Green Options

When I was in 7th grade, someone gave me a “word-a-day” vocabulary building calendar. Nothing made me happier than showing off with words like “incongruous.” What would have made it more fun, however, would’ve been doing good while expanding my word use!

The UN World Food Program has come up with an ingenious game, Free Rice. You are presented with four or five definitions for a word and with each correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated to feed the hungry around the world.

It didn’t take me long to work up to 1080 grains of rice and I had the option to set the game to remember my computer and add to the total.

As the author of a book series about eco-heroes, I get a lot of fan mail from kids that are fired up to do something to help the environment. Kids can get fired up by many things: seeing a favorite bit of nature developed, a television show on Animal Planet, PBS or Discovery, a personal experience with wildlife. How do you help the next generation move from being inspired to taking action?

I steer my young fans to a fantastic organization called, Roots and Shoots. Formed by renown primatologist and humanitarian, Jane Goodall, Roots and Shoots channels the energy of youth into making positive change for their communities, for the animals and for the planet!

My hubby has long had a taste for sparkling waters. Considering that the average 12 oz soda has 150 calories, 10-15 grams of sugar/high fructose corn syrup and drinking one can a day can lead to a 15-pound yearly weight gain (and diet soda isn’t much better) …I’m glad he likes the clear, slightly lemony stuff.

However, I always feel a pang of  ’green guilt,’ as I dutifully return the plastic bottles for recycling.  I had to consider that the plastic was made from petroleum, the bottles had to be shipped and it was all for an unneccessary food item. I found a brand of bubbly in glass containers, but the travel costs of our simple treat still nagged me.

My sister solved my dilemma with the best Christmas present ever! I am loving our new Soda Club Fountain Jet! Our starter kit came with soda flavors to add, but we’ve been happy with our bubbles and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

Like many of you, I’m very aware that what goes on my skin, in my hair and on my floors and countertops, also goes down the drain and into the world! I distinctly remember a moment, while congratulating myself for using a great, organic body care product, that I looked at the label and realized that bottle had traveled about 3000 miles!  Then I squinted and saw that Unilever was distributing the product and I was no longer giving my money to the small, eco-friendly company that I thought I was!

This New York Times article has me again pondering the crossroads of eco-friendly products and economies of scale. 

While I’m a big fan of the cleaning power of baking soda, vinegar, Borax and lemons …a decent homemade shampoo is still beyond me!  It took me a while, but I found a skin care line that I like; not only because the ingrediants are simple and organic, but because the packaging is recycleble.

I’ve been a a fitness and wellness professional for 18 years and I believe that tools we employ to improve personal health can also be employed for planetary health. Measuring progress through fitness assessment and “proving” that actions are producing results is huge motivator. Seeing empiricle data can help solidify new habits.

Although I am a right-brain, creative type, I enjoy measuring results as much as the next person. This past year, It seemed like everywhere I went, someone was handing me a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL) and explaining how this 15-second change will remove CO2 from the air and fight global warming. That is why I got a kick out of One Billion Bulbs.

Altough there are other sites that will calculate your savings if you switch to CFLs, One Billion Bulbs lets you form a group and measure the results of making the switch.

I feel a little redundant writing about gift wrapping so late in the game; but I’m extremely proud of my own efforts and wanted to share!

For quite a few years I used Sunday Funnies and newspaper. But honestly, they are just a little too ultilitarian looking to spark an “ooh” or an “ahh” from anyone. Last year, as I was shuttling yet another seed catalog to the recyling bin, I realized I actually had an abundance of very pretty wrapping paper! I now save all my seed and flower catalogs and usually use bailing twine as ribbon. My friends and family think its great.

My sister and I have been swapping the same bits of wire ribbon for years now. As ribbon, it is extremely re-usable and can be melded into just the right bow shape. This year, I decided to purchase a bunch of red, felt bows with wire twist-ties on the back. I figure that since I give presents to the same people every December, I’ll collect them up and reuse them next year!

‘Tis the weekend to find a meaningful, last-minute gift! The best gift you can give a child is a gift that will help forge a connection with nature. I believe birds and plants are the two great ambassadors of the environment. If your child has been nagging for a pet, why not help them develop a sense of responsibility and foster their connection to nature with a birdfeeder?

Contrary to what you may have heard, birdfeeding will not spread disease or make the birds forget where their natural food sources are. All seed is not created equal. The cheap seed you find in mega-marts generally comes from the bottom of the silo of seed for human consumption. It is long bereft of the healthy oils that the birds are seeking. If you see the birds, “sorting” through your seed, you need to look for a better quality source.

I purchased a “pole system” from my local Wild Birds Unlimited a few years ago and am watching a pair of cardinals, a nuthatch, purple finches, mourning doves, and blue jays converging on the feeder as I type. Yes, occassionally a sharp-shinned hawk swoops in to grab a meal; but learning about predator/prey and the cycle of life is part of appreciating nature!

The big day ‘o gifts is fast approaching and every child I know is bouncing off the walls!  (Of course in kid-world, time is dragging painfully slow!) If you are interested in creating a more sustainable future consider an annual observance of the winter solstice. This is a great opportunity to connect our children to the endless rhythms of nature.

For most of us, the winter solstice will be Dec. 22nd. There are so many ways to approach this pivotal moment in earth’s year: astronomically, historically, agriculturally, religiously/comparative religiously, anthropologically. For example, hundreds of years before Stonehenge, there was Newgrange – a massive structure in Ireland that captures the beam of the rising sun on the winter solstice. And this year, for the first time, you can view this event live via webcast!

One of the things I’m enjoying most about being an author, is the chance to go new places, meet inspiring people and make new connections. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the folks from Green Options Media at the Green Festival in San Francisco.

I’m thrilled to be asked to be a regular blogger here at Eco Child’s Play. I want to tell you a bit about myself and what I hope to contribute here. [...]