As a busy and active mom, it is very important for me to make sure that my family and I live a healthy and well balanced life, not only for us but also for the environment. Around my house, we try to stick to a few simple guidelines that not only help save the environment, but energy and money too.
First and foremost, my son and I are vegans. We do not consume any animal products, and we eat foods that are as low as possible on the food chain. We don’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products -- rather, we eat soy cheese, soy yogurt, vegan burgers, etc. Many people have asked me why I chose to become a vegan, and the three main reasons are: to prevent animal cruelty, to sustain the environment, and to protect my personal health.
My family and I also recycle. In my house, it can be difficult at times trying to get everyone to do this... But to help, I placed recycling bins in various locations (not just the kitchen), which makes it easy and convenient for anyone to throw away things like plastic, glass bottles, metal, and paper and cardboard. I even posted signs on the recycle bins to show what is recyclable and what isn’t. This has really helped my family and me, and by simply recycling, we can save a lot!
Another way I conserve energy is by driving economical and affordable cars. Nowadays, we see people driving vehicles that are gas guzzlers and are extremely wasteful. By simply switching to an economical and affordable hybrid, we can save on gas money and help the environment. Personally, I have a two year-old and two dogs, and I drive a Ford Focus Hybrid.
Another simple way we conserve is by using ultra-violet light bulbs, which saves a lot of energy and money. We place these light bulbs in rooms such as the storage room and our workroom, which is often used for cleaning, ironing, and other projects. It isn’t the best lighting, but using these light bulbs means we are saving in areas that use a lot of energy but which people, like our guests or friends, normally don’t even see.
I also use newspaper bags to throw away my son's diapers. Instead of purchasing wasteful plastic bags, I simply reuse the bag that comes with our daily paper. Doing little simple things around the house can benefit everyone in the long run, and it is important to keep in mind that there are alternatives that can help save you money and make your home much more energy efficient.
Elizabeth Rogers, co-writer of The Green Book, The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet, One Simple Step at a Time
One of the biggest challenges I face as a mother comes in a strange shape and size. It is something that often keeps me up at night, and I have on many occasions tortured my seven-year-old son for not following my very specific directions about how to handle it. It is the dreaded PLASTIC BAGGIE.
Baggies in my house are a red flagged item. As a mother who is concerned about the environment, getting a shade greener every day (and raising a son who is obsessed with the environment), baggies take up a lot of airtime in our house. Why? Why do Baggies get this much attention? Well, it's simple.
I have almost perfected packing him a waste-free lunch. Every morning we wake up and pack a healthy organic lunch in his reusable, insulated lunch bag made from recycled plastic soda bottles, with the green frog print on it (now that is a product all moms must have). But every so often, my perfectly balanced (well, not really -- what mom has anything perfectly balanced?) waste-free lunch goes awry... when my son cries out for chips in his lunch.
If he wants chips, what do I put them in? I have everything else down to a science, and in my calculations I have figured out that in a year's time the average school lunch creates as much weight in waste as a nine-year-old child! So with this in mind, when the call for chips comes, I cringe, grab a baggie, and recite the following rules to my seven year old...
Tiffany Washko, NatureMoms.com
So what is “green” cleaning exactly? Green cleaning means using cleaning products that don’t endanger you, children, or the environment.
Many people use cleaning products throughout their homes without a thought or concern. They figure that if the product is widely available that it must be relatively safe for use. But these products contain all kinds of chemicals that can potentially be toxic, corrosive, flammable, or reactive. They can also cause serious health issues and environmental damage. Here are some examples of common chemicals found in conventional cleaning supplies:
- Formaldehyde
- Sodium Hypochlorite
- Hydrochloric Acid
- Petroleum Solvents
- Sodium Acid Sulfate
Some of the problems associated with these chemicals are skin irritations, nausea, headaches, nose bleeds, shortness of breath, burns, vomiting, kidney and liver damage, and exposure to carcinogens. Do you want to clean your home with chemicals that have the potential for that kind of damage? Certainly not...don’t take that chance.
These same chemicals also have the potential to harm the planet as well. When chemical cleaners go down the drain, most ingredients break down into harmless substances during treatment or soon afterward. Others, however, do not, and they threaten water quality or fish and other wildlife. Purchasing these mainstream cleaners can end up costing us quite a bit in the long run.
The best option for the health and safety of your family and the health of our planet is to use green cleaning items such as:
- Baking Soda
- White Vinegar
- Pure Castile Soap
- Lemons
- Vegetable Oil
- Essential Oils
Using the above ingredients you can make your own cleaners...
Michelle Bexelius, co-founder of EcoRemedi.com
Most older homes that are remodeled still have old, faulty wiring and need a professional electrician to re-wire them. Often times when we think of faulty wiring, we think the real danger is fires, but that's not so in every case.
I spoke to a mom at my son's preschool and she told me this story:
In 1995 my son, Tyler, had an outlet next to his bed that had a power reading of 10.0. 'Normal,' or safe, readings should be 0.1-0.3. My husband and I did not even know what electrical magnetics were.
The same year our five year-old son became very ill. Doctors did not know what it was. Later, through many medical tests, it was discovered he had a tumor behind his neck, which was making him paralyzed from the neck down. Tyler also had a high temperature which would not go away (105 degrees). He was hospitalized for two weeks and he almost died. He was sick at home for three months with a visiting nurse giving him antibiotics through a catheter in his chest. Finally he pulled through and was well.
Later, through a friend, we found out about electrical magnetics in old wiring in homes and what it can do to the nervous system, especially in children. We had our house tested. Our outlets all measured very high. We had the whole house re-wired and now the house is safe. We talked to many doctors and came to the conclusion that too much electrical magnetics had gotten into our son's body, which was the cause of his illness. Thanks, Patti.
Not only can electromagnetic fields be a health hazard, but eliminating them can help your home be more energy efficient. For more information such as how to test for EMFs (electro-magnetic fields), visit www.greenthislife.com.
Mary Isakson
I love the pithy eloquence of Farmer Hoggett’s famous line from the 1995 movie, Babe. It's an amusing theme that runs in the back of my mind, reminding me of the importance of avoiding wastefulness.
Every day while cooking, eating, shopping, commuting, and even relaxing, moms make hundreds of choices that involve balancing our families’ resources with consideration of our environment. It would be paralyzing to spend hours consciously deliberating each decision, of course -- so it makes sense to pick out key issues and train yourself to focus on them.
Non-biodegradable plastic bags are an easy and obvious target. Their use has proliferated wildly over the past twenty years. See, for example, this September 2, 2003 National Geographic News article regarding their impact on the environment, and efforts to promote reusable bags in their stead. A more current piece in the Christian Science Monitor also addresses efforts to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags. Even though I reuse my bags as garbage can liners, my family, left unchecked, can accumulate a phenomenal number of bags. I have lately been training myself to reduce the number of bags I bring home.
Certain retailers are helpful in this effort, most notably vendors in the farmers’ market who routinely ask, "Do you want a bag?" rather than automatically providing one. "No, Thanks," is my default answer. I try to only accept a bag when I truly need it, pressing my purse, a tote, or even my gym bag into service instead.
I have carried this lesson over to other stores, where retailers otherwise automatically bag every little item. "I don’t need a bag, thanks." I blurt out while paying, trying to say it quickly, before the clerk has grabbed a fresh bag from the rack.
A word of caution: Unload all totes promptly, lest you forget an item. I can tell you from experience that it is unpleasant to discover a banana in one’s jacket pocket a few days after a shopping trip. Never mind the time the juice container fermented.
Free access to non-biodegradable bags has helped to make them ubiquitous, promoting mindless consumption. It is easy to envision retail shopping without them; many of us can still remember the days before their use was common. Reusable alternatives are readily available. Developing the habit of carrying a tote is not a major inconvenience. It is an easy thing to say, with regard to the overuse of plastic shopping bags, "That’ll do."
Laurie Benenson
By now everyone has heard about the fabulous new compact fluorescent lightbulbs, which last about 10,000 hours, ten times longer than an ordinary incandescent lightbulb. We first discovered them at a hotel in New York a few years ago, and thought they gave off a hideous light, and had no desire to use them in our house. But that was then, and this is now.
I tried one in a lamp recently, and I'm not sure what the hell I was thinking -- the light is perfectly fine. Especially if you have a nice lampshade to soften the glow. Besides, the idea of saving $30 or more over the life of the bulb, per bulb, is a beautiful thing.
It's products like these new bulbs that give me hope that we may be able to reverse the tide in greenhouse gas emissions, which, of course, are responsible for global warming. It's the kind of modest change that everyone can afford to make -- in fact, you're wasting a lot of money if you don't make this change.
And there are other individual changes which, if made on a mass scale, could have a huge impact. If you can't drive a hybrid or biodiesel vehicle at this time, at least make sure your tires are properly inflated. You can improve fuel efficiency by 3.3% merely by checking to see that your tires are properly inflated! (Not to mention the fact that your vehicle will be a whole lot safer).
Another modest but highly impactful change that I've made is to reduce the ridiculous amount of energy used by appliances WHILE THE PRODUCTS ARE TURNED OFF! According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics is used while the products are in "sleep mode" -- you know, when the little green light is on. You can stop this vampire-like theft of electricity either by unplugging the appliance, or using a power strip, and using the switch on the strip to cut all power to the appliance. And for heaven's sake, unplug your battery chargers when they're not being used.
Like I said, little things. The key is for everyone to enact small changes in their lives -- that's the way to make a difference.
Kimberly Danek Pinkson, Founder of the EcoMom Alliance
Sustainable: That which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
I came to the world of sustainability through my father, who worked with indigenous shamans the world over, and my Hungarian-born mother, who introduced my sister and I to global awareness. I always joke that when other kids were eating Twinkies and going to summer camps, we were eating organic papaya out of ceramic dishes, and going to Native American Sweat Lodge ceremonies.
I was always trying to save the rainforests, save the whales, save something. But this is not to say that I didn’t enjoy a day of shopping with my mom and going to brunch at Neiman Marcus. I just always wondered why the two worlds had to be disparate. So, quite naturally I became a bridge builder, looking for ways to bring ideas and people together in ways that would not happen otherwise.
It took becoming a mom though, for me to realize that I had to start taking more steps for a sustainable future. First it was just buying organic food. Then came the organic shampoos, conditioners and toothpastes. Eventually, it was organic cotton clothes and bed linens. And now, I’m the Founder and President of the EcoMom Alliance, an organization committed to inspiring and empowering moms to take "First Steps for A Sustainable Future." Funny how life happens isn’t it?
But what does sustainable mean and why is it important?
It means you matter. For thousands of years, indigenous people have known what contemporary science has now “proven.” We are all connected and what we drop into one “corner” of the ocean, impacts all of the other “corners” too...
Charlotte Hudson
When I think about being a "green" mom, I first think that "green" applies to me because I am a new mom. Everything with my 9 month old is a new experience and I feel quite green behind the ears.
But I am striving to do everything possible to raise him to be as healthy and happy as I can, which often coincides with trying to live a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Every day, I try to make good choices on his behalf -- about what he eats, what he plays with, how much time he spends outside (in the shade!) -- but these choices are not without their dose of reality.
The truth is that I work full-time in Washington, DC. Balancing home and work is challenging -- to say the least -- and that doesn't even count trying to manage caregivers, grandparents, the grocery and the laundry. We are all busy. We all wish we had more time for both ourselves and our families, so when someone challenges us to make our lives and the lives of our children a little greener, my first thought is… of course, but who has the time?
Luckily, I feel like making greener choices is often just as easy and inexpensive as we would make anyway. I feel like this is especially the case with the foods we choose to give our children. When I tell my friends that I have been making my son's organic baby food, their facial expressions reveal both awe and concern. Am I crazy? Who has that much time to spend in the kitchen?
The little secret is that it is really EASY and in many cases, less expensive. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to feed my son organic food -- at least as long as I could -- until he learns the word for "Happy Meal."
Wendy Gordon, General Manager, National Geographic's TheGreenGuide.com
I'm a mom with two college-aged kids. Correction, I've got one son in college and another who just graduated. The older one and I just packed up his dorm room of 4 years of college life and brought most of it home. I'm a "less is best" type, and so set right to work sorting what's to be kept, what's to be replaced and what's to pass along.
Neither one of our kids are overly consumptive, but the new grad could outfit a small village with the commemorative t-shirts he collected from the many social and sporting events he'd attended over 4 years. That hopefully is what's in store for their second life, following our wardrobe purge this week. The local thrift shop is the perfect resting stop for a lot of our clothes, once we've grown out of or beyond them.
The equipment he'd accumulated formed another small mountain. After 4 years, the laptop sorely needed replacing and so for a joint graduation/birthday gift, his dad and I got him a nice new computer. But while one computer had served him well throughout college, he managed to lose several phones and iPods along the way, so one desk drawer was dedicated to the power cords, extra batteries, and parts that come with every new devise. Not sure why, but he used the same drawer to collect empty ink cartridges. This is all good however because we boxed it all up and will take it to the local recycling center. They recover what they can and recycle the rest.
Clothes were packed neatly, winter and summer things separately. We'll wash and put away some things for longer-term storage as his first real job will take him to LA, where he won't need so many heavy things. The son still in college returned most of his textbooks to the university store for resale. The graduate preferred to keep his. That was fine. He had collected some amazing books on art, literature through the ages, philosophy, religion, and history. These possessions seemed like keepers.
He's back in his room at home, a pretty small apartment, but everything we're not giving away manages to fit (more or less). In a month, he'll be heading to California for a job and his first post-college apartment. He's bound to accumulate possessions with time, but I'm hopeful he's picked up just a little bit of his mom's sense of the value of things and the virtue of "enough."
Kimberly Danek Pinkson, Founder of the EcoMom Alliance
Yesterday my son came home from his first fishing trip with, yes, you guessed it, a fish. I was very excited and proud of him until I realized that I would have to help him clean it.
Native Americans talk about the web of life. How everything on this precious planet of ours is woven together just so. How it falls apart when we don’t walk in balance. I don’t eat meat very often, I am not a vegetarian anymore – gave it up during my pregnancy when my body seemed to scream out, "beef, beef, I want beef" – and I always talk about how important it is that kids grow up knowing where their food is coming from, but cutting off the fish’s head and cleaning out the guts? Ugghh, the things we go through in the name of raising children and walking our talk.
But I bucked up, asked Corbin to say a little prayer for the spirit of the fish that gave its life to him and then, we did the deed. And Corbin had him for dinner with garlic and lemon.
Thinking about this web of life is critical to shifting toward a greener lifestyle. As is realizing that this whole thing about trying to stop global warming, while noble and real, is not just about the planet. It is about you. Because sustaining your self, sustaining your home and sustaining your planet, it’s all connected. When push comes to shove, and the organic almonds at Trader Joes have gone up to $6.99 and the conventional almonds are only $3.99, what are you going to do? How much does climate change really mean then? How about your health?
