Strollerderby : green living

Do Your Kids Walk To School?

Brett Singer — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:10:00 GMT

You know the old joke about how your parents walked to school. Up hill. Both ways. In a snowstorm. (Even in summer.) While being chased by a tiger. A really hungry tiger. (I added the part about the tiger.)

Well, with child obesity rates on the rise, maybe it's time to pull that old chestnut out of mothballs.

What prompted all this? Well, April 8 is National Start! Walking Day, sponsored by the American Heart Association. (Oh, don't pretend like you didn't already know.)

Over at SuperEco, Frank Paynter says that while many of us old folks used to walk to school, our children are catching a ride. Frank points to an article on Yahoo! Green by Jeff Yeager that says only 30 percent of today's rug rats stroll their way to the hallowed halls of learning.

Frank wonders when the move from bikes to the minivan began: "Some people cite safety concerns, but the chance that a child will be injured in a car accident are astronomically higher than that he will encounter evil doers out to sell him into child slavery on a chocolate plantation or something." He's probably right, at least statistically. But parental fear is a very real thing, whether reasonable or not. There are plenty of things I did as a young'un that I have trouble letting my kid do, like go to corner store. Part of that is where we live (New York City), but part of it is simply that societal attitudes have changed.

As for walking to school, sometimes it simply isn't realistic. For example, I lived in the Bronx and went to school in Manhattan. Taking the subway (2 of them) took about an hour. Walking was not going to happen. My son is too young to walk, and we also live a little bit too far away from his school. So it’s a good idea, and I like talking about it, but he's going to have to get his exercise some other way.

Since The American Heart Association was kind enough to set the Start! Walking Day start date in the spring, I may join in. Not my son -- he takes the bus. But I'll start walking when I go to pick him up. Frankly, I need the exercise more than he does. At least he gets recess.

So let me ask you folks -- do your children walk to school? Did you?

Image/Source: SuperEco

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5 Ways to Go Green for Back to School!!!

Cole Gamble — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Back to School Fact: 49.8 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools in fall 2008.

As a parent, there’s one day of the year you wake early like a sugar-addled child on Christmas. You bounce around the house with 30 fluffy puppies-worth of skittering joy. This is the day your kids go back to school. You bound into your children’s’ rooms, honking an air horn not only to rouse the little buggers but to celebrate this momentous occasion. While they slump over limp with sleep crusted eyes, you cram them into clothes and catapult them out the door. Oh joy, the kids are back in school!

Hold up, chief. You gotta get them prepared first, and if you have to buy them a ton of new gear why not try to green your shopping (and maybe save a buck or two). Besides the best thing you can do for the earth is to pass along sustainable practices to your kids. So before they start their math and English lessons, give ‘em a green lesson.

Think inside the box. Ditch the brown bag and send the lil’ shavers off the school with a reusable lunch box. And to get your child stoked about it, get a box that features one of their favorite animated characters, like Alf. Kids love the Alf still, right?

Take Inventory. Sure, you’ve got a lot to buy, but before you purchase everything on the list, take a quick look at what you already have. If last year’s backpack is in solid shape, no reason to toss it. If you bought the kid shoes this summer, they probably don’t need new ones.

Go Retro. Seems like all the big clothing retailers design their clothes to look like they came from years ago. Don’t settle for faux vintage, get the real deal. Shops like the Buffalo Exchange specialize in high quality vintage clothing. Think of the volumes of street cred your kid will get, and the recycling (not to mention money saving) you’ll be doing.

Pens You Can Eat. Luckily, earth-friendly degradable school supplies are just about everywhere now. For instance, you can purchase pens with shafts made of corn and ink made of soy. When you hand these beauties over to your kid, encourage using the pens until they are dry. Once said pens go into the landfill, thanks to their organic materials, they won’t be there for long.

Not White Paper, Right Paper. Go for unbound and notebook paper with the highest amount of post consumer content. Having paper with history that has been places may not help your kid in history or geography, but it couldn’t hurt.

More by this Author:

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5 Reasons Breast Feeding Isn’t That Great (and 5 Reasons Why It Is) Part 1

My Daughter Wants A Penis

The 9 Most Racist Disney Characters

**The Sh*t List: 10 Bizarre (or Terrific?) Potty Gadgets**

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Nipple Jewelry: 5 Products Moms DON’T Need

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Green products that don't work

Brett Singer — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

It would be great if all of the au natural products flooding the market were actually effective. Unfortunately, that's not the case in my experience. After showing you three that we use and like, here are three that we don’t like, but in one case we use it anyway:

1. Dishwashing liquid: I have never seen a cleaner of any kind less effective than this. I think it would actually be better to run the dishwasher without any soap at all. The dishes come out with a film that seems chemically, despite the fact that this stuff is supposed to just the opposite. I would mention the brand but we threw out the bottle in disgust.

2. Recycled paper towels: I'm all for the lack of dyes and scents, but these things just don't work. They absorb such a tiny amount of liquid that you need to use three or four of them, which sort of defeats the purpose. We do, however, use them anyway.

3. Recycled toilet paper: Again, all for the no-dyes/no perfumes/recycled paper thing. But scratchy paper on my tush? No way.

Are there any green products you tried using but stopped because they just didn't work?

image: foodonthebrain

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Green products I use and like

Brett Singer — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Being 'green' is easier than ever. Part of greening is about what's good for the planet, part is about what's good for you, and some of it is just about making yourself feel better. The best is when the product in question actually works, so you don't feel like you're making a sacrifice to satisfy an agenda, however noble. Here are three things we use in my house.

1. Seventh generation baby wipes: I don't really understand why people like heavily perfumed baby wipes. When my first son was born, it wasn't as easy as it is now to find unscented chemical-free wipes. For a while, we got some dry wipes from a nurse that we knew, and then wet them. That was a huge pain in the butt (figuratively, not literally) so I'm glad that there are now a number of options, including the Seventh Generation brand, which we use.

2. Method cleaning wipes: I like the grapefruit ones, which have a slight scent and actually seem to cut through child-created counter grime pretty well. It's not quite as good as Fantastik, but it doesn't stink of chemicals either.

3. Organic snacks: Look. It's crap. But, as I said before, it's organic crap. The kids are going to eat a certain amount of crap, whether I give it to them or not. One those occasions that I give them crap, I generally choose organic crap. I admit that it mostly makes me feel better, but in theory it is actually better for them… right?

What 'green' and/or au natural products do you use that get the job done?

image: Amazon.com

Volleyball hasn’t come a long way, baby

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5 reasons it's a good thing I had boys

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More Kids Stuff I like that my kids don't care about

5 things that would make parents' lives easier

It all started when Mary needed a laxative

Five things my son taught me about living green

Brett Singer — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

We all want to be greener, partly because it's good for the environment, but also because it saves money. (It's not because we want to look more like the Hulk.) As it turns out, my son seems to know more than I thought about this hot-button issue.

1.   Turning off lights: My son turns off lights when he leaves a room. It seems obvious but not everyone does it. He's actually even passed this trait onto his younger brother, which is pretty impressive considering that said younger brother is still in diapers.
2.   Turning off electronics that don't need to be on: Even in standby mode, devices such as computers and video game systems use a little bit of juice, and it adds up. Turn 'em off, says Thing 1. This includes the Wii, Playstation, and even surge protectors that don't power "necessary" devices (like, you know, the Tivo. That never gets shut off.)
3.   Reduce: my son is remarkably willing to get rid of toys that he doesn't play with, books that he doesn't read, and is not a child who walks past a toy store and says, "I WANT THAT!" Even at DisneyWorld, he never asked for a single souvenir. Using less stuff is more green.
4.   Reuse: When we are getting rid of books, he offers to give them to "people who don't have money for books."
5.   Recycle: I have, on more than one occasion, been caught tossing something in the garbage that should go into the recycling bin. "Dad!"

How much do your kids know about being green?

image: pos-psych.com

Budget Baby: 10 Ways to Live Green for Less

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:02:00 GMT

Green living can often seem not only intimidatingly complicated, but also prohibitively expensive. If you compare the costs of organic meats and vegetables to antibiotic-laced varieties in big grocery stores, it seems you not only have to be mindful but also wealthy if you want to be more environmentally conscious.

Luckily, living green doesn't have to mean dressing in overpriced hempwear, living in a yurt, or selling your car. Here are 10 relatively affordable ways to green up your life:

1. Eat Less Red Meat - Cutting down on the amount of red meat you consume each week, can drastically lower the greenhouse gas emissions associated with red meat production. Even lowering your weekly hamburger intake from 2 to 1 burger can have a significant positive impact on the environment and save you a few dollars.

2. Eat Less - The average American consumes over 3,700 calories per day, compared to 2400 calories per day for people in India. By eating less, we'll likely improve our health and consume fewer resources both in terms of food and future health care costs.

3. Don't Buy Bottled Water - The bottles are tempting. They are convenient, easy to pack around, and theoretically cleaner than most water from the tap. Leaving aside that several varieties are less healthy than tap water, it is estimated that 86% of all plastic water bottles end up in landfills (or 3.1 billion bottles in 2004). Nalgene bottles or good old fashioned canteens are less expensive than bottled water and safer in the long run anyway.

4. Shopping as Necessity, rather than Past-time- Shopping for shoes never looked more tantalizing than when Carrie Bradshaw ogled her Manolos and purred "hello, lover" or when she proudly declared "Shopping is my cardio!" The simple truth is shopping less means buying less. Most of us have plenty of stuff, and many other ways to spend our free time than cruising the sales to buy more crap we don't need and can't afford. The upside to cutting back is that shopping then becomes more of a treat.

5. Expose Your Kids to Nature - Some people argue that kids with less exposure to nature are unable to care about what happens to the oceans and the air. Even an occasional trip to a national park can accomplish wonders in your family's consciousness. Plus, appreciating nature is much cheaper than a trip to Disneyland. On the other hand, many of our kids have a lot to teach us about living a greener life.

6. Don't Drive a Hummer - Obviously, most people don't have $50,000 lying around to buy this bitch of a gas guzzler, but many of us drive cars with under-inflated tires and worse gas mileage. Other than buying a Prius or other expensive hybrid, we can decrease the amount of gas required to move us from point A to point B by keeping the engine in good repair and the tires filled correctly.

7. Frequent Fruit and Vegetable Stands - Rather than buying expensive organics at Whole Foods or your local supermarket chain, take advantage of summer and check out the fruit and vegetable stands or farmer's markets in your community. To find one near you, go here.

8. Avoid Over-Packaged/Processed Foods - Chips, crackers, and breads are not only packed with hard to pronounce mystery ingredients, they are also usually chock full of high fructose corn syrup, one of the biggest culprits in our growing childhood obesity epidemic. You'll save money by sticking to the outside aisles of your grocery store as well as keep little Billy from getting fat before his time.

9. Give Time, not Stuff - Buy Nothing Day isn't just for the holidays anymore. Gifts of time and activities versus stuff are often far more creative and enjoyable than another plastic gottahave gizmo that will break in two weeks anyway. Theater tickets, a trip to the zoo, an evening sunset picnic are fun gifts to give and receive.

10. Green Like You - It's easy to feel guilty and shameful about your lifestyle. You may feel you'll never measure up to the environmentally conscious standards you read about or see around you, especially if you live on the greener-than-thou West Coast where I live. But it's all about progress and baby steps rather than perfection. If I don't compare myself to my composting vegan neighbor, I'm more likely to be successful in my efforts to live green.

While I'm often scared into apolitical stupor by tales of ice caps melting, sedative-laced water, and tainted soil, I've also begun to realize that if I don't take even the smallest baby steps to change my wasteful ways, I'm making the world worse, one soda can in the trash receptacle and one unnecessary car trip at a time.

More by this author:

10 More Ways to Live Green for Less

10 Mysteries of Modern Parenthood

Stuff White Parents Like

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[Photo Credit: Virtual Tourist]

7 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day With the Children

Cole Gamble — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

Yep, Earth Day is next Tuesday the 22nd. Earth Day has been around for decades; it's funny to think of how many went by with hardly anyone noticing. Now, however, Earth Day is a pretty big deal, if for no better reason than to teach your kids about good sustainable practices and the importance of the global climate. Let's face it, our generation is trying to do better, but we are not going to do a 180. We've had cars, lived in suburbs and enjoyed apples flown in from Paraguay during the dead of winter for too long to give it all up. Yes, you bring a reusable shopping bag to the grocery store, good for you. Our kids are going to have to make far greater sacrifices, especially if the way we treat the earth now doesn't change.

The only way this earth will be saved from ruin is if future generations are ingrained with a respectful attitude and good habits toward the environment from the get go. So with that in mind, here are seven simple, fun and eco-smart activities you and your kid can do this earth day…

Here’s a couple to get you started: planting a tree with your child, making a bird feeder and creating recycling bins. The full list is here.

Out of all the seven tips included in the list, the one I like best is leaving the car at home one day and walking your kid to school. If this is something you can feasibly do, imagine the talk you can have about respecting the environment while you pass through it. Hell, I wish I could walk to work everyday.

Photo: www.searchtrends.org

Stay in a Loveless Marriage, Save the Planet

Kelly Mills — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:35:00 GMT

Ah, remember the good old days when people just stayed married for the kids? Now it seems you have to consider the planet in your decision to stick around or split, because a recent study says divorce is bad for the environment. I'm starting to think I'm going to get a little fatigued with the "bad for mother earth" stories, just like I did with the whole "everything makes you/your kids fat" news barf. For god's sake, I do recycle and all...

Now, why oh why is ending your marriage going to send the planet into certain ruin? Well, divorced families have a bigger carbon footprint, what with the two homes, and while the households have less people, the data suggests that they use the same amount of energy as a full house (homes must be bigger for when the kids are around even though the kids are only there half of the time). The US Census says in 2000, we got six million more households due to divorce. But since I highly doubt most divorces are entered into lightly, I'm not seeing much of a solution here unless we all try and conserve more and waste less. Or as some nut-noodles will tell you much too zealously, we should all stop getting married and having kids in the first place.

Make Magazine's D.I.Y. Halloween Hacks

Alisyn — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:19:00 GMT

Remember when we were talking about going green this Halloween?

Homemade costumes, healthy and seasonal treats, and a focus on people rather than things are just some of the means by which the goal can be met. And if you're seriously considering any of them, you should definitely check out Make magazine's DIY Halloween extravaganza: the utterly unique and homegrown costume ideas, tricked out pumpkins and seriously scary food hacks are sure to inspire you, and possibly your kids, if they're not the sensitive types (my own kid would just about keel over in fright with one look at that rat cake).

If the spirit moves you, and you find yourself with the desire and drive to enter your own Halloween creations in the Make and Craft Halloween Contest... well, then that's what you should do. Because winning prizes for making cool stuff is awesome.

Check for Halloween how-tos from Make all this month! I will be.

[Image via Make.com]

GreenHouse: Clothing Swaps Are An Easy Way to Go Green

Alisyn — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:10:00 GMT

I don’t know about you, but I feel like my kids cycle through clothes quicker than I can buy them. Between the growing, the changing of the seasons, the stains and the whims of the wearers, I’m constantly having to replace and recycle the little tops and bottoms, when all I want to do is just chuck ‘em. I know I am not alone.

The EPA estimates that more than 10 million tons of textile waste went to U.S. landfills in 2003. "[This] demonstrates the fantastic surplus that we live amongst," says Wendy Tremayn. "And once we imbue our objects with meaning, the byproduct of adding our creative energy to it, these objects are far less likely to wind up in the trash."

It is with this sentiment in mind that Wendy organized Swaporamarama, a series of events designed to bring people together and recycle unwanted clothing. The concept is simple: show up with an old bag of clothes and $10. This buys you unlimited access to the stores within, where you can take home as many items as you can carry, or – here’s the best part – take them to the sewing stations where designers and artists will customize and tailor them, or teach you to do it yourself. Also set up? A runway. For showing off the recycled fabulousness.

Swaporamarama hit D.C. this past Spring, and another one is in the works for Baltimore (for details or to join the mailing list go to http://www.swaporamarama.com/ to join the mailing list). Can’t wait for them to come to your area? Find swappers locally at Clothesswap.meetup.com.

GreenHouse: Loving Your Small Living Space

Alisyn — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:10:00 GMT

As Jessica pointed out in her recent post, the McMansion craze that is sweeping our fair nation is problematic for many reasons: these starter manors are gobbling up more open space than they need to, are perpetuating a false sense of wealth and security, and are just plain fugly. The trend toward bigger houses doesn't jibe with the trend toward shrinking family size, but is being necessitated by our collective need to buy a whole bunch of crap we don't need. Foreclosures are rampant, families are being stretched to the limits by working two or more jobs just to stay on top of the bills... all in the name of keeping up with the Joneses.

But at the opposite end of the housing spectrum is a movement to embrace small space living. The benefits of living within one's means, and not consuming more than one needs, are many: People who live in smaller living spaces generally own fewer things, consume less, and have lower utility bills, for instance. My own little 900-square-foot slice of suburban paradise has disciplined me to minimize possessions, to keep things clean and neat, donate what we don't use, and to get creative about storage. The house has become my zen master, my inspiration for decluttering our lives and intimate spaces, which I didn't see coming, but really love now. Also beneficial: Smaller homes require less building materials for construction and smaller land use - therefore costing much less to purchase, maintain, and live in. Living in a smaller home can also afford efficient, natural, healthy, high-quality materials that might cost a fortune in a larger house.

It's all about perspective, right? A small house can be comfy and cozy, with everything and everyone within easy reach. But it has to be neat and orderly for this to happen - and that fact is what brings the inner zen out. Detachment, elimination, subtraction, minimalization, name it as you will: it's discipline for small space dwellers like my family, and millions of others. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of times that I wish we had more space. But we don't. And we get on with things, happily. Having to limit our consumption purely on the basis of limited space has opened our eyes to the fact that we really needed to limit our consumption, period. And live within our means, period.

And you know what? It's not so bad.

[Photo via SFGate.com]

GreenHouse: No Sponge Left Behind

Alisyn — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:31:00 GMT

The theory behind the invention of Twist Sponges is it was time to give that old kitchen staple - the nasty, funky, weird little rectangle of grossness - a new lease on life. True that.

The folks at eco-minded Twist ensure consumers that 99.97% of all their waste is reused in production, and their cellulose is sourced from renewable tree farms. They also pride themselves on having designed the most 'stylish' reusable sponge on the market. (Hey, it matters.) The real kicker? You can follow the directions printed on the recycled paper packaging to fashion a bird feeder out of the entire package. Now that's good, clean fun.

Check out the full line of "functional, beautiful, responsible" Twist's products here.

Biodegradable Toys Made From WHAT? Shut Your Cornhole!

Alisyn — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 19:31:00 GMT

Green Toys Brand Toys is revolutionizing the toy market with corn-based bioplastic, and lookin' cute while they do it!

Each and every product, down to the very last teaspoon, is made by processing “biotic” (organic) materials - those found in nature (in traditional plastic products, the main raw ingredient is petroleum.) The bioplastic used to make Green Toys is made from renewable, sustainable resources derived from plant materials such as corn and other starches. The toys are sturdy, but ultimately biodegradable, which is great in the long run, and manufacturing bioplastic resin to make Green Toys requires less heat and uses less petroleum, and produces less carbon dioxide, which is great in the short run... and the long run.

The toys are really cute, too. The indoor gardening - bright, cheery, fabulous for gifting - includes everything from soil, to seeds, to pots and tools. The 27-piece dining and cookware set includes a dutch oven that looks nicer than the one I have, a bright orange skillet, and enough plates and cutlery for a dinner party for 10. These are toys you can buy, and feel good about buying. Take that, China!

Front Yard Gardens Improve Diets, Communities

Alisyn — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:26:00 GMT

Ripping up the front lawn and planting a garden may sound rash, but not only is this new trend improving the diets and culinary skills of many families across the country, it's also a great way to strike up conversations with neighbors, and make a statement about the importance of fresh, local, seasonal eating.

Architect and artist Fritz Haeg is part of a project called 'Edible Estates' (the book, due out in 2008, is called Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn), and says he's been overwhelmed by the response people have had to the front yard garden, and who want him to design their front garden next.

'People are obsessed with their homes, creating these cocoons that isolate them,' he said. 'This project is about reaching out, getting them connected to their streets." Not only will it look beautiful, but, as one front gardener points out, growing your own organic fruits, veggies and herbs will ensure clean, healthy eating without breaking the bank. It may help you make new friends, too: Some front-yard gardeners say that ripping out the sod and putting in vegetables gave the neighbors their first-ever excuse to speak to them.

We live on a busy suburban street - and only know a handful of our neighbors. I'm thinking this could be just what the doctor ordered - a great conversation piece, and a healthy family project to boot! Think the car exhaust would contaminate the crops, though?

[Via NewforParents.org]

GreenHouse: Is Pee-Cycling the (Yellow) Wave of the Future?

Alisyn — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 15:11:00 GMT

I'll just come out with it straight away: This is a post about recycling urine - or rather the phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium in urine - for agricultural purposes. Too hell with the fancy, schmancy composter - let's hear it for pee-cycling! (O, how I wish I'd coined that phrase...)

Phosphorus is an extremely important agricultural fertilizer, and like many of our other natural resources, its stores are depleting. But urine is one of the richest sources of concentrated phosphorus in the world, and we humans are each making 100 gallons of it per year. So you can take yourself right outside and pee all over your tomatoes and lettuce, if you are the D.I.Y.-type, or you can order one of these handy urine-separating toilets for your home, which funnel this liquid gold into a holding tank, which, when full, is picked up by "urine reclamation" specialists. After standing for 6 months - to kill bugs or bacteria that may have been picked up on the way out of the body - the tanks are emptied all over some lucky farmer's crops. I'm not sure how advisable a D.I.Y.-version of the holding tank would be, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some hardcore green livers out there who devised their own systems. A low-impact and resourceful, if only a little funky-smelling, way to make that garden grow! Not surprisingly, those oh-so-progressive Swedes are all over this one.

While restocking the world's oil supply is hopeless, and getting the federal government to recognize and help reverse the process of global warming seems far fetched, replenishing the world's phosphorus supply is as easy as taking a leak. You gotta love that. How long do you think it'll be 'til we can score urine-separating toilets from Ikea?

GreenHouse: The Ultimate Composter

Alisyn — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 20:03:00 GMT

Nothing says “I’m a hippy, and I’m proud!” like a composting. Fortunately, being a hippy is hot right now, and so, by proxy, are composters. The bulky, stinky models of yore have been replaced by sleeker, more efficient cousins, making composting a sensible, easy, and fun thing to do in any household.

The process is as easy as 1-2-3: A small, leak-proof countertop crock, stores scraps, peels, shells and whatever else you want to feed it. When it's full, have one of the kids carry it out to this supercool, rotating bin composter, small enough to fit in even the tiniest yards. Scraps get dumped in through a little hatch, which then latches shut, so the whole load can be spun by the hand crank. No muss, no fuss. When used in conjunction with Compost Activator, a load is “finished” in a mere 4-6 weeks, at which point the bin can be removed and dumped into the garden for low-impact, organic, D.I.Y. fertilizer.

Against my husband’s better wishes, my inner hippy can’t wait to order one of these babies and report back to you on it. Whether it is truly odorless remains to be seen, but it can’t stink any more than the fertilizer we’re using on our garden right now, so I’m going to give it a shot. Are you?

Greenhouse: A House Built for Hobbits? or You?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:06:00 GMT

Efforts to buy green, consume less, and teach our children to love Mother Earth often falter in the face of toy overload and dreams of each child having his or her own themed bedroom by age 2. McMansions obviously have wide appeal for a reason.

Building green is another matter, one more complicated and revolutionary (and often more expensive) than remodeling a craftsman in an urban center. Creative approaches such as the one pictured right get around the whole expense by simplifying the scale and scope (and by using the landscape as an important structural component).

Nevermind that one might expect Bilbo Baggins to answer the door. This off the grid approach is admirable (if likely impractical for any but the most woodland of creatures).

[via Boing Boing]

Why Sustainable Living Feels So Expensive

Alisyn — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:01:00 GMT

Green living is often associated with wealth, but driving a Prius and shopping at Whole Foods aren't the only means by which families can reduce their impact on the planet. As this thoughtful and well-written article points out, many families can not afford to eat organic foods or buy fair trade products, but they shop sustainably (thrift stores, consignment shops), use public transportation, and simply buy - and use - less. Because they have to. And there's a lesson in that.

It's so easy to get caught up in the latest trends in clothing, cars, electronics, that we often forget that "the real question is not how expensive sustainable products are, but how our purchasing habits affect the global population and environment." In fact, in many ways, living a greener, more sustainable life is about living the way a less affluent family might - conserving resources like fuel, water, and electricity, riding a bike whenever possible, and growing eating home-grown fruits, veggies and herbs.

There's no denying that buying green costs more - from cleaning products, to food, to furniture and clothing - but as Tom Kemper of Dolphin Blue explains, when looking at a super store price tag, we are not seeing the true impact of our purchases reflected in the price. "Please also consider the cost of the loss of resources like habitat; loss of air quality because we use more energy and create more tons of emissions to make virgin-material products; loss of clean water because of unnecessary and excessive bleaching of paper; excessive reliance on oil because every time we don’t recycle and remanufacture a toner cartridge we use another pint of oil; and then, the associated costs to all of us through increased disease caused by pollution, and the transference of cost to each of us through healthcare premiums and medical care. If we now measure all these costs, which are only a portion of the true costs of 'business as usual,' then what are the costs of that cheap paper, or that non-recycled and non-remanufactured toner cartridge?"

Bottom line: buy less, and you can afford to buy better. Get it?

Toxic World Babies Must Love Tangents

Kelly Mills — Tue, 08 May 2007 15:35:00 GMT

There's no doubt that parenting provides some environmental choices. Do you go the disposable diaper route, or opt for cloth? How about organic baby food? Can you transport your little ones without using tons of fossil fuels? Are there any safe plastics, from baby bottles to pacifiers? So when I sat down to read this article on environmental parenting, I was interested to see what the author recommended.

A little ways into the article, I read this: "Attachment Parenting is a much kindler, gentler alternative to the old 'let them cry it out' school."

Um, okay. So part of raising a "natural" baby is attachment parenting? And what exactly does this have to do with environmentalism? I'll answer my own question with "nothing" unless your crib was made from thousand-year-old rain forest trees and asbestos.

Since the author brought it up, here's my stance: I think attachment parenting is great, as long as the parent or parents are happy with it. I don't think babies who co-sleep are going to develop into whiny, dependent little parasites. However, I also don't believe that babies who sleep in a crib and are sleep-trained are traumatized and full of abandonment issues. Oh, and from where I stood, when I did some sleep training with my daughter, it was the kindler, gentler way to go. Take my word for it. Because of course, one of the little secrets of parenting here is that it's a balance between your child's needs and your own needs.

I think the connection in the article is supposed to be a groovy, get-back-to-nature kind of parenting philosophy that embraces eco-conscious choices. Problem is that when you create a dogma based on unrelated things, you lose some folks. Like me, for example.

One of the things that really irritates me is when some proponents of attachment parenting like the author claim it's the right thing to do because it is practiced all over the world. Yeah, so is child labor. You know, in many parts of the world, people co-sleep because they have a one-room house. But there's this creepy tendency to want to pick and choose which things we're gonna romanticize as "natural" and which we ignore because they don't fit that romantic notion. And by the way, "instinct-driven" my ass. So I guess those of us who didn't go the baby-wearing, co-sleeping route are ignoring our natural instincts. Because no secret primal knowledge convinced me that it was a good thing for me to be pissed off all day long because I was the milk vending machine every fifteen minutes at night.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go recycle something.

Environmentalist Daryl Hannah Believes in Locally Grown Babies

Kelly Mills — Wed, 02 May 2007 11:30:00 GMT

Sort-of star Daryl Hannah says she is interested in adopting a baby, but she doesn’t want to go the same route as Madonna and Angelina and bring home a foreign orphan. “’There are more than half a million children here in the US who need to be adopted or need homes, so-called 'hard to adopt kids' because they're not babies and come from troubled backgrounds, so I think that's probably the way I'd go.’” Is this kind of free-thinking approach to the A-list adoption symptomatic of why Tarantino had to rescue her from obscurity? Somebody please clue her in to the fact that you don’t get to be a fawned-over celebrity ambassador when you raise a kid from your own country.

But getting a locally-produced child (perhaps from the farmer’s market?) may just be part of Hannah’s ardent environmentalism. She says many celebs consult with her on how to “go green”. Speaking like a PR robot, she says, "'A couple of days ago, I was at a party at Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas' house for Al Gore to celebrate his Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. Penelope Cruz and Leonardo DiCaprio were there and loads more stars. Melanie and Antonio's 10-year-old daughter Stella has convinced them to ‘green’ their houses, so I'm going to help them get solar power in their five homes and get their cars on biodiesel.'"

Solar power for five homes, and getting multiple cars on biodiesel… Oh, those eco-stars! Thank goodness Hollywood celebs are setting an example by only using what they need and not grossly over-consuming our planet’s precious resources.

Strollerderby Playdate: 'Green' Parenting Edition

Alisyn — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:01:00 GMT

With Earth Day right around the corner, and a lot of talk about green parenting on Strollerderby lately, I thought I'd make this Friday Playdate eco-friendly, as it were. The blogs below are written by parents who offer funny stories, helpful tips, and unique perspectives on green family living. Enjoy!

Families for Natural Living

An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Sandwich Baggies

Alisyn — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:01:00 GMT

Like many families, ours is making a conscience effort to reduce the amount of waste in our house. Paper towels - gone. Paper plates - bye bye (that one hurt a little). Recycled toilet paper only (that one hurts a lot). One thing that has been irking me in my quest to go greener is sandwich baggies - there are so few alternatives. But I think the folks behind the Wrap-N-Mat may be on to something...

Wrap-N-Mats are a cheap ($4-7), machine washable, reusable plastic bag alternative. The mats fold around a sandwich, fasten with velcro, and are lined with a PEVA or PVC lining to keep food fresh. At chow time, they fold out into placemat. I scored two of them at Whole Foods earlier this week, and I love them: they're cute (mine are shamrock/ladybug and hot air balloon patterned), easy, and the novelty goes a long way with the kidlets. After being tossed into the washer and the dryer, they came out looking and smelling great.

If you're looking for little ways to lessen your family's impact on the Earth, this is a great place to start. The recycled toilet paper...not so much.

'Green' Parenting Goes Mainstream

Alisyn — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:01:00 GMT

From cloth diapers to preservative free toys to organic cotton onesies to natural soaps, modern mamas are flexing their purchasing power more than ever, and 56% of us are doing our best to go green (or at least, greener). According to a poll taken by BabyCenter, women are living more eco-friendly lives to protect their children's health, and our planet, for the next generation.

So, how are we doing that? Little by little: we're buying more non-toxic cleaning products, recycling, eating organic food, using energy efficient appliances, and educating ourselves about the hazards of chemicals in our daily lives. Perhaps most importantly, though, we're teaching our kids to be smart about what they put on and in their bodies, and the importance of green living.

In recent years green living has become less of an urban/hippie trend, and more the societal norm, with the demand for eco-friendly products growing all the time. They used to be specialty products in specialty stores, but now eco-friendly products can be found in most mainstream superstores across the country.

Linda Murray, Editor-in-Chief of BabyCenter has a theory about how this shift came about: "Today's moms know small steps can add up and they want to do their part. It's a natural extension of the protective mothering instinct that kicks in the minute a woman learns she's pregnant. She becomes keenly aware of whether her food, activities, products, and environment are safe."

That pretty much sums up why I started eating organic, as well as buying chemical-free and non-toxic products whenever I can. Having kids is a pretty powerful catalyst for change - and having a strong collective voice is to speak out about the need for cleaner living for those kids is powerful as well.

Moms rule.