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."

What's the deal with disposable wipes?

You know what I love? I love my microfiber dusting cloths. Love them. They pick up dust and they are washable. I've got two of them. And you know what works great for taking off make-up? A washcloth! Or just your soapy hands! I'm quite fond of sponges for general cleaning. And regular old toilet paper has worked just fine for our kids, thankyouverymuch.

But, man. It seems like every time I turn around someone's got some new kind of disposable wipe on the market. We've got your household cleaning wipes specially designed for tile or glass or countertops or wood floors or ___ (fill in the blank). Oh, and don't forget the electrostatic disposable dusting cloths. And wipes for cleaning car interiors (very important). Then you've got your personal wipes for make-up removal or hand-washing or potty-training tushies or -- and get this -- saline-injected nose wipes for children(!). I think the only wipe that I can truly get behind (so to speak) are baby-bottom wipes, though if I had a baby again I would seriously work on cutting back on those with reusable, homemade wipes. (But I'm not having any more babies, so I guess we'll never know!)

Is it about the germs? Are people like, 'I don't want to deal with rinsing out this dirty cloth/sponge/towel because I might get germs on my hands so I'm going to throw it all away'? Or just convenience? Maybe a combo? I used to use disposable dusting wipes and one of those Clorox Ready-Mops with the disposable mops heads. I was seduced by the convenience factor. After awhile I just felt really bad about throwing that stuff away, plus it was expensive.

What about you? Have you weaned yourself off of any wipes? Any brave souls using reusable baby wipes?

Dream the impossible eco-dream with me

I'll admit it: I'm a dreamer. One minute I'll be washing my hair, and then I'll discover I've been standing in the shower for who-knows-how-long concocting some elaborate scenario or conversation that will never actually take place. But just in case, I'll be ready. My fantasy life is rich; my reality, er, well it's real. Messy, hectic, amusing, loving, frustrating, exciting -- who knows what craziness could be lurking around the corner. While my family works to bring bits of green into our lives, it's easy to imagine an ideal planet-friendly existence...(stares off into space)...

It always seems to involve a flat, sunny acre of land in the city (ha!), upon which we've built -- entirely from reclaimed materials -- the ultimate green, modern, solar-powered home. We tend to our small flock of goats and chickens, who provide us with milk, eggs and cheese, and nurture our vegetable garden and orchard. See the little greenhouse over there? That's where we start our seeds and grow veggies throughout the winter. We actually produce so much food that we eagerly share the bounty with our neighbors. In the garage is our electric car and fleet of bicycles. We have a root cellar and a pantry full of food that we've preserved. Someone must have a job, so we'll assume it's my husband. Most of all, we are happy.

OK, so snap out of it already! Back to reality. Let's start with the happy: check. Bicycles: check. The end.

Surprisingly, the reality doesn't get me down because I feel like my family is on a journey, and we've come such a long way in the past couple of years. We are not the ultimate green family by far, but I think my kids are growing up with a sense of caring and respect for the environment. There are no poisons in our house. We throw very little away. We are learning where our food really comes from, and it's not the grocery store. And actually, we live in an area where we can walk or bike to the farmers market, library, schools, parks and grocery store, so that's pretty good. Little by little we are chipping away at the dream. Maybe one day we'll actually be living it (and it will probably look completely different), but in the meantime we sure are enjoying the journey.

Do you have an eco-dream? Is your home life getting closer to your dream life little by little?

Weigh in: Should cities ban or tax plastic and paper grocery bags?

Here in Portland we're engaged in a huge debate: incoming Mayor Sam Adams has proposed a ban or tax on disposable grocery bags. Plastic bags are made from petroleum, and paper bags are made from trees. Both the production, transport and recycling of these bags are energy-intensive and produce greenhouse gases in the process. Other cities have already gone down this path: San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags last year, and Los Angeles and Seattle have plans to follow. Many other countries have long banned plastic bags. Litter is another problem. You see those bags floating around everywhere, and they are a hazard to wildlife.

Sam Adams wants to encourage Portland consumers to carry reusable grocery bags (as no doubt many EnviroMoms already do). But many folks here are outraged. Outraged! How dare the government stick its nose into our grocery bags! I suspect that most of these folks don't believe global warming is real and are resentful that they may be forced to change their behavior.

There was a quote from one man on OregonLive: "My wife and I have three children (two are teenage boys) and we go to the grocery store every week. Those trips we can have a dozen bags. This is a great example of a politician not being in touch with the working class."

I'd like to tell this man that they could easily go from twelve plastic bags down to four reusable grocery bags. You can buy reusable bags with flat bottoms for .99 each. Adams has also proposed using a bag tax to fund a program that provides lower income folks with free reusable bags.

It took me a few months to develop the habit of carrying my reusable bags into the grocery store. I found a post I'd written in March 2007 about San Francisco's ban on plastic bags where I admit my difficulty remembering to bring my bags. But now, I never forget. I bring them everywhere -- to Powell's, the hardware store, clothing stores. It's a habit now.

I'm in favor of a ban on plastic bags (and don't you go substituting those ridiculous 'compostable' plastic bags either, Sam) and at least a 10-cent fee for paper bags. Build up a nice fund so that everyone can have access to reusable bags and then get rid of the paper. The Oregonian is in favor of charging a fee for plastic bags. And if people are worried about what they'll use to pick up their pet waste? Perhaps the Oregonian could start collecting all of those plastic newspaper bags they distribute every morning and make them available to pet owners. You want a bold mayor, Oregonian? Show us your bold.

What do you think about disposable grocery bags: ban 'em? charge for 'em? or neither? Have a brilliant alternative to propose? Let's hear it!

Time management and the pioneer woman

Holy cow. All I can say is it's a good thing pioneer women didn't have blogs. Or email. If they did, they'd never manage to can all the strawberries while they're in season. Or else they'd forget about doing the laundry. Or else they'd just never blog. Or reply to emails.

Because let me tell you, I'm feeling downright stressed out trying to dehydrate, make jam and freeze the mere 23 pounds of strawberries my husband and I picked in Hood River on Saturday morning. Then there's the laundry that needs to be hung out. The granola that needs to be made. The other three square meals that need to be made for this hungry family. Don't even get me started about the housework that needs to be done. Ridiculous.

How did those pioneer women do it? They couldn't exactly get a pizza delivery if they got in a time crunch. Of course, it's quite possible that the kids were more helpful. I don't want to over-romanticize an era I know nothing about (unless you count my devotion to the Little House on the Prairie TV series). But I doubt the kids were all: "Mom, she has all the Littlest Petshops and I don't!"

As I take on more eco-responsibility at home: hanging out the laundry to dry in the sun, making more food from whole foods (vs. buying processed), walking more/driving less... the time crunch is undeniable. I also wonder if I'm really being more efficient with this multi-tasking I do, or if I should just compartmentalize: laundry day; market day; canning day, etc. I also think that at some point, I may need to enlist the help of my children with certain tasks. My 6-year-old can be amazingly helpful, and she enjoys helping. Progress is greatly slowed down with the million and one questions that come up. But truly, she can be a joy to work with. And I like that she's willing to help and learn. My three-year-old has the attention span of a gnat and really is just there to start arguments: "It's my turn to pour in the oats! I want the clothespin with the smiley face!"

How do you do it? Any time management tips for the pioneer woman in the digital age?

The ethical dilemma of donating 'toxic' items

Plastic sippy cups. Teflon-coated pans. Chemical-laden mattresses. You may have decided that you no longer want to expose your family to these products, but how do you justify donating them for other people to use? My friend Christy and I had this discussion the other day, and it's something that I've struggled with anytime I transition our household to an eco-friendly alternative. Common household items such as these are desperately needed by so many people. If the choice is between no cooking pot or a Teflon-coated pot, the answer is obvious. (I doubt that any social service non-profit receives donations of stainless steel or cast iron cookware very often, if ever.) I assume the vast majority of Americans don't believe there is anything toxic about these products anyway. Plus, it's not like tossing them in a landfill is the answer.

Do you ever struggle with this issue? Donating items for reuse is the environmentally and socially responsible thing to do (I think), but it's hard to feel good about donating items that you believe are unhealthy. Any insight to share (or are we just spending too much time thinking about a no-brainer)?

Lessening enviro impact by only having one child?

Looking for 15 minutes worth of fame? The Oregonian is seeking an EnviroMom or EnviroDad who opted to have just one child in an effort to reduce their environmental impact. Here's the scoop:

I'm a reporter at The Oregonian working on a story about only-child families and specifically wondering if there are any who made that decision mainly to lessen their environmental impact.

Do you fit that description? Want to be interviewed for an article in The Oregonian? Contact Su-jin Yim. Or if you just want to talk about it, you can post comments here.

Happy Birthday EnviroMom!!

It's hard to believe, it seems like we've been at this far longer, yet today is the first birthday of our launch of EnviroMom.com! As you can imagine, we don't want any gifts. But we do have a gift for you, or one lucky winner among you. We have a brand spankin' new copy of the hot-off-the-press Big Green Purse by the fabulous Diane MacEachern. I'm reading a copy now, too, and I love it. It's so well researched, clearly written and filled with many great ideas on using our purses, or the buying power of women, to create a greener world for our kids.

So... let's party! Send us an email telling us at least one green change you and your family made in the past year, and you'll be entered into our drawing for a copy of Big Green Purse. Good luck fellow greenies!! The deadline to enter the contest is Monday, March 10 at noon.

About the picture... Lacking a photo of a simple birthday cupcake with a candle, I took one of this gorgeous orchid that I lives in my bathroom, which I've miraculously managed to keep alive since 1997 (despite forgetting to water it for months on end). It just bloomed today, which seemed fairly auspicious for EnviroMom's first birthday celebration!