford is better than none at all (consider the “dirty dozen” and the “clean 15″ if you need help in making the choices too!).
• Set up a receptacle for recycling. Clearly mark it and ask everyone to jump on board.
• If you feel comfortable with the group of guests, ask them to remove their shoes.  Shoes track in some really nasty and unhealthy things, believe me! (Read more here).
• Set up a numbering system where only “every fourth guest” who uses the bathroom flushes.  Haahaa!  Obviously, this one is a joke!  I’m not that crazy!

But sincerely, just do your best! Many of the choices aren’t expensive and can actually be less expensive in the long run when you weigh all of the factors.  And if your prep and set-up has all of the best choices in place, you will be able to “eat, drink and be merry”… and content that your party is a little greener.

And seriously… for the second time!… STOP considering that numbering system… it was a joke…(yea, kinda gross!)

I know this for a fact, because this weekend, our kids reminded us!

Saturday morning was spent sleeping-in (far too late), but after we got moving, we really GOT MOVING!  After long discussions about how we should spend the day, we decided to make the best of an unseasonable warm Ohio day (68 degrees!) and simply get outdoors.

We went to our daughter’s school and ran around looking at all of the amazing wonders in her school’s Land Lab. This area in front of her school has a pond, decks, walking paths and large planter boxes that the families can adopt.  We cultivated our box and planted some bulbs (and will eagerly await their Spring arrival) and added a little metal sign that said “GROW”! (…somewhat of a double entendre for growing some of nature’s gifts as well as growing little minds!)

We came home and planted more bulbs in our own yard, raked leaves, the kids ran around playing every sport imaginable and jumped in (and sometimes destroyed) our perfectly raked piles.  Fortunately, living on a ravine, our leaves are simply raked down the hill so they can decompose and be recycled by nature.

The kids spent a half hour cracking open acorns to “make hors d’oeuvres” for the squirrels!  We even made ourselves S’mores over an outdoor fire and continued to run around and play, and enjoy the day long after darkness fell.  Everyone was in a fabulous mood.  And I don’t doubt for a second that it had everything to do with simply being outside and enjoying breathing the fresh air.

I sometimes forget that a great day with my family doesn’t need to include museums or amusement parks, trips or expensive events or vacations.  Everything we need is outside our own backdoor or a short, local drive away… all found in nature, most often for free.

Kids today spend twice as much time indoors as we did (a very sad fact), so if you need ideas, reasons or simply more encouragement, check out NWFs “Be Out There” program and you’re sure to find something that clicks!

At the end of the night our daughter could hardly relax as she settled into bed.  She talked about how excited she was to see our flowers grow and proclaimed the day as “the best day ever”!

Thanks for the reminder, my little sweet pea!