Green Options » writing

Felt Boards: Quick, Portable, Do-It-Yourself Fun

Julie Finn — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:22:57 +0000

If your family includes a preschooler and people who aren’t preschoolers (such as yourself!), it can be challenging to find a family art activity that can equally engage the skills and creativity of each family member.

In my family, which includes two people who are preschoolers and two people who aren’t, one of our favorite family art activities is to make more creations for our little girls’ felt board. Felt is easy to cut, holds its shape well and doesn’t ravel, can be drawn on with permanent markers and glued with hot glue, and, if you work with wool felt or an acrylic felt made from recycled plastic bottles, it’s an eco-friendly craft material, as well.

Simple fun.

Eco Child’s Play is Looking for Writers/Bloggers

Derek Markham — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:30:47 +0000

Do you have a passion for green living?

Does writing about natural parenting, environmental issues for families, or the latest in green home products appeal to you?

Have you ever considered blogging for us?

We’re searching for new writers for 2009 to help us grow this blog into its full potential as a resource for parents (and parents-to-be), teens, and kids.

Eco Child’s Play is now hiring writers to cover topics and issues related to the chemical-free home, environmental education, kids activities, nutrition and health, as well as current events as they relate to green living. We’re looking for bloggers who can commit to posting several times a week (even daily, if you can) and can follow our editorial guidelines. You don’t have to be a pro, but you do have to love what you do and be willing to learn.

Want to know more?

Read our FAQ – Writing For Green Options, then head over to our Write With Us page and apply.

Still have questions?

Send an email to the editor: Jennifer(at)greenoptions(dot)com

Or the lead writer: Derek(at)greenoptions(dot)com

We’ll get back to you right away!

Image: Håkan Dahlström at Flickr under Creative Commons License

Thoreau’s Legacy: Your Personal Stories About Global Warming

Kelly Dunleavy — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:08:29 +0000

Do you envision yourself the next Thoreau? Or Emerson? Or maybe you just really want to tell someone about your pet polar bear, your fight to save your favorite tree, or your terrifying bike ride to work in the name of the environment?

If you can shape the future of the fight on global warming in just 200-500 words, then submit your personal essay to the anthology Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories About Global Warming.

GreenBean Seeking a Chicago Editor

Philip Proefrock — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:10:11 +0000

There are a number of regional blogs about green building that I follow, more or less, regularly. Some of them are already in our blogroll (at the right), and we’re working to expand that list. One of the best, in my opinion, is Green Bean, which covers green building in Chicago and the surrounding counties. It’s tight in its focus because it deals only with the Chicago region, and it is focused on building projects that have been built or are under construction. Each article is a case study of a green building in a few paragraphs.

Right now, its founder and editor, Erik, is looking for someone (or, more likely, several people) to take over the blog for him. Green Bean is clearly a labor of love but Erik has announced that he has some big changes coming up that are going to take him away and he is not going to be able to keep GreenBean going by himself. He writes, that, because of a new job, he is “…relocating to Stuttgart, Germany for 6-12 months, then to New York City. In addition to this, we’re expecting our first child in April.”

This I Believe—An Essay for Self-Empowerment

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:06:39 +0000

Yogi Berra once said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” It’s just as important to know why you want to get there. Writing an essay about what you believe will help you identify the values that motivate you to achieve your goals and enable you to share those values with others.

Our beliefs underpin our everyday decisions and determine how we interact with other people. Unless we understand our core values, we may wonder how effective we can be in improving our community or environment; we may also feel awkward broaching environmental or political concerns with our friends and neighbors. Writing a short essay about what we believe is a rewarding way to better understand ourselves and affirm our aspirations. It also empowers us to articulate our goals to those around us by focusing on shared values.

Some of us spend hours arranging our layouts on Myspace and Facebook, writing blogs, and filling out Internet quizzes. These outlets give us a forum in which to express some of our beliefs to an audience of friends and strangers. However, such media frequently fail to capture the full breadth of our dreams, ambitions, values, and beliefs. So the next time your get the urge to jump online “just for a minute,” instead take up a pen and paper or use your computer writing application. Start with a blank page and title it “This I Believe.” When you’ve written out your beliefs, you can either keep the paper to refer back to, or you can choose to share your beliefs with others.

Jay Allison is the host of the NPR program, This I Believe, which airs essays submitted by people from all walks of life. “This is a time when belief is dividing the nation and the world,” says Allison. “We are not listening well, not understanding each other—we are simply disagreeing, or worse.” He adds, “[Sharing our beliefs allows us] to cross borders, to encourage some empathy. That possibility is what inspires me."

You can read or listen to some of these essays on the program’s website, thisibelieve.org, or you can submit your own. Educators and community coordinators will also find resources on this site for using the “This I Believe” essay format to bridge borders and inspire positive change.

Resources and References:

NPR’s radio program, This I Believe: www.npr.org or http://thisibelieve.org.

Michelle’s Earth Foundation, a website dedicated to Michelle Gardner-Quinn, whose “This I Believe” essay was read at the Live Earth concerts; Michelle was killed just two days after writing her essay: http://www.michellesearthfound.org.

Photo Source:

Original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andre_mts/374880166/

Modified: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9472208@N08/1068784614/