Mom Goes Green

Saturday is “America Recycles Day”… a day that ‘encourages more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment by recycling and buying recycled products’ and ‘promotes the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling.’

A very worthwhile cause, I’d say!

As the Recycling/Environmental Programs Chair at our daughter’s school I’m promoting this great day by encouraging the kids to submit their best recycling tips and the favorite ways their families recycle.   I’m going to compile all of their great ideas and turn it into a recycling newsletter that will be sent home to each family.  Some will even win cool prizes, like a recycled pencil bag from Terracycle! The response has been overwhelming!  It’s so exciting to see their enthusiasm.  Kids rule!

So, to get back to the basics of this day… let’s remember WHY we recycle:

• to reduce pollution
• to save energy
• to help the environment
• to save natural resources
• to keep trash out of landfills

And here are some things to think about …

1. PLASTIC– it can take 20 years for a plastic bag to biodegrade and 250 years for a plastic cup!  And if every American household recycled just one of every 10 plastic bottles, it would keep 200 million pounds of plastic out of landfills each year!
2. PAPER – it accounts for HALF of what is sent to landfills… and it’s recyclable! Plus, recycling one ton of paper would save enough energy to power an average American home for five months!
3. ALUMINUM – recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a computer for 3 hours.  Last year cans that were NOT recycled and went to landfills were valued at $600 million! (let me go get my shovel and start digging!)
4. GLASS – a bottle in a landfill would take more than 4000 years to decompose, but glass never “wears out” and can be recycled forever!

Sadly, 75% of “trash” is recyclable, but only 25% actually gets recycled.

So get recycling, increase your recycling, start someone you know recycling… just get to it!… because “America Recycles” and that’s a club all of us should want to belong to!

At the end of a “crazy, busy kid” weekend, we all settled in for some mindless TV viewing before bedtime.  America’s Funniest Videos was on (yes, we all love it… especially when people fall down… how mean of us!) so I paused it and we went to take baths and get jammies on.  Needless to say, when we returned, I accidentally hit the wrong button, changed the channel and POOF!  AFV was gone…

My kids were not amused.  So I searched around for another option and found the “Planet Earth” series re-running on The Discovery Channel.  I was suddenly happy I made that button mistake.

The kid’s were immediately ‘into it’, because we had seen parts of the series when they originally broadcast.  We were watching the one about the oceans and then it switched to caves, but our kids were silent and never protested even a second.  They sat wide-eyed and watched, in amazement, all the breathtaking views of this incredible world we live in.

If you haven’t heard about it, the series was five years in the making (talk about dedication!).  For the first time, we get to take a look at all of the things you can’t see outside of your door and travel won’t even allow a glimpse of.  You can venture deep to the ocean floor, through underground rivers and the darkest caves and explore untamed jungles and forests.  You truly won’t believe what you’ll see.

It gave me a reminder of why we’re doing what we’re doing.  Why we are working so hard to preserve this AMAZING planet we live on.  Why we’re not the only “thing” to consider.  It really rejuvenated me to work harder and continue my journey to do all I can do to see that we aren’t part of the destruction of the planet, by giving us views of the beauty of it all.

If you haven’t seen it, please do.  I’m sure it will have the same effect on you and your family.  Read about the series at The Discovery Channel or buy your own copy, so you can be reminded again and again.

As I was tucking our daughter into bed she said “Mommy, it’s okay that you changed the channel.  I know it was an accident, but really… Planet Earth was way better anyhow.”  (* insert huge, proud smile here! *)

Going green can be a long process…it certainly doesn’t happen overnight, in a week, or even a month, without massive changes and a lot of expense.

You can’t just take everything from the cupboards, cabinets and under the sink and toss them.  (Wouldn’t that be contradictory… just blobbing it all down the drain!) And sometimes it’s really difficult to leave behind those products that you’ve given your loyalty to for so long.  But don’t you just wonder… what have I pledged my allegiance to?

My dear husband (yes, he’s finally catching on… if I could just get him to turn off that perpetually running faucet!) told me about a brand new fab site he discovered called the GoodGuide.

They have researched, reviewed and rated over 61,000 (!) personal care and household chemical products for safety, health and green criteria, so they’re making it easy to find products that are right for you and good for the planet. Can you believe no one else has done this! You can “verify” manufacturer claims, “identify” the content and make a “green-ified” decision… Finally, a central resource for seeing what’s behind the label instead of trusting what the label tells us we need to know!

And they don’t just pan some products…they actually give you alternative choices. It’s really hard to explain how much great info they give you, but they even rate the companies that manufacturer the products – if their products are good, but their business practices stink, they let you know.  You really have to try it…

Isn’t it great to sometimes land on the ground floor of something new and cool.  Congratulations… you have landed!

(if you feel compelled, this is a video of the creator of GoodGuide talking about the site at TechCrunch50 earlier this month — Click here.)

Have you ever watched a movie that felt so real, it kind of left you feeling dizzy when it was all over?

Well, we just watched a movie that left me feeling like I was in a tornado… and the worst part?  — it was real.

The movie is called “The 11th Hour.”  It’s all about global warming, sustainability and the environment, and it spews out some serious, hardcore facts that come from scientists, environmentalists and all kinds of big-brained people.

Truth be told, it disturbed me because it really laid out how critical the climate crisis has become.  I almost didn’t want to watch because it felt so out-of-control and upsetting (because there’s only so much I can personally do to change things).

One of the things that really hit me was the realization that people rally around the fact that they want to “Save the Earth” when in reality, it’s not about saving the earth…it’s about saving ourselves.  The earth will survive…WE are the ones in jeopardy.  If we turn our planet into a place that’s uninhabitable, we’re simply risking our own existence.  Sheesh. That gave me chills all over again.

As one expert pointed out -  99.9999% of life that has existed on earth has become extinct.  It really IS a frightening prospect.  And pretty profound when you think about it that way.  I wish I could talk to everyone who thinks global warming is a hoax and beg them to open their minds.

The bright side is that they didn’t conclude without offering hope.  And we all need hope, or it would be pretty depressing.

I don’t have a witty conclusion for this post, but I think this film said it all… “the hope is you.”

(there are great resources for ideas and solutions at: 11thhouraction.com)

This weekend I was out running an errand with my kids and I met an idiot.

I was rockin’ one of my organic cotton tees.  The shirt is green and says “My favorite color is green” with a swirly vine design around the words.  A woman walked up to me and (I suppose she was just trying to be friendly) said “…and MY favorite color is blue!”  (oh brother!)

I smiled and said “oh, no.  Actually it means ‘green’ as in ‘the environment’.”  She looked at me blankly for a few seconds and then said “Oh? OH!!!  I get it!”

Umm, no lady.  You don’t get it.

In today’s world, it shouldn’t take that long to “get it.”  I really wonder how many people are still living with their heads in the sand when it comes to recognizing the critical state of our world in terms of the earth, global warming and the well-being of our environment.

I guess it always surprises me when I get comments like this because it’s so much in the forefront of my mind, I can’t imagine how it can be so far from others’.  And then I wonder what else I could be doing…what else I SHOULD be doing.

I suppose “doing, leading and teaching” is my contribution.  I am “doing” the right things in my daily life (learning along the way, and hopefully getting better all the time!).  I am “leading” others in the right direction by helping to put practices into place (in my kids’ schools, for starters).  And I am hopefully “teaching” others through this blog.

I truly appreciate your comments, your “kudos”, your “thank yous” and your time to share this journey with me.  It’s been three months now and I believe it’s been well spent!

Let’s all keep fighting the good fight!  Green is a beautiful color but it’s an even more beautiful CAUSE!

If you knew my father-in-law you might think this is a comment he is making about my mother-in-law, but alas, it is not! (And after 49 years, I suppose he doesn’t mind the hot air all that much!)

But I’m having the strangest little obsession with public restrooms and the unimaginable amount of paper towel waste that gets generated in a single day.  Don’t get me wrong…I’m not lying awake at night thinking about it, but for the longest time I’ve felt that while I’m recycling my tiny cream cheese box, all around the country there are public restrooms that essentially “allow” people to use four feet of paper to dry their hands.

One of the greatest things I’ve seen recently is an EXTREMELY high powered hand dryer that dries your hands in about 7-10 seconds flat…poof, you’re done… then it shuts off immediately. (Warning: they also nearly blow the flesh off of your hands and it almost shot our son across the room, but they’re great!) Problem is, you don’t see them often and far too many public restrooms haven’t even moved away from paper towels.

The thing I struggle with is the germ-factor.  When you walk away with damp hands, it’s a place for even minimal germs to hang around.  Paper towels help you dry better, right?  Plus, that door handle-factor…even our kids will occasionally yell out, “I got it, Mommy!” and use the paper towel to pull the door open.  Then I prop my foot by the door and they run back to throw it in the trash.

When I was thinking about alternatives, I discovered that in many Asian countries, you aren’t provided either choice.  You carry a small towel or handkerchief for hand drying!  I think that’s pretty cool, but how neurotic would I look doing THAT around here?

Given the choice, I wish more public restrooms would use hand dryers.  They are the far better choice for the environment…just a lot of hot air!  And despite the energy usage, that doesn’t compare to the extreme paper waste of dispensers.

On second thought, the back of my kids’ shirts will do…never mind.

Today, like so many of you, I had an errand to run.  It was a 5 minute trip into the drugstore for a couple items and (perish the thought!) I DIDN’T take my reusable bags in with me.

Before you start booing me, it was simply because I was buying a few small items and I knew I could just carry them out by hand.  Simple as that, right?  Well, not so quickly.

As the cashier started scanning my items, I got distracted by my ringing cell phone and didn’t get to tell her “no bag, please.”  When I came back to earth, I realized that she had put everything in a plastic bag that she placed on the counter top.  When I said “oh, I’m sorry.  A bag isn’t necessary.  I can carry them out”  she took them out of the bag, handed them to me and (deep breath)…threw the bag in the trash.  I…was…amazed.

I quickly told her that she didn’t need to throw it away and her rebuttal was that it was already “used” and too hard to put back on the rack.  In an instant my whole purpose was defeated.  The bag I chose NOT to take was sitting in the trash can.

So, I asked her for the bag. She looked at me blankly, handed me the bag and, I’m fairly certain, she thought I was insane.

At least I knew I could take the bag to be recycled.  But what a waste.  It all goes back to my frustration with lack of store policy and training that teaches cashiers to be responsible. And for the love of Mother Earth, I nearly pass out when I see someone double- or tripled-bagging with plastic!

No matter how many glares and stares I get from cashiers, I won’t be responsible for helping to create plastic bag trash.  Just look at what it creates.  These are sad visuals I hope no one forgets the next time they have that choice.

The useless has landed.  Warning!…the useless has landed. What am I talking about?  Phone books. Loads and loads of phone books.

In my county alone (one single county) there are over a half million households.  So that’s one book for the yellow pages and one book for the white pages.  And that’s just the company that calls themselves “The Real Yellow/White Pages.” And there you have a million(!) phone books.

Next enters another competing company that is producing what they call the “Yellow Book” and “White Book”.  Here we are, one county – TWO MILLION phone books.  That equals about 32,000 trees!  And what about the businesses?   They aren’t even included in these numbers.  I shudder to think.

I want them to go extinct themselves.

My husband has a studio office space in a building outside of downtown Cleveland.  A few years ago the delivery for the entire building arrived…on a pallet.  Funny thing is, there aren’t enough businesses in the building to warrant a pallet of phone books, but a lending company was next door and they had a ridiculous amount of phone numbers, so a book was sent for each number.  It was sickening.  I drove there, we filled our SUV and I drove them to a recycling dumpster at our zoo.  At least THEY didn’t wind up in a landfill.  But if others don’t recycle them, that’s where they’re winding up.

Undoubtedly, phone books are generational.  The younger you are, the less likely you are to count on phone books, and the more likely you are to count on online listings. I learned about a website that is setting its sights on trying to help people opt out of phone books – yellowpagesGoesGreen.org.  They will contact the publisher of your phone book and tell them that you want to opt out.  There is no guarantee, but this should be considered more of a movement to make the industry sit up and take notice…we want our earth to STOP being polluted by unwanted phone books!

So, if your “fingers aren’t walking through the phone book”, let your fingers do the walking on your keyboard to opt out (at least to have your voice counted in disapproval).  And then make your feet do some more walking to the recycling can with your old books.

(*Curbside recycling won’t accept phone books?  Go to earth911.org to find a location that will!)

Ahhh…county fairs.  A slice of Americana that just drives me insane.

My dad called me the other day and wanted to take the kids, so I agreed…to make him happy.  My friend called me on the way there, and when I told her where I was going, she said “You?  At a fair?” and proceeded to laugh hysterically.

I know some people love fairs for various reasons.  I shudder because I think about the horribly unhealthy foods, the germs and dirt (our feet were black by the time we left!), the poor animals going to slaughter…(insert frowny/pouty face here!)… and the waste, waste, WASTE!

I almost walked in with more optimism than ever because there was a sign posted at the entry that said:  “The Fair has gone green!” Whoa! Quite cool.

Little did I know that the sign meant there would be about four very small can & bottle recycling bins around the entire fairgrounds.  There were, however, HUGE trash cans about every 25 feet.  Not exactly what I would call green, would you?

Green, to me, would mean tons more recycling containers and vendors that were required to take a little more care in the serving items they choose…can anyone say NO STRYROFOAM?!?!?  It’s so discouraging.  I also saw people grabbing stacks of napkins, tossing recycling in the trash, dropping trash on the ground and just being all-around wasteful.

I’m getting to the point where I want to stop going to places like this that don’t seem to care at all…even though they claimed that they’ve gone green!  This is much to my kids’ dismay, because if that actually happened, I think I would be boycotting a whoooole lot of places they love.  (I have already put an eternal ban on circuses… HATE THEM!  Not for ‘green reasons’, but I just can’t stand the thought of animals being carted around the country in small trailers, and they are either penned up, practicing or performing.  I adore elephants and wonder how anyone could ever be surprised when one occasionally flips out and goes on a rampage…hmmm…maybe it doesn’t like its JOB!)

Anyhow, it just reminded me that we have so far to go.  Baby steps are okay, but for pete’s sake…if you say you’re going green…then GO GREEN!  Don’t make big claims, make signs announcing it and then do the bare minimum, like they did at the fair.  Please.

My daughter looked at an overflowing trash can and said “Mommy, why would someone do that?”  I have no idea, honey…I have NO idea.

Being a green mom, passionate about our environment and the well-being of my family, I love that enviro-consciousness is becoming an increasingly important topic. I started this blog in hopes that I could share my experiences and, hopefully, inspire others.

But one of the things I’ve been clear about is the fact that I’m not perfect. I make mistakes and my changes are gradual, but I’m getting there. And truly, there may be some things I will never change.

There are so, so many great green blogs out there and I applaud each and every one of them for their efforts. However, one of the things I dislike the most is the impractical suggestions for going green.

Some suggestions are so radical. Or others just seem plain silly. I don’t know where I saw it, and I TRULY mean no disrespect by this, but (in light of the concerns about the materials used in the manufacture of children’s toys) someone went so far as to suggest that you should buy your toddler pots and a wooden spoon for a birthday gift… so when they get tired of banging on them, you could have a practical use for them. Can you even imagine? My kids would have had a scrunched up nose and pouty lips for a month if I would have pulled that one on them.

The unfortunate part of those types of suggestions is it makes all of us fodder for skepticism, criticism and harsh jokes from the naysayers. The funny part of that is sometimes the jokes ARE actually funny!

This was sent to me by one of my best friends, Beth. I laughed hysterically, but I hesitated to post it here because I don’t want to offend anyone… then my husband told me to lighten up! So, I’m lightening up!…

I will preface this by saying it may offend some. PLEASE, do not open this at work! PLEASE, do not open this near your kids! (I don’t want to be responsible for them learning some seriously unsavory words!)

But, only if you have a great sense of humor, click here: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/fa1420df1f

We’re all on a serious mission, but sometimes… you just gotta laugh!