Such a fuss lately about the new, energy-efficient, long-lasting CFL lightbulbs. We all switched to be more green, and adjusted to the slightly odd cast of light and the funny swirls. I personally celebrated when they came out with short ones and different shapes to accommodate my many lamps.

But then opposition (can there really be? But yes there is and spearheaded from Texas no less, of course! Check out this YouTube video a concerned neighbor emailed to me.) made such a fuss, such a hue and cry about the trace amounts of mercury in the bulbs and how they can’t be simply thrown in the trash (no! oh no! one must recycle the bulbs! the horror!).

For the record: I am very perplexed how these politicians can say the uproar about mercury in vaccinations that we inject into small children’s bodies is just fine, but be all up in arms over a trace amount of mercury in light bulbs. Listen, either it’s safe or it’s not safe; frankly, mercury going into the body would worry me more than a small amount in a lightbulb.

But Home Depot has stepped in to make it easy by offering a CFL lightbulb recycling program at their stores—and admit it: we’re all there fairly regularly aren’t we? Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to Seattle’s The Green Parent for alerting us to the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act (aka H.R. 3021).  It’s a school construction program with a green building requirement.  Makes good sense to require green building if you’re gonna fund building, but what I want to know is this: if Congress can drum up huge sums of money for this, why so few teachers?  Old text books?  Don’t states fund schools? Read the rest of this entry »

Mummy I’m Bored

Sound familiar? Many mothers I know pack their kids’ days with activities from the time that they wake up to the time that they fall asleep. And while there is certainly some logic to keeping kids busy, like adults, they too need a break. Downtime is critical not only to help kids recharge their batteries, but also to teach them survival skills. As a child I remember telling my mother that I was bored only to receive the standard reply “Only boring people can be bored.” At some point it occurred to me that I should probably figure out ways to keep myself busy rather than bugging my mother to do it for me. How can parents nurture creativity in a child who’s imagination is not given the opportunity to create his or her own pastime? How will that translate to creativity skills in adulthood? Read the rest of this entry »

With a disabled dishwasher I am reliving my preteen years and rediscovering the joys of hand washing dishes. It’s akin to the potato peeling thrills of yore. Lately many of my kitchen adventures have recalled my past life of indentured servitude but I draw the line at ironing. Hours of practice on my mother’s lace hankies left me convinced that wrinkles were not the evil she made them out to be.Washing dishes, however, has not been as arduous as I remember it. Perhaps the reason why lies with my help mate? My husband is certainly preferable company to my younger sisters or perhaps it’s the feeling that I’m doing something to help the environment and conserve water and energy. While the former is true, the latter is one of those eco-myths that needs to be snoped out. Read the rest of this entry »

The Atlantic Forest is one of the largest tropical rain forests in the world. However, after decades of clear cutting, expansion, development, and agriculture only seven percent of the original forest remains.

Why are tropical rain forests important to the earth and to people?

Forests regulate the atmosphere and stabilize global climate. They also store carbon dioxide and release oxygen. One billion people depend directly on the rain forest. In addition to the lifegiving attributes for the entire world, such as water, medicine, and oxygen, rain forests also provide livelihoods and even hydro energy.

It’s also home to one of the most diverse collections of plant and animal species.: 23 species of primates, 1,000 species of birds, and over 20,000 species of plants.

What is being done to preserve and restore this essential tropical rain forest?

The Nature Conservancy launched Plant A Billion, which intends to, with partners, plant one billion trees and restore 2.5 million acres of the forest. They hope to accomplish this within seven years.

How will this help?

The Nature Conservancy says that once they’ve planted the new trees and restored the forest, it should remove 10 million tons of carbon dioxide from the air every year, which is the equivalent of taking two million cars off the road.

They also plan to protect 10 watersheds, provide hydro power to 70 million people, create 20,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs.

What can you do?

I joined this initiative by starting a campaign. I hope you’ll join in! My goal is $250 for 250 trees. The money goes directly to the Plant a Billion and Nature Conservancy, but we can track it if you click through the widget here:

Thank you!

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m. many cities throughtout the world will participate in Earth Hour, the global movement that will have millions of people across the globe turning off the lights in their homes, offices and communities. 

What started in Sydney, Australia in 2007 has now become a global movement.  For one hour on March 31, 2007 Sydney powered down and lived by candlelight.  The effect of this effort reduced the city of Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% in just one hour.  This has the same effect as taking 48,000 cars off the roads for one year.  During that one hour families, friends and individuals gathered together by candlelight and not only fostered a better sense of community but realized the many ways they can further reduce their carbon footprint from the Earth.

Now in 2008 cities and towns all over the world have decided to take part in this major environmental effort.  In the US, Chicago leads the way and is joined by corporations and organizations like McDonald’s and the Chicago Cubs who join the World Wildlife Federation in sponsoring this first US Earth Hour. 

I for one will be joining this effort and not just because they used Jeremy Piven’s voice in the US version of the Earth Hour piece. I think this is a great way to introduce the idea of conservation to my child and create a community or neighborhood effort at the same time.  The website has many great ideas to get your effort started.  I hope that many more people throughout the world and in our country (the US is behind the curve on this one) will log on to this site, participate and learn more about how they too can easily reduce their carbon footprint.   

If you asked me my single largest task these days (other than mommying the kids) my answer would hands down be laundry. At three, my youngest daughter is full tilt into the multiple wardrobe changes a day, either because the outfit got “messed up” (dirty) or because a new idea/mood has come over her.

So laundry was one of the first things I started investigating as an area to improve our green. Many people advocated washing in cold water to save energy. My concern with this was could cold water get out all the stains my kids got on their clothes? The answer—after many different trials—was not as well as warm water. So I continue to wash the kids’clothes in warm water with a cold rinse. My rationalization consolation is that I have a low water energy efficient washer.

However, cold water works fine for my clothes and most of my husbands. Some of his things have to go in with the kids. As an architect who is frequently at the construction site, he can get as dirty if not more so than the kids.

I did switch detergents. When I bought my washer and dryer, I got a year’s worth of free laundry soap. Tide. I think Tide is fine, but I think Method is better. About.com’s Housekeeping guide gave it four and a half out of five stars and explained

Method laundry detergent takes up less space in your home and accomplishes the same cleaning power. This laundry detergent contains active enzymes and allows stains and soil to be broken down. The laundry detergent from Method is fresh and leaves clothing smelling great. Method doesn’t contain phosphates. It is biodegradable and is never tested on animals.

It’s a safer product to use—earth, animal and human friendly—and it works better.

These are the ingredients:

blend of naturally derived and biodegradable surfactants
corn alcohol
glycerin
potassium hydrate
non-toxic solvent
sodium borate
natural enzymes
biodegradable brightening agent
fragrance oil blend
preservative (under 0.1%)
color
purified water

Less water needed to dilute, less packaging required so less for landfills, safer ingredients, no animal testing and excellent cleaning ability is a perfect match for us. Now I just need to convince my daughter one outfit per day is okay, and hope she doesn’t notice that I keep slipping the “barely worn” things back into her closet.

I also switched to Method dryer sheets. Many people tell me dryer sheets are unnecessary and maybe one day I’ll take that step, but in the meantime, these dryer sheets don’t emit toxins and are earth-planet-and human friendly too. They don’t use animal tallow.

Take a look at your laundry and the detergent and dryer sheets you use and see what improvements you can make.

As a postscript to this, I caught a commercial on television about Tide and its campaign Loads of Hope. Tide sends an 18-wheeler filled with front-loader washing machines and dryers to disaster areas to wash laundry for displaced people. They washed thousands of loads for Katrina affected people, and are now in California washing for people displaced by the fire.

On the commercial, grateful recipients rave about how great Tide is and how much it means to them to have clean clothes. I can appreciate that sentiment.

The way you help is by purchasing a vintage Tide t-shirt. The Web site says all proceeds go to helping families affected by disaster.

It sounds good but I can’t help but recall the breast cancer bracelets and how much of that money actually went to breast cancer.

I tried to do some research but didn’t hit the right channels. Does anyone know how effective this campaign is? Does the money go to the washing program or to the people to use to rebuild? Or both? Many thanks for any information.

cross-posted at Julie Pippert RECOMMENDS: A real opinion about HELPFUL and TIME-SAVING products

Copyright 2007 Julie Pippert
Also blogging at: Using My Words

In the past year I have really ramped up our efforts to ‘green’ our lives.  I am loathe to say it is because greening has become trendy because mainly it is due in fact to my job change.  My ability to work from home and construct a writing career has freed up some of my time.  No longer chugging to work each day doing the long commute I have been able to sit and think a bit. To ruminate on the waste our house puts out and how to conserve, eat and live better.  I have been able to think more about my choices and what we use and put into our bodies. 

Since I no longer order my groceries online while conducting a phone conference at work, I can plan our meals and buy less processed food.  I have switched to the Farmer’s Market when possible. Bought cloth bags to tote to the store. I recycle a whole lot more, waste less, and have eliminated harmful chemicals from our home just to name a few. It’s taken a lot of thought and research but I believe in the end we are better for it. We are making a tiny bit of a difference.  I’m proud of the changes I’ve made in our lives and hope I’m instilling some it it in my child.  I want her to be a good steward for this planet as she grows.  I’m always on the lookout for more ways to green our lives and I try not to be too preachy about the whole thing.

So why was I so irritated when my husband started calling me Ms. Green in the last few weeks? Mainly because he would do it to point out a fault.  “Oh Ms. Green left the TV on.” “Hey, Ms. Green you forgot to shut off the computer.”  Right.  You get the idea.  Every time he would find the TV or computer on he would blame me.  I’m not going to nit-pick here (OK maybe a little) but the family computer is ALWAYS left on because I rarely use that one and neither does our two year old.  I simply turn it off when I find it on.  I don’t chide.  I do the same with the lights and pull out the plugs from the outlets of the countless items my husband keeps continuously plugged in daily (cell phones, chargers, Ipods galore!) around the home.  If my daughter is watching Elmo while I cook dinner and I forget to shut off the TV two rooms away when she gets bored and decides to stir up trouble with the dog, I’m sorry.  I don’t even notice that it’s on. I’m busy trying not to burn the house down with dinner or have our kid come to blows with our hyped up terrier. 

It’s as if with each ‘Ms. Green’ what he is really doing is making fun and being condescending.  He isn’t not taking part in our lifestyle change but he isn’t helping it either.  Each time he calls me by that moniker I feel as if I don’t have him on my side or in my court. I feel that each ‘Ms. Green’ is the equivalent to being told that I’m forcing all this on him when he’s done nothing more than use the new household cleaners and take out the recycling.   If the shoe were on the other foot and he was instituting these changes that have not disrupted our lives in any major way, I would support him, not condescend.  I would stand by him and not make fun. 

Trying to be more environmentally conscious does not make me feel like I’m a better person over anyone else. That isn’t the reason I do it.  I do it for our planet. I do it to teach my child a different way to live that is less wasteful and more thoughtful and concious of those around her.  I expect her to carry these lessons with her into her life just as I have.  What I do not expect or need is to feel that I’m doing battle in my own home.  I, like the earth, need all the support I can get.  So call me crunchy or a tree huggin’ granola head but just don’t call me Ms. Green.

It’s time to shop, reflect, give thanks, eat! During the upcoming feasting and holiday celebrations, may we celebrate in particular the individuals who are changing the world’s story with the strength of their commitment; a story in which currently every other child lives in poverty, almost half of all war casualties are children, and global warming threatens every child’s future.

Let’s take time to honor mothers like the late Dame Anita Roddick who said, “I want to connect with people who share my outrage…But I also want to tell — and hear…stories that lift our spirits, that celebrate how glorious our planet is. Outrage and celebration — let’s run this gamut together.”

Inspired leaders like Greg Mortenson who says, “When I look into the eyes of the children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, I see the eyes of my own children full of wonder. I hope that we each do our part to leave them a legacy of peace.”

Mamas and community builders like Tiffany Bellah, who says, “Having a baby changes everything. Since that wonder-filled day 6 years ago when Grace entered this world, I have been reaching out of my comfort zone. She has made of me a responsible revolutionary, and my role as her mentor and mother has propelled me to take an active part in forming the world she will be inheriting.”

People who, when our common family is threatened, find the courage and strength to change the story. This holiday season, Mothers Acting Up* cheers, stomps, whistles and in every other way honors the individuals around the world who are taking action on behalf of our future generations. YES!!!!

Purchase the 2008 MAU Handbooks for story-changing individuals,
information and actions: www.mothersactingup.org

*mothers and others, on stilts or off, who exercise protective care over someone smaller

Cross-posted from Ms. Booty Homemaker Explains It All To You.
Ever in an effort to simplify, go greener by reduction of my family’s carbon footprint, and live in a way that jives with ideals and principles, I’ve recently made a commitment to shy from conventionally raised meats in favor of locally humanely and free range / grass fed animals. We women of this country, as the buyers of most things our households require, exercise the greatest purchasing power of all: 83% of all spending in the US, according to Time Magazine. And because right is right to do and because it really does matter where we put our money, as we are an economical force ripe and ready to create change that does ALL of us good, I’m doing what I can, when I can, both for the nutritive and ethical health of my family and for the good of my community, and my planet. Lofty? Yeah. Elitist? I hope not.

I’ve gone round and round about this from multiple standpoints, and while my Mister still regularly purchases chicken livers from the Kroger deli in throwaway plastic clamshell packaging, I feel it’s important and worthwhile to continue to do our part as a whole. We’ve had a CSA membership with Delvin Farms for several years now, and now, along with some mama friends, I’ve sought out local humane sources for the meat that our family continues to choose to eat. Vegetarian for a number of years, I’ve found that I just do better with meat, and feel strong and best about it when the source is right. To that end, this week has had a gaggle of us running from one end of town to the other with a host of coolers and drop off and pick up points for whole processed chickens from a Centreville family, and both beef and lamb from a Mennonite farmer just over the Kentucky line.

All of this took a great deal of coordination and phone calls and emails and such, as this is the beginning of something we hope will sustain our community farmers, AND our families for some time to come. One morning as Maria and I hammered out some details by telephone, Ziggy and another child I’ve been watching occasionally played on the swingset and in our backyard sandbox. “You know,” said Maria, “sometimes we might complain about how much all this effort is taking and I have to call so and so again, but think of the community we’re building around this!”

Right she is. We’re also compelled, in these interactions, to rely on one another, to share our lives and to become less isolated. For me, a highly social being with a not so social husband who is gone from home seven days a week, this is critical. As it is for our very social toddler. The Mister, by his own admission, benefits from this network of community though he himself is not drawn toward growing it or maintaining it in large part. I have to say, however, that he is appreciative and involved when called on, as we have all relied heavily on one another in times of distress (illness, hospitalizations, marital strife, work loads…) AND in times of celebration (weddings, births, housewarmings and birthday parties). Too, during these get togethers (in person, by telephone, and online) based on task, we plan up additional projects, share recipes, pass along toys and clothing from one child to another, support one another’s businesses and organizations and in general create a larger nest for our respective broods.

These friends, these connections, keep me wed to not just my husband (five years right ’round the corner) but also to my *life* in a deep way. Spiritually, ethically,  socially, with joy and with gratitude. They keep me accountable and I enjoy that, seeing the rewards reaped for my boy and my man, in addition to my own self. Like I said, I’m social, and I recognize that not everyone shares this need for symbolic hand-holding round the pot of Stone Soup, but for those of us that do, finding our tribe is vital to our wellbeing.

And good food– sown, grown, harvested and then prepared with some local lavish love– binds us all together. Of late, that meant fresh salsas and simply *amazing* vegetable enchiladas for our Fall Fiesta, a combination housewarming and second birthday party for our boy. There’ve been salads and farm fresh egg sandwiches, and this very morning, butternut pancakes, in response to Ziggy’s request for “Cake, please, Mommy!” in all likelihood a holdover craving from the pumpkin chocolate chip concoction for aforementioned party. And then last night there was this marvelous soup, as sustaining for the spirits as for the nurturing of the bodies of my family.

In thinking of how to best marry a chicken I thawed with a slew of goodies from my most recent CSA share, I was pondering on fall and warmth and came up with a nice variation on sweet potato chicken soup.

Sweet Potato Chicken Soup with Greens

Ingredients:

1 small whole chicken
Olive oil, pat of butter
3-4 ribs celery, chopped
1 carrot, sliced in half moons
2 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red Hungarian pepper, minced
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
5 small – medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
Salt, pepper, cinnamon
1 bunch mustard greens, chopped

Boil chicken in liberally salted water and cool in its own broth. Sautee celery, carrot, onion, peppers, garlic in olive oil w/ a small pat of butter until all are slightly caramelized. Pull cooled chicken (will be warm, but NOT hot) from the broth. Add veggies to the broth pot and boil gently. Salt and pepper soup, add a dash of cinnamon. Pick cooled chicken, discarding skin and fat, save the bones in a freezer zip lock for soup another time. You can cube chicken or leave in rough pieces. Ten to fifteen minutes prior to when you want to eat soup, add your greens (use any dark fall / winter green) to the top of the soup pot and place lid back on, allowing them to steam but retain bright green color.

I would have made this spicier, but declined to do so in favor of the boy’s palate, which enjoys spice but not hothothot. The Mister and I seasoned our bowls of soup with the deliciously tangy green Tobasco sauce.

I imagine you could do this soup with any slightly sweet winter squash in place of the sweet potatoes. You could add a shot of lime and tortilla chips and add cumin to the seasoning. Canned tomatoes and / or green chiles would also be nice here. The variations are endless. In this one, the cinnamon with the spicy pepper and the Tobasco was really nice and very Autumnal.