Mom Goes Green

Did I just sense some of you cringing?  Yes, I’ll admit… the latest news reports had me a little squeamish too, but let’s keep it in perspective and DO NOT let ourselves be led to think that reusable bags aren’t the right choice (it still IS absolutely the right choice!).

If you haven’t heard the buzz:  “A study from the University of Arizona and Loma Linda University in California found that most people who bring their own bags to the grocery store don’t wash or clean them regularly – and the researchers also discovered a large number of bacteria present in the reusable bags.”  Take a look at the study but you can also read more about the topic at Earth 911.

Admittedly, I’m not a frequent-reusable-bag-washer either. But I do have a fairly simple plan for combatting these cooties!  First of all, I have a set of bags dedicated to grocery shopping.  I tied a red ribbon on the handle of the bag meant for only meat products.  On the handle of the produce-dedicated bag, you guested it… a green ribbon.  It’s easy to just let the cashier know where you need your items placed (sure, sometimes they aren’t thrilled, but oh well!).

I have a whole second set of bags especially for all of my non-grocery purchases.  That absolutely eliminates the concern since there isn’t anything that goes inside to cause the contamination.

If this still leaves you a bit unsettled, well, there’s another simple way to ease your mind… (hold onto your hats!)… wash… your… bags.  

And in all reality, even the EPA admits that most of the bacteria doesn’t even pose a health threat.  Afterall, there’s more bacteria on the handle of the gas pump you just used to fill-up your car!

So, my green friends, do NOT be deterred.  Reusable bags are, and always will be, the way to go. (The harm plastic bags create is much greater!)  Just periodically let them go for a little swim in your washing machine and, I promise you, all will be well.

(This giveaway is now closed for entries… see “comments” for the winner!)

We’re on to the fourth giveaway… and it’s another great one! We’ve covered some giveaways for you, for your baby, for the whole family and now it’s time to send one of your kids off to lunch in the coolest, greenest way possible!

It’s Citizenpip’s lunchkit! Everything is BPA-free, safe, reusable, eco-friendly galore and super cute! Perfect for avoiding all of that needless lunchtime trash.  (Did you happen to know that, on average, a child throws away about 67 pounds of trash in one school year?!?)

Today, you can win a FREE Square Meal Kit! It includes an insulated lunch bag, stainless steel water bottle, thermos and fork & spoon set, four food containers and five cotton napkins.

Does your little citizen need some pip?  Then 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 November 9! (U.S. entries only… sorry.)

Enter to win and turn lunchtime “Citizenpip” green… minus the 67 pounds of trash!

Some of the first things everyone says to do in a “mission to go green” is to switch to CFLs, or eat organic, or switch all of your products to eco-friendly formulas, or buy a reusable water bottle. To these things I say: yes, yes, yes and yes.

But I STILL cannot get over how many of us haven’t switched to reusable bags.  I… hate… plastic… bags. And when it’s obvious that you can buy a reusable bag just about anywhere (for 99 cents, I might add), I wonder why so many of us hesitate to use them.

I ran across some images that, although they show only a portion of the problem, to me this problem is heartbreaking.

Some you may have seen before, some may be new. But I think they speak for themselves…

(Sea otter mother & baby photo by photographer, Terry McCormac)

(The archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil is considered a wildlife sanctuary but today, even in this isolated archipelago, dolphins are victims of the bad habits of consumption. Photo and caption by João Vianna)

If you don’t already use them (and after seeing these images), would you please consider buying (and using) some reusable bags instead?

As I’ve spent the last week doing some major shopping for the holidays, I’ve armed myself with my own reusable bags at every stop and in every store.

But one thing has certainly gotten my attention… where are all of my “reusable bag comrades”?!?! I’m shocked that I sometimes look around and can’t find a single other soul toting their totes, yet I DO see a sea of plastic! It’s so disheartening. It’s no wonder statistics place the worldwide usage of plastic bags somewhere around one TRILLION annually!

Please, please… if you haven’t already done it, make a small investment in reusable bags and make them a part of every shopping trip you make, no matter how big or small.  I could go on and on about the disastrous effects of plastic bags, including the heartbreak of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but I think we all “know”… they’re simply bad news. And once you have them, REMEMBER THEM! That is the other half of the equation.  Buying them is not enough. They need to be USED! Come’on… you can do it!

Plastic bags are a serious topic, but sometimes serious topics also deserve a little levity too… are YOU stuck in a “Plastic State of Mind”???

It’s time to change the habit! Ban single-use bags made of plastic!

(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.  Facebook 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!)

Wouldn’t that be nice… purchase ONE gift and you’re done for the whole year??? Well, that’s not exactly what I meant but we can all dream, can’t we?!?!

Sincerely, I feel like I’m constantly purchasing gifts for some sort of occasion.  The problem is that we often feel pressured to fulfill someone’s wish list, but there is nothing wrong with fulfilling some of our own wishes too, so how about using gift-giving occasions as an opportunity for spreading a little green cheer.

Here’s is what I have in mind… right now, choose one green, environmental and/or eco-friendly item… and choose to buy it EVERY time you have a gift giving occasion. Sound impossible? Well, it’s really not. I’ll give you a couple of ideas to get you started:

• Reusable water bottles – it’s impossible to shop and NOT run into reusable water bottles, in every color and style possible, for everyone, of every age.
• Reusable bags/ totes – anything from shopping bags to fabric totes,  to sport packs and kids’ carry-alls (extra points for organic cottons, upcycled and reclaimed fabrics!).
• Books – every bookstore has a diverse supply of eco-themed books, regardless of interest or age.
• Movies – a quick search will turn up everything from Wall-e, to Planet Earth, to An Inconvenient Truth… there is something for everyone.
• Clothing – who doesn’t love a comfy tee?  Buy organic cotton with an earth-friendly message and the message will be spread even further than the recipient!

If your recipient has the technology to accommodate, you can also go another step greener and buy e-books or iTune gifts!

So, do you think you could do it? I bet’cha you could. Will I? You bet’cha, I will!

Every time I visit the grocery store or the local farmer’s market to pick-up some fabulously fresh organic produce, there are little environmentally un-friendly “by-products” that come home with my fruits and veggies… those flimsy plastic bags we’re often forced to use for our produce purchases.

I’ve tried to reuse them, but they’re cheap and end up tearing. I also hesitate because it’s too difficult to get them clean enough to feel safe to reuse them.  So, while I’m buying healthy foods for my family, I’m left with a handful of plastic bags that wind up in the trash.

Enter:  EarthSAKS!  I recently talked about their compact reusable bag that our daughter confiscated, but now I’ve discovered their produce bags too, and what a relief they are!  They’re made of sturdy, see-through, washable mesh with a simple drawstring closure at the top and they even store in an included canvas pouch for toting them back to the store, to use again and again.

I’ve also picked up a few little mesh laundry bags (typically for your delicates… so why not some delicate produce, right?) when I’ve found them on sale, and if you’re feeling really crafty: a rectangle of mesh fabric, some stitches and string, and voila… reusable produce bag!

Whatever you choose, join me in making sure your produce makes its way to your home without bringing unwanted (plastic) guests!

Friday I had a proud moment.  Our daughter “showed her green side”.

I was at her school for a full-day event to celebrate her school’s students reading two million minutes this year!  (Bravo!)  Part of the day’s activities was a book fair and so, naturally, our daughter found plenty of “Mom, can I have these” items.

As we stood in line and she noticed the kids before her having their purchases placed in plastic bags she said “Mom, do you think I can tell them I don’t want a plastic bag and I’ll just carry my books instead?” (insert beaming, proud smile here!) I told her “Absolutely!”, but she was shot down at checkout when they told her that all purchases needed to be in bags so they knew that the books were paid for.  Happily, I can tell you that she did NOT like that idea.

Not until this moment did I realize that I actually need to arm my seven-year old with her own reusable bag.  I also realized that the solution was sitting back in my car in my own purse.  I have a great compact reusable bag from Earth SAKS that folds down into its own little case and would be perfect to send with her to school and keep in her book bag.

This was another one of my “a-ha moments.”  I’ve been so busy worrying about my own reusable bags that I’ve completely overlooked the fact that our kids need them too, and I have left them unarmed for far too long.

Needless to say, the Earth SAKS bag has taken up new residency with our daughter.  The school year may be nearly over, but all the ways she’ll soon put it to use are only beginning!

Inevitably, if you have children in school, there’s bound to be a fundraising event that means your child brings home the “ever-popular-request-for-donations”.

Last week our daughter’s school had their annual Spring Fest to raise money to support their land lab.  This area in front of their school has gardens, walking paths, trees and a pond and it’s an amazing little “earth” educational site for our kids.

So, guess what I received prior to the event?  You guessed it… that “ever-popular-request-for-donations”!  They were going to hold raffles to win gift baskets and needed families to donate items.  So, a few seconds of wearing my thinking-cap made me realize that this was an opportunity to make a green statement.

Our family put together a basket that included reusable bags, CFLs, a stainless steel reusable water bottle and green cleaners.  Instead of using an actual basket, we put it all inside a cardboard box wrapped it in brown paper and included shredded paper (all recyclable) for a little extra flair!  I think it looked pretty cute!

We completed our mission by including a paper that explained everything in the box and why they are important.  We were really proud of our creativity that really didn’t require any creativity at all.  To us they’re “no brainers”, but they sent a wonderful message and hopefully made an impact for everyone that took a look.

The next time you receive that “request”, consider the statement you can make too. And a basket like this would also make a great gift!

Little did I know my friend, Jasmina, would win the basket (and she’s already a fellow “eco-mama!), but it was rewarding to see all the other families interested in winning some “green” too!

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!