Strollerderby : greenhouse

Greenhouse: Bag Tax Bad, Bag Bonus Good

Amy Kuras — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:36:00 GMT

I used to feel like a ridiculous hippie for carrying my own bags to the store, but in the year-ish I have been doing so it's become really common, so common that now I feel shamed when I don’t bring them.

Some stores around here even give you a little discount -- 5 cents or so -- based on the number of bags you bring. Makes sense to me – not only does it keep bags out of landfills but it saves the store a little money.

Which is why I think Seattle's proposed "bag tax" is a horrible, horrible idea. It would tax stores at the rate of 20 cents PER BAG for each plastic bag used. Which doesn’t sound too terrible, until you consider the impact this would have on low income consuers already squeezed badly by higher food costs and fuel costs. When you have to plan your food costs very carefully, getting socked with an extra dollar or so to carry the stuff home in something other than your pockets would really hurt.

If you have to take the bus to get to a grocery store and/or walk several blocks there, you may not have a convenient way to schlep along several bags – or what if you're stopping at the market on the way home from work and don’t have your bags with you?

Not only that, but 63 percent of Seattelites oppose the tax. Some don’t think it goes far enough, and most common plastic grocery bags are made from #2 plastic, which is widely recyclable. And still others point out that most people reuse the bags anyway instead of throw them out --- for pet waste or to line trash bags, for example. I know in our house my husband gets a little nervous when I haven’t been collecting enough "poop bags" at the store.

Socking people with a heavy tax doesn’t seem fair – but giving them an incentive to not use the bags does. I'll be interested to see how this plays out in Seattle.

Greenhouse: Party Down, Green-Style

Amy Kuras — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:02:00 GMT

Summer's over, but party season isn't. Tailgates, fall picnics, and before we know it, holiday entertaining are all upon us. Perhaps if you are a classy Martha Stewart type you use reusable, tasteful china for all your events, but for most of us whose "staff" consists of a few small people with a tendency to drop things, it's disposable partyware all the way. (not to mention that when we stocked up on basic Ikea wineglsses for our last party, guess who dropped and broke one in dramatic fashion first)?

Of course, about the only thing that feels less green than tossing piles and piles of crap after a party is driving it to the dump in your SUV, so finding a way to lessen the waste is a great idea. Plum Party and Green Party Goods both have corn-based straws, cups and plastic silverware – I have actually used things of this type and they are awesome, completely undistinguishable from the regular petroleum-based stuff. They also have bamboo serveware, recycled paper napkins, and all kinds of nice, colorful, stylish things that won’t make you feel guilty when you toss it in the compost pile the next day.

Yes, most of these things can be composted. Kind of a cool idea to think that next year, the food you serve could have been nourished by the plates and cups from last year's bash.

Greenhouse: BPA Ban Fails

Amy Kuras — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:30:00 GMT

Proponents of banning bisphenol-A, a chemical used in baby bottles, sippy cups, and the coating of formula cans were handed a huge defeat Monday, when the California Legislature voted down a bill that would ban the chemical from baby bottles.

Another bill to ban a chemical compound called PFOA, which is used in food packaging and is a key ingredient in Teflon, also was defeated.

Concern has been growing among parents about BPA, which is believed to mimic hormones in the body and disrupt the endocrine system. It's been linked to male infertility, among other issues, and is widely used in baby bottles and sippy cups, although more and more BPA-free alternatives are on store shelves.

Senate Bill 1713 by Sen. Carol Migden of San Francisco, would have banned bisphenol-A from baby bottles and other products. Laboratory studies show the chemical harms brain development. Migden's measure failed on a 27-31 vote when 22 legislators abstained from voting.

Senate Bill 1313, by Sen. Ellen Corbett of San Leandro, would have banned the chemical PFOA from food packaging, which has been identified as a likely human carcinogen. It fell five votes short of the 41 needed with 11 members of the Assembly not voting.

However, the Food and Drug Administration released a report last Friday, right before the California vote, declaring that BPA is safe in the levels human are typically exposed to.

The chemical industry rallied aginst the bills, running ads showing an empty grocery cart in a dry lake bed, wich implied that every item in a typical grocery list would have to be pulled frmo the shelve sif the bill were to pass.

It's possible the legislature will revisit both bills again.

Greenhouse: Seven Ways to Green Your Grocery List

Amy Kuras — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:02:00 GMT

Here's an interesting phenomenon that I think reflect the sorry state of the economy here in Michigan: I am seeing a lot more people at Trader Joe's carrying Whole Foods canvas bags. And here's my theory why: Whole Foods, while a wonderful shopping experience (they smell like lavender!) and a great place to score beautiful, high quality food, is also referred to as "Whole Paycheck" for a reason.

Trader Joe's, on the other hand, while certainly a less upscale destination, is also a heck of a lot cheaper. I think Earth-conscious foodies are at least checking out ways to cut their grocery bills while not abandoning organics altogether.

Environmental magazine Grist recently had a piece on greening your grocery list while saving money. Their seven tips are:

Make a list – this simple step saves time and money, and keeps you from buying crap if you actually stick to it and don’t go wandering down the candy aisle;
Avoid genetically-modified products – they are bad for farmers and bad for the planet. The story includes links to a a guide to which foods have them; not surprisingly, the big brands tend to have the most.
Eat organic where it matters most;
Include more vegetarian meals in your diet, or eliminate meat altogether;
Stick to enviro-friendly household cleaners;
Shop farmer's markets whenever possible; it's often cheaper than buying nonlocal grocery store produce;
Grow your own, if you can.

Greenhouse: Bottled Water Is Evil (?)

Amy Kuras — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:31:00 GMT

Remember back in the 1980s when suddenly, it seemed, everybody was lugging around a bottle of water ala Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally? Now, you can’t have a meeting, party or soccer game without those little individual bottles of water resting on ice or in the fridge.

But those inviting little bottles of hydration are super bad for the environment, not to mention being economically nsustianable as well. That water (which is usually just tap water, by the by) has to get pumped from somewhere. It's been a big issue here in Michigan, which doesn't have much, but we do have water galore.

There are issues with water depletion (right now, you can't pump large amounts of water out of the Great Lakes, but put that same amount of water in 16 oz bottles and truck it to Arizona and it's fine), the gas used to truck the bottles, and the waste created by all those one- or two-serving containers everywhere.

According to this article on Alternet, tap water has 1/100th of the environmental impact of bottled water. Add to that that it's almost free, readily available, usually delicious (and can be chilled and filtered to taste better) and you can up your green chic quotient considerably by carrying a Sigg or Klean Kanteen versus the BPA-laced Nalgene bottles, and more and more people are starting to go for the tap.

It's not perfect – I have two bottles I rotate and I leave them behind more often than I should, especially since my diaper bag has a big pocket made especially for toting a water bottle. And most plastic commercial bottles are easily recyclable – my gym even has a collection box just for this pruose. If the choice is between, say, bottled water or a pop, go ahead and take the water, I think. Bit if it's between sticking with bottled or taking the extra 5 minutes to wash and fill your own bottles, the choice seems like a no-brainer to me.

Greenhouse: Organic on the Cheap(er), For Reals

Amy Kuras — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:33:00 GMT

With gas and food prices going into the stratosphere and everybody worried about their jobs, spending half a paycheck at Whole Foods or paying double for organic produce can seem a little, well, unseemly.

I found this old, but still relevant, article on Bankrate.com about buying organic on the cheap. Some of it's stuff we've all heard before: Buy in bulk, shop farmer's markets, buy in season, etc. but there are some suggestions I haven’t heard before.

For example, did you know you can team up with friends and family and start a buying club in order to place wholesale orders from certain providers? Ask at the local health food market or food co-op who their distributors are –several may be willing to work with you for a guaranteed minimum order.

This can even work with farmer's markets. Back when it was difficult to get really good, varied produce, my family belonged to what was essentially a neighborhood buying club, which was group of people who took turns going down to our big farmer's market on Saturday mornings and buying what looked good, and then splitting it between all the families. This was back when things like bagels and good cheese were really hard to find, and I had my first taste of both from the co-op. Nowadays, things like humanely raised meats or organic dairy might be good targets. And splitting up big stashes of anything with friends can reduce your individual trips to the store and tus your carborn footprint.

They also suggest "buying big" in season – buying tons of organic stuff when it's available at the local market, and freezing it for use in the winter. I've done this too, and it's great to need, say pesto or roasted peppers for a recipe in December and knowing I have my own homemade in the fridge instead of buying jarred that sits forever.

What are your "organic on the cheap" tips?

Greenhouse: Weeding Out Weeds

Amy Kuras — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:02:00 GMT

Let's talk about weeds. No, not the Mary Louise Parker vehicle, and not the smoky-smoke kind. The ugly, prickly, insidious kind that crowds out friendlier plants.

With two little kids, about 17 jobs, and a house to take care of, I've given up my customary gardening this year save for a few tomato and basil plants. But that leaves fertile ground, literally, for weeds to come in and take over. Even if I were not attempting a more green lifestyle, I have plants in there I want to encourage, so soaking the beds with Roundup and being done with it is out — not to mention I’d rather my kids not eat tomatoes that had been so recently exposed to God-knows-what chemical herbicides.

And then there's our lawn. Suffice it to say when a photo of my daughter, husband and dog on the front walk of our house ran in a local publication last year, more than a few people commented not on the significant cuteness of all three, but on the visibly weedy lawn.

Good old Organic Gardening mag to the rescue (I remember my dad getting this in the 1970s — these guys were green way before it was trendy). They have a whole section on identifying, treating and eradicating weeds. I've already done one thing, mulched the hell out of the beds. Extra bonus, now I know exactly what a hoe is for. With a little more work, soon I can spend weekends in the yard with a glass of iced tea instead of sweating over the weeds outside.

Greenhouse: Are You a Water Bigfoot?

Amy Kuras — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:03:00 GMT

You might already know your carbon footprint, but what's your water footprint?
Similar in notion to the carbon footprint, the water footprint is a measure of exactly how much water you use, but also how much goes into the things you use and consume daily. For example, it takes almost 2000 gallons of water to yield a pound of beef. Yikes. And that cup of coffee I glugged down this morning takes almost 37 gallons of water to produce.
Interestingly, the biggest impact on our water footprint is not what we use to clean our homes and ourselves, cook, or wash clothes. It's the food we eat. Meat consumption is far and away the biggest water hog, but it just takes a lot of water to produce food (as anyone who's kept a garden can tell you).
I live in a state surrounded by water, so water conservation hasn't been high on my list of "green" activities. I mean I turn off the tap while brushing my teeth and only run loads of dishes or laundry when they are full, but that's about the extent of it. Are you concerned about water, and if so, what do you do to lessen your water use?

Greenhouse: Harnessing the Awesome Power of Boobs

Amy Kuras — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:02:00 GMT

We know boobs are powerful. In my younger days I never had to wait for a drink while at the bar (my less endowed friends would have me make the drink runs) and now, well, I have two pudgy, well-nourished babies to my credit.

But the idea that boobs can actually generate power? Like, electricity? That never occurred to me, until I saw this article from Slate blogged all over the place today. Writer Adrienne So spoke with a sports bra expert, nanotechnology guy and someone who made a backpack that uses kinetic energy to power itself to see if the bouncy-bouncy of reasonably good sized breasts during vigorous exercise could generate enough power to, say, keep your iPod charged through a workout.

It's possible, just not easy, it turns out. A D-cup in a low support bra can move 35 inches – that’s right, almost THREE FEET – up and down during vigorous excise, and breasts also move side to side and back and forth. There's a lot of, um, jiggle there –but harnessing it with a sports bra, which has to be comfortable and washable, proved a challenge. Plus, you have to hit the right balance of a bra that controls motion enough to be comfortable but allows enough to generate power.

I have no idea how much power a iPod actually takes to charge, so I have no idea if such a device would make much of a dent in sustainability. But if it would make some of these women I see at the gym harness those ladies already (seriously, it's all I can do to not march over and just wordlessly hand them a Title 9 catalogue) it would be all to the good.

Greenhouse: Tuning Out "Green Noise"

Amy Kuras — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:02:00 GMT

You've probably experienced at least one of these things:

1) You use plastic cups at a picnic (your friend brought them) and bring them home, fully intending to wash them out and recycle them. But you're tired, it's been a long day, and the idea of washing one more damn dish makes you want to lay your head on the counter and weep. So, screw it, you think, as you toss them in the trash.

2) You spend precious minutes at the grocery store or farmer's market agonizing over which produce is better: locally grown but on an industrial farm, or organically grown but trucked from God knows where. Again, the "screw it" reaction kicks in, and/or the weeping.

3) You are trying to: decide whether to dump the Nalgene, buy a new car, use the dishwasher, or just surf the damn internet, and all the conflicting information out there makes you want to crawl under your bed. And weep. Or say "Screw it."

"Green noise" is the name for this phenomenon, which happens when there's so much information, much of it conflicting and all of it intense, out there. The New York Times delved into the idea, and discovered that possibly at fault are activist groups who are constantly shouting messages of doom into people's ears, as well as companies trying to greenwash themselves.

My idea? Do what works for your budget, life and green sensibilities. We can't do everything, nor should we – government and corporations play a role here too. Everything with a green upside also has a downside, and learning to sift through the crap to find what matters to you is a good skill to have, green or no.

Greenhouse: Cloth, not Chemicals

Amy Kuras — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:03:00 GMT

Hate cleaning. Like, a lot. Love the discussions that spring up here when I post about green cleaning products, so here's another interesting thing I came across, via The Consumerist (which has been fertile ground for me this week, due props to them). Writer Barbara Flanagan, from ID magazine, did an interesting piece on microfiber cleaning textiles.

The cloths have been incredibly popular in Europe since their introduction about 15 years ago. They clean by scraping surfaces with their microscopic fibers. No chemicals are needed, just water. Better still, you don’t throw them out when you're done, you just toss them in the wash.

I know I have seen these somewhere, but they are hard to find. Flanagan notes that there's a huge issue of disbelief, that simply a damp cloth can clean very well. And since microfiber is unregulated, crappy products take down the reputation of good ones.

She bought several from Newell Rubbermaid, which introduced a line of household microfiber cleaning cloths last year, and put them to the test her self and by asking several cleaning people to use them. The cloths worked, very well in fact. But many cleaners still didn't like them.

"My fellow cleaners were not happy; robbed of the sensory excitement of cleaning solutions—bright colors, heady fumes, sudsing, foaming, and definitive rinsing—everyone felt ineffective and disarmed. The rituals didn’t feel right."

True. I am a sucker for that nice clean smell after you've scrubbed down, say, the bathroom. But I would use microfiber if I could find them. Added bonus, no terrifying poison warnings on things I keep (inaccessibly, but still) in the same house with my kids.

Greenhouse: Cloths, not Chemicals

Amy Kuras — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:08:00 GMT

Greenhouse: The Family That Bathes Together ...

Amy Kuras — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:02:00 GMT

I'm not sure what to make of this news, except that it's a respite from the stream of depressing stories coming across our desks here at 'Derby HQ: Speeding up family baths can save energy.

I don’t mean having everyone in the family take a shorter shower, or filling the kids' bathtubs a minute less or whatever, I mean when the family shares one tub, having everybody take baths in quick succession means the water doesn’t need to be reheated, thus saving energy. (there is totally a "bathes together/stays together" joke here somewhere that's just not coming to me).

Before you turn up the royal nose, know that this how people take baths in Japan. People typically wash outside the tub and then soak in hot water for a bit afterward, and it's that soaking water that's shared by the family. I was a little grossed out, honestly, but then remembered I have used a hotel hot tub, not to mention the one inherited by one friend from another guy whose taste in women ran to the, let's say "professional" and skeevy. That's way grosser than a bunch of family members soaking their already-clean bodies.

Hot water use in bathrooms and kitchens accounted for 39 percent of energy consumed in Japanese homes, while in European (and American) households, energy is mainly used for air-conditioning and heating.

This is serious business in Japan – it's, admirably, one of the world's most energy-efficient countries, but greenhouse gas emissions have been on the rise recently. The government has responded by launching an effort to raise public awareness for global warming.

Greenhouse: Make Bark and Fluffy Green

Amy Kuras — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:32:00 GMT

Since we've become parents, my husband and I have been trying with mixed success to "tread more lightly on the Earth" as I say in my more pretentious moments. We have reduced the amount of stuff we buy, we recycle, and we reuse things as much as we can (who knew that our happy and grateful acceptance of hand-me-down toys and clothes doesn’t mark us as cheap bastards, but as an Earth-friendly family)?
But there's one area that we haven't "greened" at all – caring for the needy little four-legged beings who inhabited our life before the kids ever arrived. I guess I figured they were automatic resource sinks and didn’t think it was possible to "green your pets" (which conjures images of hair dye and really pissed-off cats, but whatever), but according to this post on Treehugger, it is!
Some things are no-brainers, or should be: spay and neuter to reduce unwanted pets, for example, clean up their poop with biodegradable bags, and keep housecats inside. Cats kill more birds than wind turbines, more than just about anything else, possibly including habitat destruction.
And according to Treehugger, it's more green and certainly more sustainable and humane to adopt a pet from a shelter than buying one at a pet store.
Others are more surprising, such as: you can compost pet waste as long as you aren't using it on anything you're going to eat. Which is maybe a little further than I want to go, but if you're willing, more power to you.

Greenhouse: Don't Make These Recycling Mistakes

Amy Kuras — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:33:00 GMT

Must be nice to live somewhere with curbside recycling. We don’t have it in my city, so we have to load up the family truckster and actually take the stuff to a center. I think if you have someone actually come to your actual house and haul away stuff and all you have to do it put it in a bin? You'd better be recycling. I mean come on, it cannot possibly be any harder than tossing stuff in the trash.

But according to this post on Green Daily, even the most well meaning recyclers make mistakes. Broken glass, for example, is difficult to sort and should be trashed instead of recycled (I did not know this, although we trash it anyway because we sort recycling into big open kid-height bins in our small kitchen and like to minimize the emergency room visits due to sliced-open little fingers). Also, any sort of food-stained cardboard like pizza boxes is no good (husband, I'm looking at you).

And there are lots of paper products that frequently make their way into recycling that don’t belong there, like stickers, waxed paper, and "sanitary products" (ewww ewww ewww — do people seriously need to be told this?).

I've yet to see a human being at the place we bring our stuff, but many recycling centers are staffed, or you can ask the friendly folk who pick up your bin from the curb, should you be so lucky. A quick call to your city's public works department would also clarify what's recycling friendly and what isn't.

Greenhouse: Mean, Green, and Clean

Amy Kuras — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:03:00 GMT

For the first time since our little guy was born 11 weeks ago, we're havin' ourselves a party this weekend. A not-so-big one, and mostly family, but involving people who are Not Us coming over to our house.
And that means cleaning. Real cleaning, beyond the daily food gunk removal and periodic slapdash vacuuming of pet hair off floors and bathroom scrubbing we've been doing just to keep the place from being condemned. I hate cleaning, I mean like really loathe it with every fiber of my being to the point just about the only thing I can think of when I am cleaning is how much I hate cleaning.
So I am a sucker for tips to make it easier, which is at odds with my desire to be more environmentally responsible. Seems like the more toxic something is, the better it works.
Here are a couple of things that have come into the Strollerderby Command Center lately that I thought were interesting:

How to make your own laundry soap. Mod Cottage, which I've never seen before and is so ultra cool, has a whole category on "green-ish" living. Cheap – less than half the cost per load of commercially available stuff – and earth-friendly. The same post has a recipe for laundry rinse. None of the people in my house can use any commercially scented products because our skin will go insane, and I miss nice-smelling clothes, so I may give this a shot. And laundry is the only houseworky task I kind of enjoy, so hurray.

Howotodothings.com's Green Living Guide. This site needs some major copy editing, but some of the tips are cool (use lemons for cleaning!) or just plain intriguing (use urine as fertilizer! — and no, I could not bring myself to click the link. GAH.)

Wish me luck, peeps, and any advice on getting it done fast and greenly are appreciated.

Greenhouse: Green Ain't Always Good

Amy Kuras — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Oh, Spicoli. Why do you make it so hard for me to like you?

You're such a wonderful, riveting actor and just such a tool whenever you wind up in the media in real life.

Penn's loaded 300 hippies fresh from the Coachella festival into biodiesel buses for the "Dirty Hands Caravan" after the festival's weekend festivities. They'll take a six-day trek through America, stopping in New Orleans at the Jazz and Heritage Festival. (At least 300 was the plan -- given that this seems to have been met with something less than ringing enthusiasm, we'll see). The idea is that the trip will be a protest against the Iraq war, and travelers are expected to build houses for the homeless along the route or "engaging in whatever way they feel compelled to help others."

Why can overserious activist types take even things that sound like such good ideas and make it sound so pointless? Volunteerism, good. Biodiesel, good. Inspiring action, good.

But carting people on a bus to another music festival while exhorting them to take some sort of nebulous "action" is going to be about as helpful for the homeless, the war or the environment as, well, about as helpful as you'd expect a caravan to be that's made up of hippieish music fans who had no compelling plans for the next ten or so days and who thought hopping on a bus and staying at campgrounds with a celebrity for no apparent real reason sounded fab.

I'll leave you with this post from someone called climbon321 on the Coachella message board: "....My guess is about halfway through Arizona half the bus gets stoned and wanders off. He'll probably return with like 10% of the people he left with."

Greenhouse: Recycling-Bin Crafts

Amy Kuras — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:31:00 GMT

Crafts are fun, for some of us super awesome parents. Then there's people like me, who are either spending a small fortune on new stuff or finding ourselves stuck with five blue markers and all the pink ones dried beyond salvaging, crusty glue and goopy paint.

But the green mantra of "reduce, reuse, recycle" is especially apt for kids crafts. Raiding the recycling bin can yield project starters like yogurt cups, paper towel rolls and egg cartons that can be turned into all kinds of things (my level of creativity is mostly "Look! A flower pot! A telescope! A home for, um, egg people!" but YMMV).

Luckily, there are some really creative parents out there coming up with some cool stuff to do with odds and ends around the house and sharing with the less inspired among us. One of those is Donna Erickson, a TV host and blogger with the St Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota. If you've got an old CD and a mustard bottle headed for the recyling bin, you can make and decorate a spinning top. Or, (and this is awesome) balloon hovercraft, anyone?

Greenhouse: Secondhand is Green, Baby

Amy Kuras — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:32:00 GMT

I'm as green-aspirational as the next person – I recycle, I bring my own bag to the store, and I would so totally own a hybrid if we could afford one. But I am contending with a budget that's much more Sav-A-Lot than Whole Foods. Attempting to be the perfect "green consumer" feels like a luxury I cannot afford, and makes me despair of ever having a real impact on the environment.

But one of the most important things you can do to be green is quite frankly, buy less crap. I liked Grow Baby Green's take on it. They point out that the environmental movement is really all about conservation, and that means using less. That doesn't mean living like a monk, but thinking more about your purchases. For example, instead of using paper napkins you pitch after every use, buy or make some nice cloth ones and don’t launder them after every non-gross use.

They also suggest checking out second hand stores. I'd add garage sales to the list – one of the wealthy suburbs near me allows them one weekend a year and I scored an $80 wooden "activity center" in perfect condition for $4.

It features "10 totally free green baby tips" at the end of the post, and while I don’t agree with every one of them – I fail to see how putting off solids until 7 or 8 months helps the environment all that much – some of it sounds pretty simple and even fun.

Greenhouse: Mousy Effort for Earth Day

Amy Kuras — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Earth Day is soon upon us, and as trendy as "green" has become this year, expect plenty of companies jumping on the bandwagon. And expect many of those to be targeting your kids. After all, kids are often the leaders in their families when it comes to changing habits – many parents I know report that their kids, especially once they get to school age, are the ones enforcing recycling and nagging about turning off lights and so on.

But one entity I didn’t expect to be pushing the whole Earth Day thing was one that has a pretty major stake in getting kids to be indoors, with the TV and DVD player and satellite dish all at full roar. Namely, the Disney Channel or more specifically Playhouse Disney, their morning block dedicated to young children.

I ran across an ad for this the other day when my daughter was getting her "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" fix (I am hanging my head in shame as I write this), and was curious as to what the pimped "Earth Day" section on their website might have to offer.

And it's so little as to be laughable: a game, two printable coloring pages and two other pages of tips for what families can do to celebrate Earth Day or be more environmentally conscious. Take nature walks, turn off the water when you're washing your hands, that kind of thing.

Not that I expected "An Inconvenient Truth" -- but are paper-wasting printables really the best incentive to be offering for Earth Day?

Greenhouse: Breastfeeding is Green

Amy Kuras — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:13:00 GMT

We've all heard again and again and yet again about all the reasons breastfeeding is good for babies. But it's good for the environment as well.

Cows, which make the milk that's used to make formula, are great big mooing polluters, is why. Plus there is the issue of all the formula cans or bottles – they aren’t always recyclable – as well as water used to wash a day's worth of bottles, and fossil fuels used to truck formula from factory to store.

All this to bring your attention to the fact a web store called NursingMotherSupplies.com is running a contest called "Nursing is Green." They are looking for the perfect slogan to fit on a t-shirt touting the environmentaly friendly nature of breastfeeding. The prize is a $300 breastfeeding gift basket.

I take issue with the fact they call formula "artificial baby milk" which I find a little judgy. They do sell a nice selection of products at decent prices, which I like since it can be hard know where to look to find useful products, and hey, you could win free swag.

None of these will fit on a t-shirt, but as a nursing mother who's just survived the first month, let me add these tongue-in-cheek reasons breastfeeding is green:

•    Being tied to the couch with a cluster-feeding baby means you're not driving anywhere, so no carbon emissions.

•    Have no time to pee or shower? Saves water!

•    Falling asleep at 9 p.m. out of the sheer exhaustion of being the sole source of nutrition for a growing human being saves tons of electricity.

Got a better idea (and yeah, that's not a high bar to clear)? Get your submissions in to NursingMotherSupplies.com by April 30.

Greenhouse: BPA-Free Baby Feeding

Amy Kuras — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:03:00 GMT

By now, the concerns about bisphenol-A in baby bottles have been well-documented. Studies have shown it disrupts the endocrine system, can cause damage to egg cells and even cause hyperactivity. Attempts to ban it in some US states have mostly failed, but worried parents are starting to seek out options.

Most clear, rigid baby bottles contain it –it's BPA that makes them that way, and yes, that's just about every widely available bottle out there. There are BPA-free options, although they are generally quite expensive, around $10 for just one bottle. Of course, there's always good old-fashioned glass (which is less expensive but gives a klutz like me anxiety attacks, but it's apparently tempered safety glass and thus sturdier).

Once you have decided to use a BPA-free bottle, though, there is more to worry about. Like, what sort of nipple should you be attaching to that bottle? According to Green Daily, silicone, which is nonreactive, is a healthier and greener choice than latex.

The same goes for pacifiers, of course.

Even if you exclusively breasfeed, you're likely going to need to give your baby a bottle of pumped milk at some point. So educating yourself on the options is a good idea.

They also have a Green Baby guide on the site, which lists earth-friendly products that are good for bottlefeeding and good for nursing.

Greenhouse: Carpool Duty Made Easier

Amy Kuras — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:53:00 GMT

With gas prices pretty firmly stuck around the $3 mark in many places, and families facing tighter schedules and tougher commutes all the time, carpooling is an attractive — and green – option. The more people you carry, the more efficient that gas you burn becomes. And if you're driving a big status-symbol vehicle anyway, why not put all that space to good use?

A new website offers parents the chance to coordinate carpools with each other based on each driver's individual needs and create a driving schedule based on that. It works somewhat similarly to a social networking site in that you enter your kid's activities and school schedules, and then invite families you know to join you and set up a carpool schedule. Dividetheride.com then emails the schedule to the entire group and sends reminders via text message and email. Let's just say this would have come in handy during my carpooling days, when one dad stranded us repeatedly because he forgot.

The Divide The Ride homepage allows drivers to see an approximate estimate of miles saved, rides shared and gallons of gasoline saved in a year, as well.

When I was a kid, we carpooled everywhere, mostly to save our parents some sanity instead of saving gas or cutting pollution. There were several kids from our neighborhood heading to the schools we attended, and it just made sense. Most of the time it worked well, except for the Bitch Patrol I got stuck with in high school.

It teaches the importance of being on time and responsible to other people, and reinforces organizational skills.
And little did we know at the time, we were all earth-friendly too.

Greenhouse: Baking Soda is Wonder Stuff

Amy Kuras — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:03:00 GMT

I'm not exactly the world's most fabulous housekeeper, but I do feel better when the house is clean. I just hate all the hard work required to do it. So I tend to turn to harsh cleaners that get the job done fast, all the while worrying about the effect it may have on the baby I am carrying or the air quality in the house for the people and pets that are already living here.

So I love coming across tips for inexpensive, nontoxic, green cleaners (because while I am totally Method's bitch, the cost mounts up). Like these tips for baking soda. I already knew it was a wonder substance, but I didn't know it could do things like put out small kitchen fires, kill roaches, and deodorize your hands (I'm assuming after chopping onions or garlic). And to keep drains clear, pour baking soda and vinegar down them once a week, which sounds like a chore my daughter and husband would fight for.

My favorite baking soda use is as a deodorizer for stanky gross laundry. When my daughter was in the "frequent accidents" phase of potty training, I'd throw a bunch in with any load that had her stuff in it and it came out smelling fine – I'm guessing it would work well on cloth diapers too. Plus I use it on sheets and towels; we all have sensitive skin and this helps soften and freshen them without giving us rashes.

Not only is it Earth-friendly, it's cheap. You can find it in giant bags at Costco and frequently find generics at the dollar store.

Greenhouse: Greenest Cartoon Characters

Amy Kuras — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:13:00 GMT

For all the many things I have wondered about in this world, "which cartoon characters are the greenest?" has never been on the list.

That being said, this lighthearted little article on GreenDaily is pretty damn cute. Some of the choices are not surprising – Lisa Simpson, for example – while others are a little more so, like Hank Hill (although I must admit I have never, ever seen King of the Hill for more than like two seconds, so he could be second only to Al Gore and I wouldn't know). Bambi's on the list, which sounds lovely, but I only saw it once, when I was five, and was so traumatized by the whole fire and mother killed by hunters situations I have not ever been able to see it again.

The one that struck me as the weirdest, although certainly the most appropriate, was Captain Planet. The hell? Did anyone seriously watch this? I don’t remember ever having seen such a thing – I am guessing it came after both my own cartoon days and my babysitting ones. It sounds just horrible. His enemies are smog? And pollution? Gah. Can we say preachy and annoying?

I'm also surprised at the lack of Dora and Diego, banes of my existence though they are. I I mean, Dora saved the mermaids from the trashy octopus, and Diego helps his family run an animal rescue center. Of course, when characters inspire boatloads of cheap plastic crap from China, I guess they don’t get to be green anymore.