Green Parent Chicago™

EarthTalk™: What does "carbon neutral" really mean?

Dear EarthTalk: What does "carbon neutral" really mean? And is it really possible to live in such a manner without just resorting to buying carbon credits? --Vera Hoffman, Seattle, WA

Carbon neutral is a term that has sprouted many definitions, and how to achieve it has spawned numerous interpretations, too. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, which made carbon neutral its 2006 “Word of the Year,” it involves “calculating your total climate-damaging carbon emissions, reducing them where possible, and then balancing your remaining emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset.”

But the term is really so ‘06. Today’s term, “climate neutral,” complicates the issue. Tracking carbon is great, but carbon dioxide (CO2) is only one of several greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, says the 2008 publication, Kick the Habit: A U.N. Guide to Climate Neutrality, by the United Nations Environment Program. CO2 makes up some 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, but five others—nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride and methane—also contribute. Limits on all six gases were called for by the Kyoto Protocol international climate treaty.

Semantics aside, whether a person can live in a climate-neutral manner is a question of lifestyle choices and making improvements over time. Start your climate neutral quest by calculating your energy usage. Type “climate footprint” or “carbon footprint” into Google and try a couple of calculators that track use in different ways. One is Earthlab’s (https://www.earthlab.com/createprofile/reg.aspx); the University of California at Berkeley also offers one at: http://bie.berkeley.edu/files/ConsumerFootprintCalc.swf.

For a calculation, you’ll need information about your home energy use and your travel by car and public transit. Some calculators ask whether you’re vegetarian, how much you recycle and compost, and how much you spend buying goods and dining out. The equation can get involved. Record your information sources, and then revisit the calculator periodically with new numbers to see how you’re doing.

Living With Excess- Start Your Spring Cleaning Now!

 A friend once sent me to The Story of Stuff website and it changed my thinking forever. As I look around I realize we have so much! Even someone like me (who is not a buyer, saver or a collector) has so much excess stuff. What to do as we spring clean this month? Here are my thoughts...

• My personal favorite is selling items on Craig's List. It's free. You post and sell on your own terms and it is done. I've found it to be hassle free and VERY economical when you consider all the fees and restrictions against sellers on eBay. *You can also offer free items on Craig's List!

• Freecycle is another option if you want to organize an online donation.

• Take the maternity wear and kids clothes, books, decor, DVDs, bikes, strollers and overall gear to The Second Child on Armitage in Lincoln Park and make $$ on your forgotten items. Our family has been doing this for years and it works! The beautiful thing about consignment is that we always have a credit when we need to buy something new. It's like not spending $$, but getting what you need.  

• You can drop off items at organizations like the Brown Elephant, White Elephant or Salvation Army. There is even a drop off box for the Salvation Army at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park.  

I would be lying if I said I went through all of my closets and drawers each season to reduce our excess. In fact, it is much more than that (I am a born organizer!) and still I find I keep things way too long. In the end I have learned that if I am not using it, someone else could.

Whenever I get that craving to buy the latest trendy thing in a magazine I have to ask myself why I want it. Do I think it will make everything in my life different in some way? (Like one tablecloth has that power! ;) Do I think that I need to keep up with the Joneses when we all know that is a futile, shallow and never ending attempt. In our family we try to scrutinize everything we buy and see whether what comes in has purpose, function and longevity. If it doesn't meet that criteria, it doesn't make the cut. It doesn't come in and then in the end, it doesn't have to come out.

-Eco Chic

Kudos to Gov. Sebelius of KS for vetoing deceptive RBGH bill

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hopeful, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has reportedly vetoed Kansas state bill HR 2121, which would have permitted misleading claims on organic and hormone free milk.

The bill, if signed into law, would have allowed labeling claiming there is no significant difference in "milk derived from rbGH-supplemented and non-rbGH-supplemented cows” in a similar font size and on the same panel as where a label states “from cows not treated with rbGH.”

Such labeling would thereby create confusion for consumers about the benefits of hormone-free milk and organic milk and could set a precedent for big agriculture in the fight against the organic food movement.

Ask The Green Mama: Better School Lunches

Dear Green Mama,
I'm a school teacher in Chicago. After researching our CPS lunches, I am concerned about recalled meat and rGBH that may be in our students’ food and drink. 

Chartwells is our present vendor. Is there a vendor that can stay within our limited budget while offering CPS students healthier school lunches?
-- Is A Better Chow Possible

Dear ABC:

School lunches can be pretty bad:  growth hormones in milk, recalled and irradiated meat, and fruits and vegetables high in pesticides.   Meat and dairy are the staples of the school lunch program and there are few options available for those who want to avoid either.

The USDA, which is on record as saying that rGBH milk is safe and cloned meats are fine, is responsible for the school lunch program. They in effect buy up foods that consumer don’t want and serve it to school kids in their lunches. The farm bill that was passed in May of 2008 directs the USDA to buy irradiated beef for the federal school lunch program. Almost 1/3 of the recently recalled meat went to schools and public nutrition programs. 

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---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

Earth Day Events Through the Week

Morning Bird and Nature Walks with the Nature Conservancy
April 22, 7:30 a.m. Millenium Park, Cloud Gate

Lincoln Park Zoo's Science Celebration
April 22, 10:00 a.m. - noon Cafe Brauer,
2021 N. Stockton Dr., at Lincoln Park Zoo (Cannon Dr. and Fullerton Pkwy.)

North Park Village Nature Center Volunteer Work Day
April 22, 9:00 a.m. - noon, North Park Village Nature Center,
5801 N. Pulaski Rd.

Earth Day Tree Planting Event
April 22 Washington Park

Earth Day Park Clean Up at Gage Park
April 22, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Gage Park,
2411 W. 55th St.

Mr. Sandtastic Visits Shedd Aquarium
April 22, 10:00 a.m. - noon
12th Street Beach in the Museum Campus

Your Friendly Neighborhood Raccoon: Mr. Furry Fur Fur

 

When children lack access to backyards and green space and are unable to play outdoors regularly, they can easily miss out on forming a personal connection to nature. Often the best way to foster a child's love for the Earth is to remind him or her that nature and wildlife can be a friendly part of their everyday life.

One Oak Park couple, Christine Ingaldson and Tony Smith, have dedicated themselves to this message as creators of the new children's show, Mr. Furry Fur Fur. Starring an adorable raccoon, (played by Ingaldson) and his friends, Pete the Possum, Scribbles the Squirrel and Blink the Butterfly, Mr. Furry Fur Fur is a new breed of children's show. It blends a techno pop soundtrack with the familiar faces of backyard animals and their experiences learning about nature, recycling, sharing, friendships, everyday routines and celebrations.

The show is geared to children ages 3 to 6 and though the humor and style of puppetry is reminiscent of Sesame Street and the Children's Television Workshop, Ingaldson and Smith have a somewhat more wacky approach, sure to be enjoyed by parents who grew up on a steady diet of The Muppet Show.

When "TV Turn Off Week" is Every Week

My husband and I decided to get rid of our TV when we moved to our present home last fall and since then "TV Turn Off Week" is every week in our house. Honestly, our number one catalyst was space: We didn't want the Giant Box (it wasn't a flat screen) taking up valuable space in our future living room. Over the years we've worked hard to amass (through our own collections prior to marriage, swapping with friends, or beloved library book sales) a sizeable library of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. That doesn't even include our children's book collections, which seem to be ever expanding.

Having a large library in our home is of utmost importance to us (we're both writers) and an important part of my own childhood as well. So, it was pretty much a no brainer for us: books or TV. Books won by a mile.

When we made the decision to ditch the box last October, we knew we wouldn't have TV in our home for awhile, quite possibly never again. I was fine with that, he was fine with it and it turned out the kids were fine with it too. The digital transition was eminent and our old TV would require cable or a converter to serve it's purpose anyway. We already had someone in mind who would be interested in taking it off our hands. Though, I was a bit skeptical about my husband's future inability to watch sports as often as he did, he championed the idea more than any of us.

And that's how we said goodbye to TV: on our last day at our old apt. It stood alone, in the now barren room, a giant black plastic encased hunk of metal, glass and wires. See ya.

Green Doesn't Mean Perfect

It's interesting when friends make excuses for their brand of milk in the fridge or reasons why they have a Styrofoam coffee cup in their hands. They feel the need to confess in some weird way for not being "green" enough. When this happens I share that I believe "green doesn't mean perfect."

Just because you value conservation and seek to protect the environment it doesn't mean that everything you do needs to fit within a certain criteria or look a particular way. There isn't a checklist or secret handbook that people follow to be accepted in the green movement. Sure, we all try to be mindful of what we buy or consume or throw away. We try to take that next step. But it isn't always perfect and that is okay.

I wonder if this could this be one of the major hurdles that prevent some people from embracing an environmentally friendly lifestyle? The perception that a green lifestyle is an all-or-nothing gig. So if that were the case someone might say "I own a gas guzzler so I can't be green" or "I buy clothes from a big chain store that were made in another country so I can't be a conservationist". Sometimes we may lose the point in trying to fit the mold, but we shouldn't give up.

Any action that takes a step forward is valuable and meaningful. If everyone took just one step toward conservation in their lives, it would be huge! When I started my journey towards becoming more eco-friendly, I had a long talk with myself. You see I have perfectionist tendencies that I keep in check and I wanted to be able to give myself enough time to really understand the changes in our lives and make meaningful steps along the way. How much time did I give myself? A lifetime.

I say a lifetime because this is not a passing fad or my trend of the month. My journey started in one place and has taken me step by step to where I am now and to where I am going. For that I am grateful and also humbled. I don't do everything right. If you had a 24/7 camera on me, you would see any number of less than eco-friendly actions and behaviors. I have thrown things away when I am out that could have been taken home and recycled or wasted food when I knew better. I indulge on foods that aren't local or organic. I've used the car when I could have taken public transit. I admit it all because I have probably done it all. I am far from perfect.

In the end, I understand the choice even if I don't make the right ones each time. After learning more I see the impact my choices have on the environment and that makes me more mindful. This insight encourages me to try to take meaningful steps and allow the journey to unfold.

-Eco Chic

Ask The Green Mama: Textile Recycling

 

Dear Green Mama,
My sister has three children and lots of old children's clothing that isn’t fit for the Salvation Army.  What can be done with old clothes that are too stained or tattered for reuse? --A stained and tattered uncle

 Dear Stained and Tattered:
This question hits close to home for the Green Mama!  We get almost everything handed down to us and though it comes looking practically like new (despite having usually had at least three owners prior to us), it often ends its life with us stained, torn, and generally beyond reuse.  So what can one do?  

The answer isn’t that easy.  Reuse should be the first answer when possible. When clothes are beyond being donated to a thrift store, we try to give them new life through dying or sewing or handing them down to a friend that cuts up the pieces to make them into other clothing.  Often reuse in this way isn’t possible or practical.  

Then what?  The next steps of reuse are turning the clothes into rags.  We use the rags around our house. You can also donate old clothes to dog kennels and pounds; car washes or garages; or just about anywhere they use rags.  You should clean the clothes first and certain fabrics are more easily reusable (like cotton).  

Continue reading

---Do you have a question about green parenting you'd like The Green Mama to answer? Submit your question here. Look for your answer in an upcoming weekly installment of "Ask The Green Mama" every Friday on Green Parent Chicago.---

EarthTalk™: The Low Down on Sun Protective Clothing

Dear EarthTalk: Is there really such a thing as “sun-protective clothing?” If so, does it mean I can dispense with oily sunscreens once and for all?-- John Sugarman, San Diego, CA

While there will always be a place for high-quality sunscreen on body parts exposed to the sun, covering up elsewhere—ideally with clothing designed to absorb or shield the sun’s damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation—can minimize a person’s skin cancer risk significantly.

With recent news about the inadequacy of many sunscreens—the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found that four out of five name brand sunscreens offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain potentially carcinogenic ingredients—covering up instead of smearing is looking better and better to many people. A handful of clothing manufacturers are responding to the increased demand for shirts, pants, dresses and hats bearing “SPF” (sun protection factor) ratings with stylish sun-protective duds.

The granddaddy of them all just might be Sun Precautions Inc., which was started 15 years ago by avid downhill ski racer and outdoors enthusiast Shaun Hughes after he was diagnosed with skin cancer at age 26. The company’s Solumbra line of sun-protective casual and outdoors clothing blocks upwards of 97 percent of all UVA and UVB radiation it encounters, and is recommended by thousands of dermatologists.