But nothing puts a hurting on a budget than a new car and an eco-friendly one at that.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we need to buy a brand new car. I’m just saying that we’re going to need to invest in something big enough to fit two car seats and a booster. Well, legally anyway, because no matter how much my daughter begs me to ride on the roof, I just don’t foresee that in her future.

And we’re trying as hard as we can not to have kiss our freedom from car payments good-bye. It certainly helps when we’re paying $4/gallon for gas.

Thanks to the folks at GM and Volvo, I’ve had the opportunity to try out a few different cars, including GM’s Acadia and Tahoe Hybrid, and Volvo’s V-70 Wagon. But even those fairly reasonably priced cars (okay, except the Hybird — WHOA!), may not be feasible. Then add in the fact that my husband and I really want something that’s eco-friendly and doesn’t have the word “VAN” in it and we’ve got ourselves quite a dilemma.

Of course, doing less driving is always a fantastic option, but considering we live in a suburb of a city where you do really have to drive to get anywhere, it’s not the greatest one, at least for a mom with three kids under four (wow, that’s still really hard for me to get my own mind around!).

So aside from continuing to research all our options, I’ve invited Jody DeVere, the Founder/CEO of Ask Patty, to join me on my parenting podcast Wednesday, July 2 from 9-9:30pm EST to discuss eco and family friendly cars. Her website offers fantastic resources specific to women and cars, and I’m sure she’ll offer a myriad of helpful suggestions.

I’d love to hear from eco-conscious families of five plus — what car are you driving and what do you think about it? Leave your answer in the comments or share them on the Motherhood Uncensored podcast from 9-9:30pm EST by calling in (646-915-8634) or chatting at Blog Talk Radio.

More Related Posts on Cars:

Pimpin’ Your Ride: The Green Way

Company Turns Familiar Gas Cars into Electric Vehicles

How Many Hours Do You Have to Work to Fill Your Gas Tank?

Now (for the sake of time), I would like to say a bit about sacred places future.

How can we ensure that our children and those beyond have places that they can hold sacred? Obviously, on a general level we have to continue (increase!) efforts to preserve species, habitats, resources, and overall biological diversity. That goes without saying. I want focus here on how we can ensure that our children will be sensitive to nature–that every future generation can be a Generation W (Wild) filled with lots and lots of little green men and women.

Even as we fall more and more under the tyranny of technology, even as we enter a “brave new world” that is more like the one Huxley envisioned than Shakespeare, there are many possible sacred places for future children. But I think some of the most will be green homes, green schools, and green screens.

Green Homes

You can make your home a green home whether or not you have a house, with an actual yard. Do anything and everything that you can to make your home place, inside and out, a sacred nature place that your children will always remember and return to.

Try to make at least one day each month an unplugged day. Kick the rugrats out of the house, lock the doors, and tell them, “Go play!”–and then go outside with them! Try to have at least one day each month when you do something together in nature. Take a picnic lunch and go to a local park. Plan, plant, and profit from a family vegetable garden in the yard. Go for a family hike or camping trip.

Even if you are urban or suburban, you can make nature part of the foundation of your family structure. Set up a potted herb garden in your windowsill and put potted plants in other places. Start bird watching with your kids–and see if you can spot more than just pigeons. Point out lone trees or flowerbeds shooting up from plains of concrete.

All of these things can help children find the sacredness of nature and the nature all around them. These things can help make children’s’ homes green homes, sacred places alive with and teaching about nature.

Green Schools

Unfortunately, a nurturing family is one of the many endangered species nowadays, and not all home places are safe places, let along green and sacred. These sad facts only make it more essential that schools become green schools.

It seems, however, that many school systems are turning to technology rather than embracing “living education”–which remains an alternative rather than a readily available option in most places.

Schools, then, must do more to incorporate education about nature that occurs in nature and somehow makes use of nature.

Hold class outside. Take a field trip. Redesign classrooms to make them more visibly sustainable and natural. All schools, and the educational system as a whole, can go green by seeking to live with nature and function like nature; school can become a place where we can tell children to go and “Let Nature be your Teacher.”1

I think that even schools can become sacred natural places for children if they become green schools,, more “natural” on all levels–from the structural to the curricular.

Green Screens

Surprised as I am to say this, I do believe that even technology and the mass media can facilitate nature experiences for our children.

In particular, nature can and should be fun in the virtual world so that children might be more inclined to find fun in the natural world, too. And perhaps it can give them some guidance on how to get that real, green fun, how to interact with and enjoy and sanctify nature as it runs according to its own lovely program.

Perhaps we could have video games dealing with environmental issues and representing the Earth in a positive, not predatory, way. For example, SimCity-type games could focus on sustainable development, handling crises, etc. The various and ubiquitous devices themselves could be more “natural” looking, too. Cell phones, iPods, laptops, and so much else could actually look “green” in various ways, from green cases/shells to images of leaves and birds and butterflies and all that other nature stuff.

And the mass media can contribute by focusing more on nature-related programming for children. Most important, nature programs and environmental issues must not be limited to PBS and a few specialty cable channels. More popular channels and shows, along with other media outlets, can bring nature and “green living” into children’s awareness in profound, yet startlingly simple, ways.

Simply put, get the green on the screen! For with green screens, children will be more sensitive to and aware of the sacred things nature, and so they will be able to go out and find sacred places in nature.

If we want to have places in the future that our children can hold sacred, and if we want our children to be able to live happy, healthy lives on this planet, then I believe we need green homes, green school, and green screens. Without these, I fear we may see the extinction of possibility for a Generation W. Without these, I fear we may lose our sacred places past, present, and future…and we may ultimately lose our children themselves.

Click here to read my first post on sacred places past.

Click here to read my second post on sacred places present.

Notes
Image credit: Florence Devouard at Wikimedia Commons.
1. Wordsworth, William. “The Tables Turned.” Selected Poems and Prefaces by William Wordsworth. Ed. Jack Stillinger. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. 107.

I recently persuaded her to try a few organic products and, low and behold, she has been very pleased with the results. So … here are a few tips to getting your parents, friends, mother-in-laws and other skeptics to slowly embrace healthy alternatives.

1. Organic mac and cheese. Easy. It costs a tad more than the standard (and Kraft now offers an organic version), but the argument against that unnatural orange color was enough to convince my skeptic. She tried Annie’s Organic and said her son happily gobbled every last bite.
2. Eco-friendly dish soap and dishwashing detergent. This one took a bit of selling on my part. I went out and purchased a bottle of Seventh Generation dish soap (citrus scent) and left it at her house. After a few days of trying it (and reading the back of the bottle) she agreed that it was nice to be able to pronounce all the ingredients.
3. Eco-friendly sunscreen. Being fair-skinned herself, she was no stranger to purchasing large amounts of sunscreen. I emailed her the health report of popular sunscreens at the Environmental Working Group’s site. And sent her a link to Jennifer’s great post. She was horrified to see the rating of the product she regularly bought and slathered all over herself and her son.

I’m convinced that once you start educating yourself and others there is no turning back. Next on my agenda is getting her to replace one produce item with an organic version.

What are your tips to converting stubborn friends and family?

Photo Credit: Creative Commons license by Jspatchwork on Flickr.

How to Turn Your Parents Green, by James Russell and illustrated by Oivind Hovland, is a humorous book for kids ages 8-80 (you are never too old to turn your parents green). This book helps alleviate eco-anxiety by empowering children. “The premise for the book is that grown-ups (the Groans) are responsible for causing global warming, but it’s you (the kids) who will have to deal with the consequences.” The tips in the book are what you would expect, such as eating organically, riding your bike, and turning off light bulbs; but the format is unique in suggesting how children can approach their parents. One suggestions is presenting your parents with a list of poisons in the household, such as cleaners, then giving them a month to switch to natural products. There’s even a section on how to turn your teachers green!

How do kids feel about this book? A 14-year old wrote:

As I can’t exactly watch my parents when they are in the bathroom, I have to take their word for it that they aren’t leaving the taps running.

My mum is the worst culprit for leaving the tap on when she cleans her teeth. The book says to fine anyone 25p if they leave the tap on while brushing their teeth. I think it came to £2, before she got it into her head that tap off good, tap on bad. So a miracle happened when she turned the tap off when she brushed her teeth. Well done, mum.

Anti-smoking campaigns have long recognized the power of children to influence their parents habits. Children can be a powerful force in making the world more green. The more books that are out there, the better, in my opinion. How to Turn Your Parents Green does a good job in presenting the information in a kid-friendly manner without downplaying the significance of our actions.

More reviews of children’s eco books:

• Eco Kids’ Books: William is Going Green

• Eco Kids’ Books: Trout Are Made of Trees

• Children’s Literature: Journey for the Planet

• Children’s Literature: My Bag and Me

• Great Children’s Literature: My Mom Hugs Trees

We discussed the hanging of the towels and the turning off of the lights over a shrimp dinner that night at some tourist trap. I remember my mom saying that if we all do a little, we can do a lot. So I thought it was great when I heard of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s new executive order that requires state agencies and departments to hold meetings and conferences at lodgings that meet the new Florida Green Lodging standards.

He is also hosting a “Climate Change Summit” June 25-26 in Miami that will focus, in part, on ways to bring green business and technology jobs to Florida.

So far, 181 hotels and motels across the state have received the Green Lodging standard - and properties range from Disney resorts to Sheraton and Marriott properties. Only two have received the coveted “two Palm” designation, (additional recycling programs, non-toxic cleaners, low-flow showerheads, etc.) the Turtle Beach Inn in Port Saint Joe and the swanky WaterColor Inn in The Beaches of South Walton.

I think it is wonderful for the green industry. Not only do you have commercial properties installing and utilizing new technologies (and saving money and Mother Earth in the process), but you have thousands of people who will visit and read about what they are doing. The potential to inspire others to take measures in their own homes is enormous.

Imagine the wonder of a child seeing solar panels for the first time, or learning why it helps to unplug appliances and electronic devices when they aren’t in use. Little things.

And maybe … just maybe … they can talk about how cool that was over a shrimp dinner at some tourist trap.

Image Credit: Courtesy Photo of WaterColor Inn & Resort

Oil peak is going to change all of that - the world is going quickly to become a lot bigger. Global oil extraction will soon peak and go into decline. Our economies and our cities are not anywhere close to being prepared for making do with less petroleum (or natural gas, which may soon follow oil’s peak). The canary in the coalmine for the end of this small world notion is airline industry woes due to rising fuel prices. The world is going to revert to a much larger place and at some point, people will get the idea that it makes more sense in an energy constrained world to lay down their roots in a place that they really want to be.

As local culture re-develops, rising out of the ashes of the global monoculture of consumerism and suburban living, a sense of place and community will re-emerge as key differentiators as we strive to find a place where we belong. The other major consideration will be the whereabouts of friends and family, though I worry that many will find themselves alone and stranded in locale of their former workplace, unable to afford the cost of reuniting with their loved ones. Que sera sera…

Photo credit: Intercot

My decisions - whether to have a baby, where to live, who to marry - are not based solely on logic. They are also based on my heart, or some intuitive notion. Perhaps because I’m a scientist, I sometimes feel this is a weakness. But every now and then, logic and emotion converge. The heart and the head agree, and this is a blessed thing.

That’s how it is, for me, with joining the local foods movement. I have read books, attended meetings, visited farms, and analyzed endless facts about the astounding benefits of re-building vibrant local and regional food systems. I have discovered many reasons to buy food grown nearby, and to support the local food economy however I can.

These reasons include protecting farms, promoting sustainable agriculture, getting in touch with the seasons, reducing carbon emissions, supporting your local economy, knowing where your food comes from, eating food that tastes better and is more nutritious, and improving the safety and security of your food.But if I’m honest, our family’s shift toward local foods is happening mostly for emotional reasons.I want our food to come from nearby because it makes me feel safe, well-fed, and happy.I’ve learned about beekeeping, blueberry picking, wheat varieties, and raising lambs.

I’ve become a huge fan of our farmer’s markets, and I’ve learned that nearby farms still produce over 170 different crops. I am grateful for the winter steelhead my husband catches on occasion, and I know that the giant yellow plums in our back yard make fabulous jam. I’ve met wonderful people who grow apples, own restaurants, brew beer, and fight hunger.

It may sound sappy, but shopping and eating locally has helped me to love my community and appreciate my home. It makes me feel hopeful.I am not talking about restricting my family’s diet to 100% local food. I salute those that do this, and I enjoy the books (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Plenty) and web sites (Eat Local Challenge, Local Harvest, Locavores) that point the way.

My approach has been incremental. I shop for local and organic first. I pick and freeze fruit in summer, buy lamb and beef from farmers I know, and prowl the farmer’s markets. We have a small garden. But I don’t think I’ll ever voluntarily give up either coffee or avocados. My daughter still eats cheerios and Annie’s pasta.

It’s remarkable, though, how many excellent foods are available from nearby. Eggs, milk, lettuce, broccoli, apples, carrots, and potatoes are for sale much of the year. The growing season brings a succession of wonders, my favorites being strawberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, and corn. Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where we live, is certainly a rich land, but everywhere, it seems, has something special to offer.

Discovering the food of your home landscape can be great fun. And its amazing how many problems - environmental, economic, and social - can be addressed through revitalizing local food systems.When the facts and the heart agree, the power of an idea can be truly astonishing. I hope my posts will encourage you to discover your region’s local foods, to start a garden or to meet a nearby farmer. I’m betting that eating locally will make you happy, too!

Dario and Sabine Schworer together with their two children are at the half way point of an epic round the world journey on which they aim to cross seven seas and climb seven of the world’s highest mountains, travelling only by foot, bicycle and wind power.

The family are currently in Sydney, Australia on year 7 of a 14 year expedition in which they expect to sail 70’000 nautical miles, cycle 18’000 kilometres and climb a total of 400’000 meters. They hope the expedition will “prove that great achievements can be done in harmony with nature" and have taken the opportunity to share their message with more than 21,000 school children whilst visiting schools on their route. Their own Children, Salina and Andri, were born during the expedition and continue to travel alongside their parents.

The expedition, called Top to Top was started with a tiny budget of only $2,000, although Dario and Sabine have raised substantial funds along the way which have been donated to communities affected by climate change to provide school material, medicine and food.

Expedition Mountain Peaks:

• Mt. Blanc 4807m/15771ft, Europe
• Aconcagua 6959m/22831ft, South-America
• Denali (Mt. McKinley) 6198m/20335ft, North-America
• Mt. Cosciusko 2230m/7316ft, Australia
• Mt. Everest 8846m/29022ft, Asia
• Kilimanjaro 5895m/19222ft, Africa
• Mt. Vinson 5140m/16864ft, Antarctica

Route Map:

More information: ToptoTop

At a time in history that is so fraught with emotional, environmental and overall psychological stress, it only seems proper to wish everyone who reads this column the very best during these days of celebration.

My wife’s oldest son, Dave Mason, sent this greeting, in hopes of covering all the ideological and generational bases in one fell swoop. With his permission, Sally and I, and the whole family would like to join Dave in celebrating the season:

To All My Liberal Friends and Family:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To My Conservative Friends and Family:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Note: Dave’s the one in back, in the middle, the big guy.

But that’s just one show. ONE show amidst hundreds of others that cater to young viewers. In a time in our world where everyone — from Wal-Mart to Chevrolet — sees sustainability as an important issue for our economy and culture, it seems amazing to me that the issue is pretty much ignored on children’s television.

So when I received an email from Nickelodeon earlier this week with the subject line “Eco-Friendly Tips From Dora and Boots!,” I have to admit I opened it feeling a bit skeptical.

Since I’ve researched and studied in graduate school how preschoolers think and relate to the natural environment, I’d like to think I know a bit about what an effective, responsible and significant preschool ecology curriculum might entail. And, with the exception of “It’s a Big Big World,” there isn’t much available in the children’s media realm (at least on television — I have yet to review a few new online properties that carry this messaging) that truly deliver on what they promise.

From what I understand, this idea of programs promising to be green that don’t really turn out to be isn’t limited to children’s television. “Greenwashing refers to claims of environmental responsibility when little, if anything, of green substance has actually taken place,” says Stephen T. Del Percio, a New York based attorney, LEED accredited professional and publisher of greenbuildingsNYC.com. Greenwashing is a prominent concern among sustainability and environmental education experts.

So is this email I received about “Dora the Explorer” going green the real deal?

It looks as if Nickelodeon is promoting its upcoming on-air special “Dora Saves the Mermaids” by associating it with eco-friendly activities. (The special premieres on Nickelodeon in the US on November 5th, at 7PM ET.) I haven’t seen it yet, but apparently the story centers around Dora and Boots, who need to save the Mermaid Kingdom from an evil, garbage dumping octopus. In order to do so, Dora must transform into a mermaid herself and bring a magical crown back to Mariana the Mermaid.

Does this sound like environmental education? Not really. Is this a brilliant marketing ploy filled with Dora-as-mermaid Halloween costumes, sea monkey kits and inflatable pool toys? Probably.

On the other hand, though, the promotional site does contain “eco-friendly crafts,” such as a recycled bird feeder project made from a milk carton, and an article for parents titled “10 Eco-Friendly Activities for the Whole Family,” which contains ideas like the avoidance of brown paper bag lunches and sending e-cards instead of paper ones.

Will you use “Dora Saves the Mermaids” to teach your family about environmental responsibility? Do you think this is a valiant effort to teach ecology to preschoolers, or a good opportunity to market a new set of Dora-branded toys (or both!)? Is your family working together to go green?

For more reviews and commentary on children’s television and other media, visit Children’s Media Consultant Online.

Image courtesy of Children’s Media Consultant Online.

I’m excited about joining what Jennifer has built here at Eco Child’s Play. I hope I can add my perspective on sustainability issues facing families, particularly those with older children. My experiences teaching teens about how their actions impact the world around them has been rich and rewarding, and I hope what I learn with my students can be passed on to readers of Eco Child’s Play.

Here’s my dirty secret: other than the 340 teens I care for during the average school day, I don’t have kids of my own…yet. So please, if you hear of something great in the green family world, drop Jennifer or I an e-mail. I hope you embrace our new changes and the expanded content that will be happening at Eco Child’s Play, along with the fantastic content Jennifer has been producing since she started ECP.

Creating Healthy Environments for Children features Private Practice's Amy Brenneman as host with Ben Harper providing music. Pediatricians Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. Alan Greene provide their expertise, as well. Their five major tips include:

• Avoid using pesticides
• Clean safely
• Help children breathe easier
• Provide healthy food
• Use plastic products wisely.

Pop the DVD in your computers, and you'll find three tool kits, one each for home, child care centers, and schools, that provide resources for making each environment safer for children. The tool kits also give advice for community outreach and activism on safer environments for children.

Makena Brown, grade 8, has a plan to help keep the planet healthy and make money, too. Makena collects all of her family's recyclables and stores them in the back yard. About once a month, she and her family load up the car with the many bags of bottles and cans and take them to the local recycling center. Because it's her project, Makena gets to keep the money paid by the recycling center for the aluminum, plastic and glass. "Makena is the chief of our recycling plant," says Mr. Brown proudly. "She's the recycling queen."

"The money is the number one thing that’s in my mind," says Makena. "I'm like, that's great! And in the back of my mind I know that this is helping the environment, [reducing] pollution, and helping the earth to get better step by step." With her recycling money, Makena is helping to pay her mom back for her new computer.

Ask a little more about Makena's interest in protecting the environment, and you'll find that she's a fountain of knowledge. For example, she explains that more water is used to make plastic water bottles than can be contained by the bottles after they’re made. She's also especially interested in renewable energy. Her eyes light up when she talks about San Francisco's proposal to get electricity from tidal power generators.

It's been about a year now that the Brown family has been saving their recyclables for Makena's recycling project. Makena's grandparents have also started to save their recyclables to contribute to the Brown family's recycling program. "We end up with a big pile of bottles and cans on the side of the house," everyone chuckles. "We can't walk past until we clean it up."

Kudos to Edutopia; this issue ain't no puff piece. Every teacher looking to go green, or those already greening their classroom, can find something of use to them in this jam-packed issue. The editor's note in the issue is penned by guest editor Bill McKibben of Step It Up fame, who skillfully explains why all teachers should and can incorporate sustainability into their curriculum.

Edutopia listens to McKibben's advice by provided several ideas for sustainability lesson plans and projects for all ages. Not only are there many useful ideas in the magazine, but there are more on the magazine's website. There are also tips for teachers, by teachers, about how to green up their own classroom practices: some helpful, some fairly obvious.

15. We spend as much effort packaging our food as finding and eating it. So much of our food these days comes pre-packaged that we don’t think twice about it. In order to package food in plastic, we spend billions of dollars and lots of time locating and drilling oil around the world; we then extract a chemical feedstock from the oil; we refine the chemical feedstock into plastic and mould the plastic into packaging; we take the shells off of things like peanuts and then put the peanuts in plastic packaging.

Squirrel says: “How backward! I spend all day getting rid of my food’s natural packaging: the shells. Plus, the shells biodegrade before next year’s nuts ripen. Be more like the rest of the animals by eating food in its original packaging.”

14. We drink the lactation of other animals. We farm animals of other species—like cows, goats, and sheep—to harvest and drink their lactation. We even sometimes ferment this lactation (cheese and yogurt, for example) and occasionally go as far as to let mold grow on it before eating it (blue cheese, for example).

Squirrel says: “EW! Be more like the rest of the rest of the animals by drinking water and eating juice-filled fruits and veggies.”

13. We’ll eat just about anything. Don’t believe me? Look here. Most animals have a pretty good idea of what foods they like and so they stick to eating one type of food. Sharks eat fish, cows and horses eat grass, most birds eat insects, fruit, or grain, and so on. We humans will eat fruit, grain, insects, birds, vegetation, horses, cows, fish, sharks, and more. Some people even eat cars! Our stomachs must truly be one of a kind on this planet. I can just see Mother Nature’s horrified expression, “what do you have in your mouth, child?!?”

Squirrel says: “That’s nuts! Or rather it would be nuts if I were eating it. Pick a diet, you crazy species. You can be more like your ancestors and relatives by eating more vegetables, nuts, and fruit and fewer weird things like octopus, oysters, and buffaloes.”

12. We travel without actually moving. Camels walk to find water, birds fly to find grub, and fish swim to get their food too. We say “I’m going to run to the store to get food,” but what we actually mean is “I’m going to sit down in my car and hardly move a muscle while decomposed dino-gas pushes me to the store.” Weird, huh?

Squirrel says: “Wouldn’t you get out of shape this way? Plus, who would want to avoid walking and running? I love to run and jump! I even have a cousin who flies. Be more like the rest of the rest of the animals and try actually walking or jogging to get food. You can even try wildcrafting, like me.”

As a new parent, I was very concerned about swaddling my newborn in synthetic, petroleum-based polyester blankets. Conventionally grown cotton baby blankets are not much better, as they are grown and produced with pesticides and chemicals. The solution: organically grown baby blankets. Unfortunately, six years ago the only organic fiber blanket I could find was a dull green color and unattractive. Today, babies can be swaddled in stylish, luxurious organic baby blankets by Robbie Adrian Luxury Organics, the perfect gift for baby.

Part trade show, part educational seminar, and part family-themed festival, the Naturally Healthy Children's Expo is a two-day event focused on exposing families with children to all the tools they have available for achieving a more natural, holistic, and sustainable lifestyle. Mixed in among more than 70 exhibitors at this year's expo were five different stages featuring dozens of presentations by speakers covering topics like healthy eating, holistic medical approaches to pediatric conditions, and raising kids with a concern for the natural world. There were also a few activities geared at the kiddos themselves, including a hands-on music stage, coloring wall, and various small creatures of the household pet variety available for the petting.