EnviroMom

To-do list

Pardon me while I jot down a little to-do list.

1) Work with neighbors to start a collective, like the Ainsworth Street Collective featured last month in Sunset Magazine. Email the woman you met yesterday who's part of it. Investigate Bright Neighbor, a Web site designed to help Portland neighborhoods set up sharing programs.

2) Start saving for a gray water system as discussed in today's Oregonian article. Bathroom reno in 1-2 years...hopefully by then gray water systems will be legal in Oregon!

3) Test CFL bulbs in kitchen recessed light fixtures for best light quality. Keep hoping that LED technology will improve so the lights aren't so cold and blue!

4) Sew bulk food bags using monster pile of fabric in laundry room. It can't be that hard.

5) Fight the plastics industry -- and their stupid campaign to get millenials to think plastic is really cool -- by buying less plastic. Seriously: make the yogurt and the salsa already, and take a bread-baking class if you have to. It's time.

6) Despite your recent good hair days, rethink the Pantene Pro-V shampoo. You may look good on the surface, but what is the guilt doing to your inner child? Not to mention the sodium lauryl sulfate? Try the no-poo for a month? Will it make my straight, fine hair limp and greasy? There's only one way to find out.

7) Sweat more: on the bike, on a hike, at the community center gym, playing kickball at the park. Be a better active role model for your children.

There! Why am I still sitting here?

Feel free to add your to-dos in the comments. (It will feel good to get them out of your head.) And have a glorious weekend!

Cleaning up icky messes without paper towels

We got a great email from Jennifer who has successfully kicked paper napkins and towels out of the house and has converted to cloth (much to the horror of her paper towel-addicted mother...her mom now brings her own paper towels when she visits!). Hooray Jennifer, and no doubt your dear mama will one day see the light as well! Recently Jennifer had her first icky clean-up mess to deal with and resisted the paper towel temptation (she still has some left). She writes:

For the first time since my newfound ways a family member got sick, several feet from the bathroom. Unfortunately, I had a pile of things that were waiting for me to take downstairs. And my trusty paper towel clean-up method was GONE! I had nowhere to turn except my kitchen towels. I washed them twice and still had to clean out my washing machine from bits of partially processed food. (Sorry for being so descriptive.)
 
I’m confident it’s probably a no-brainer…but I’m puzzled. What to do in this situation? Do you soak your clean-up towels in a bucket or something first?

This, I believe, is a common predicament and a big challenge. I would probably reach for my 'emergency' roll of paper towels (which I've had for over two years now), but I know there are less wasteful methods. Would you soak your towels in a bucket and empty it in the yard or the toilet? Soak them in the toilet? In your kitchen sink? Or do you give yourself a pass (and a break) and go for paper?

Climate champions: starting conversations

Heather, our friend Carol and I attended one of the town hall meetings Portland is hosting on its Climate Action Plan. I don't know if I'm just easy to impress, or what, but I think it's fantastic that our city continues to take initiative on this global problem. It was news to me that Portland has been on it -- I believe they said since 1993 -- long before I'd ever head the terms 'global warming' or 'climate change.' They are seeking feedback before July 13, and what frequently came up in our session was the phrase: 'It's just great that we're having this conversation.' From the real-time surveys they took from those attending, we were not atypical. These people are pro-solar, bike-riding, vegetarian, green team, One Can A Month kind of people.

The plan, which Heather outlined, identifies eight areas where regular folk, just like you and me, can make changes with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent. Ambitious? You bet! And a heck a lot easier to take actions in our own lives than to talk about it with friends, family, and neighbors who haven't yet drunk of the green kool-aid.

I left the meeting charged up. I will become a 'climate champion'! In many ways, I feel I already am one. But it's easy talking to you guys and gals. We're preaching to the choir, right? So how do you have conversations with those who are not buying into the science supporting global warming, or are in denial because they don't want to change their ways? I hope this isn't too heavy of a topic for a Friday. But really. I want to know. How do you start the conversation?

Slow Mom is in the house

This year I'm resolving to give myself a break.

Because you know what? I like oranges and bananas, and I don't want to feel guilty about the food miles involved with getting them to my kitchen. You know what else I like? A long, hot shower. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not sliding backward. I'm just allowing myself some luxuries, because these are things I feel lucky to have access to.

You know what else I feel lucky to have? Waking hours. A strange thing happened during Portland's ARCTIC BLAST 2008 over the past two weeks -- we slowed down. We didn't drive anywhere, instead we walked. We sledded home our groceries. We played and painted and patched pants. We shunned the TV and computer (for the most part) and read books, wrote stories, played Scrabble and built fantasy lands out of blocks. I taught my daughter how to sew. Sometimes we just sat and looked out the window. The kids spent most of the time in their PJ's. There was no sense of urgency -- just a sense of appreciating our time.

I know you can't live everyday like that (nor would I want to) but I'd like to hold on to some of that slow mom mentality. The challenge will be to do that once school starts again, and it won't be easy. I have to remind myself that:

This is fun: walking to the grocery store, running into people you know and carrying home what you need.

This is not fun: driving to the grocery store and obsessing over everything you put into your cart.

So this year, I'm slowing down and letting go of the small stuff to focus on the big picture. I feel like my family has worked really hard these past couple of years to change our household living habits. Every month when I pull our not-quite-full 32-gallon garbage can to the curb, I feel pretty good about how far we've come. Now I think we can go farther by slowing down, exploring and appreciating what we have. Long live Slow Mom.

Oh yeah -- I'm also resolving to cancel cable. (I need an easy one!)

BYOD: Bring Your Own Durables

A comment made by Brooke in the post below on disposable corn-based plastics has inspired me to try and generate a discussion on using durables at large gatherings. She stated,

I am still having a hard time getting around what to do for large events other then ask people to bring their own durables.

School potlucks, family reunions, church dinners or big parties anyplace -- at home or a park -- how do you avoid using disposable plates, forks, cups, napkins, etc? We've talked about using durables for kid parties, but what about grown-up or family gatherings with lots and lots of people? Check out this recent email from Sherry:

We go to a potluck every week at our local Grange hall and my husband and I bring our own plates, silverware and, yes, cloth napkins. He was sort of embarrassed at first but he's gotten okay with it, especially since our plates are bigger than the paper ones they like to use. If only I could get other people to do the same thing. I just keep trying by example.

I celebrated my 60th birthday in September and threw myself a party. In my invitation I told everyone to bring their own plates. I was so touched that everyone did. Most even brought cloth napkins. I went to Goodwill and bought up supplies of silverware and it went over great!!

What green changes would you be willing to make at Obama's request?

The other morning while we were reading the paper, my husband asked me a hypothetical question. "What would you give up for the betterment of the country if Obama requested it? What if, after much consultation and research, he laid out a whole bunch of things we needed to do to lessen our impact on the climate, and requested that we do as much as we can." So we started making a list:

• Leave the cars parked two days a week.

• Eat meat only once or twice per week, or give it up entirely.

• Greatly reduce both computer and TV time.

• Use fewer lights. Maybe this means our entire family is in the same room more often (eek).

• Vigilantly save our money (give up eating out, dry cleaning, magazine subscriptions, etc.) to invest in an energy efficient heating system, water heater and better appliances.

Giving thanks for green goodness

EnviroMom is part of this fantastic group of green mom bloggers, and each month someone hosts a carnival about a specific topic and everyone blogs about it. (Well, actually this is the first month we EnviroMoms have gotten our act together to participate!) The theme of this month's carnival is our "favorite green things" hosted by Best of Mother Earth. Hmm. It's a toughy. I mean, there's so much good green stuff happening every day! I feel like every tiny baby step I take is a giant leap forward, and I embrace it. Right now I'm feelin' the love for these three:

1) Our GreenGroup! Renee and I formed this group of moms almost two years ago when we launched EnviroMom. We just wanted to be able to sit and talk and share our struggles and victories with like-minded moms from our community. We meet every month as a group, and often more than that at the grocery store or community center or soccer field. So I'm feelin' the love for Renee, Christy, Erin, Jen, Betty, Tracy and Darla! These women are my inspiration!

2) Michael Pollan! His books, The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, really opened my eyes and inspired me to change my thinking about food. His writing style is easy on the brain, yet it makes me feel smarter and better-equipped to tackle tough food choices. He's the one who got me thinking about 'whole foods' and inspired Renee and I to share a CSA subscription. Thanks, Michael. (And I totally plan on reading The Botany of Desire soon!)

3) My microfiber dusting cloths! I know. I KNOW. It's so lame. But really, these cloths represent the disposable lifestyle that I left behind not that long ago. Growing up we always used old t-shirts and socks for dusting. But in my adult years it was all about the Swiffer. Now I've come full circle, and I love my dusting cloths. Microfiber may not be a 'green' fabric, and they were probably manufactured in some distant land, but that's not the point. They are there when I need them, time and time again, and they do a darn good job on the dust.

Really, I could probably list hundreds of green things I love, but who has the time?

What are some of yours?

Do you worry about chlorine in swimming pools?

I just got back into the pool. Well, I was never really much of a swimmer, but I've gone twice this week, and I'm loving it. I plan to do a lot more splashing around. Both of my kids have taken swimming lessons for years because I think it's important for them to learn to swim and be comfortable in the water. Plus it's fun, and it's great exercise! Our local community center pool is probably no different than any other -- they use chlorine. Most days I don't think it smells overwhelmingly chlorine-y, and it doesn't seem to bother my kids. We always shower after swimming to get any residue off our bodies.

But it does make me stop and think: I've taken steps to use bleach-free, biodegradable laundry detergent and other skin products that don't contain harsh chemicals -- but then we go submerge ourselves in a pool of chlorine. Hmm. Chlorine has been linked to asthma and allergies and other respiratory ailments in children. But I have no intention of NOT swimming now -- there really isn't an alternative. You hear about chlorine-free swimming pools and greener alternatives, but we don't have access to them. Do you?

It's kind of like the mattress issue: you recognize that traditional mattresses are loaded with flame-retardant chemicals and other nastiness, yet if you can't afford the natural rubber or organic mattress, then you just kind of plug your ears and go along, making changes where you can. At least that's what I do! I'd love to see community pools transition to greener waters, but until they do we'll just keep swimming in our local pool.

What about you? Where do you swim? Has the chlorine issue affected your decision to swim or not to swim in pools? Or are you exclusively a lake and natural water-swimmer (brr)?

Halloween treats: is going green just askin' to be egged?

So I'm driving in the car the other day listening to the radio, and an ad for Trader Joe's comes on. They're talking about something healthy and great to give out to trick or treaters. I turned up the volume because I'm looking for good suggestions in that department. And what do they suggest? Organic chicken stock. Arrrgh. Not funny. Not even close.

Last year I was all over the idea of green Halloween. But I ended up buying and giving out the same-ol' same-ol': candy. I was surprised at how many people commented that if you didn't give out candy you were just beggin' to have your house egged. This year I think I'm giving out fruit leather. Maybe I'll even sweeten the pot with some fair trade dark chocolate. I don't know. It's hard.

Leah is asking the same thing:

What are the enviromoms handing out for Halloween? I posed the same question to my friends on Facebook and urbanmamas....some say it's a buzzkill to not hand out candy on Halloween, others are handing out juiceboxes... I'm on the fence: pre-packaged, chemically sweetened, HFCS candy on one side and cheap, plastic crap from China on the other. What's a mama to do without being totally lame?

So what are you handing out? Maybe we should all just turn out the lights and be quiet as mice.

Disposable hat. Useless products. Buyer beware.

I did not mean to buy a disposable hat, but that is in fact what I did. A little background. On our family vacation to Florida last summer, I knew there was no way we'd leave this tourist magnet without spending a little bit of money on souvenirs. Gift shops abounded. We were shocked and horrified at how much some of the Disneyfied trinkets go for. So the siren call of the mermaid store, which was between Disney World and our vacation rental, soon became irresistible. She beckoned not only with her giant mermaid sculpted body in bas relief along the expanse of the storefront -- but with shopping teases such as "beach towels as low as $2.99!" and "Disney t-shirts for $1.99." Sure, we knew all this stuff would be poorly made, overseas, probably in sweatshops. But the alternative was spending about ten times as much for the same stuff in Disney shops. So we stopped to shop.

We spent a long time shopping. I told my two daughters they could each pick one thing. My younger daughter had a hard time deciding. After picking up and putting down about 200 items, she settled on a toy Tinkerbell made-in-China cell-phone that started falling apart before we were even 10 minutes from the store. Price: $9.99. My older daughter, ever practical, opted for a sun hat. I was overjoyed. What a wonderful, useful souvenir! What a sensible child I have raised! I have not been good at enforcing sunscreen and hats when we work in the garden, but felt this would make that job easier if she could wear a hat of her own choosing. Price: $12.99. Much self-congratulation for not spending a lot of cash on souvenirs.

Now, I have done a good job in recent years of religiously reading the labels of all foods we buy. We routinely say "no" to the overly processed, high fructose corn syrup, GMO, individually packaged, trans-fat containing food-like substances (thank you Michael Pollan). Woe to me for not examining the label on my daughter's hat. It reads: "100% paper."