Green Parent Chicago

Weekend Reading List: Food Safety Edition

-How did the City of Chicago celebrate Earth Day? By making a pact to brandish citywide recycling bins with Coca-Cola adverts. Seriously, read all about it here. Big bucks=big time ad space. Speak out for ad free public space and just say no. 

-Bad news again for meat eaters: The researchers at Environmental Working Group analyzed tests of supermarket meat and found that "superbugs"(antibiotic resistant bacteria) are now very common in U.S. meat sold in grocery stores. Find out the numbers here (hint, eww...ground turkey.) 

-The FDA would like your opinion on a proposal to change milk bottle labels. Dairy industry groups would like to change the labeling on milk bottles so milk that is artificially sweetened or reduced calorie would not be easily identifiable. Any additives, such as artificial flavors or sweeteners could in effect be hidden at first glance, though still found in ingredient lists. Public comments will be accepted until May 21. 

"The two groups asked FDA to amend the standard of identity for flavored milk and 17 other dairy products (including nonfat dry milk, heavy cream, eggnog, half-and-half and sour cream) so that non-nutritive sweeteners are among the standard ingredients. The products would then not require any additional description on the label."

Freebie of the week:

Gardening is finally getting underway in our neck of the woods. How about trying to compost some of that yard and kitchen waste into good, healthy compost you can reuse in your outdoor garden, indoor pots and landscaping? Here's a handy free guide to help you get started.

 

Thanks for reading!

-Christine

 

 

Happy Birthday to Us! We turned 5 years old this month :)

Hello dear friends,

I hope you all celebrated a marvelous Earth Day yesterday and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We here at Green Parent Chicago are really excited to let you know that we are back from our brief hiatus and will be bringing you lots of new, regular content again each week. (If you are wondering why you are reading this important message today instead Earth Day, find out here.)

As founder and editor of Green Parent Chicago, I hope that our message of being "eco-friendly and off the mainstream" continues to inspire you to live your lives with respect for the Earth and one another.

We've spruced up our look and made our "Things To Do" events calendar much more reader friendly. There you'll continue to find tons of fun, informative and unique events and activities going on in and around Chicagoland for all ages. If you have an event you'd like us to see on our calendar, don't hesitate to send it to us or add it yourself. You can do this right on the calendar page itself, just scroll down and click the "add event" buttom on the bottom of the calendar.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out many new regular features that highlight the local organizations and businesses that are helping make Chicago one of the greenest cities in the world. We'll also unveil lots of fun, how-to articles and videos about everything from raising chickens in the city to brewing your own beer.

We began this adventure together in April of 2008 and while lots of changes have occurred in the world since then, and within my own family (I'm now parenting a teenager (!) and my youngest is no longer in training pants), I continue to be amazed at all the creativity and green innovation emanating from this great metropolis we call Chicago.

However, you and I both know that there are still many ways in which your actions and your family's actions, whether at home, at work or at play can make a significant impact in delivering us from our collective dependence on big oil and big money and return our local communities to a more self-sustaining and earth-sustaining way of life.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your 5 years of loyal readership! We here at Green Parent Chicago look forward to a brighter future bringing you more news, events and activities you can use to help you and your family live the eco-friendly way, naturally.

If you have suggestions, comments, would like to write for us, or have a new exciting project you think our readers would enjoy hearing about, don't hesitate to shoot me an email or comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

-Christine

 

 

Knowledge is Free

http://www.cispaisback.org/

-Christine

Baking in the Sun? Check out EWG's Skin Deep® Hall of Shame | 2012 Sunscreen Report

   

If you live in the U.S. you've probably seen your share of sun for the entire summer, with the heat and sun we're experiencing.

If you're stocking up on sunscreen for your daily outings, there's a quick way to find out how to decrease any toxic chemical exposure on your skin or your child's skin from sunblocks and sunscreens that are currently marketed as safe:

Read the Environmental Working Group's annual report on safe and unsafe sunblocks and sunscreens.

Top offenders include some of the most popular and well known children's sunblocks from Coppertone and Banana Boat. Why? These can contain the chemical oxybenzone, a hormone disruptor. 

Other ones to avoid include: those that contain "retinyl palmitate" or Vitamin A. But, isn't Vitamin A supposed to be good for us? Depends on where it's going, according to researchers at EWG. 

"Foods rich in vitamin A are good for the body. But applied to sun-exposed skin, this common sunscreen additive may speed the development of skin tumors and lesions, according to government studies. Why is vitamin A (shown as “retinyl palmitate” or “retinol palmitate” on labels) allowed in sunscreens made for use in the sun? Good question."

In addition, avoid powder sunblocks and sprays (both could be inhaled easily during application). 

See more quick tips from EWG and download their full report here.

-photo credit: Wikipedia

EarthTalk: Two years later, BP Disaster and the Gulf "back to normal?"

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve seen a lot of warm and fuzzy TV ads, some sponsored by BP Oil, urging me to vacation in the Gulf of Mexico. But are things really “back to normal?” -- Paul Shea, Dublin, OH

The Gulf of Mexico may be open for business and eager to attract tourists, but it’s still unclear whether or not marine and coastal ecosystems there are healthy two years after BP’s offshore drilling rig exploded 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, eventually releasing 205.8 million gallons of oil into the water column.

Five months after the April 2010 disaster the Obama administration released a detailed recovery plan, calling for spending up to $21 billion—most which would come from BP’s civil penalties—on clean-up and long-term ecosystem restoration. With much of this work—designed to complement the restorative powers of Mother Nature—well underway, some observers are pleased with the results so far.

“The natural recovery is far greater than what anybody hoped when it happened,” says James Morris, a University of South Carolina biologist and a member of the National Research Council committee tasked by Congress to assess the effects of the spill on the Gulf's ecosystem. “The fears of most people—that there would be a catastrophic collapse of the ecosystem in the Gulf—never materialized.”

“The fisheries have come back like gangbusters,” Morris reports. “One of the interesting findings was that after the oil spill, bait fish populations collapsed, and predator populations boomed. The reason was that there was no fishing pressure on the top predators because people stopped fishing after the spill. So the predator fish populations rebounded, and they grazed down their prey.”

Not everyone shares such a rosy view. The international environmental group Greenpeace reports: “Throughout the food chain, warning signs are accumulating. Dolphins are sick and dying. Important forage fish are plagued with gill and developmental damage. Deepwater species like snapper have been stricken with lesions and their reefs are losing biodiversity. Coastal communities are struggling with changes to the fisheries they rely upon. Hard-hit oyster reefs aren’t coming back and sport fish like speckled trout have disappeared from some of their traditional haunts.”

Still other observers argue that two years is not enough time to tell whether the region’s ecosystems will be severely damaged long term. “We really don’t know the effects the Deepwater Horizon spill had in the deep sea because we know little about the ecosystem processes there,” reports Gary Cherr, director of UC Davis’ Bodega Marine Laboratory and a lead author on a recently released paper published in the journal Bioscience. Cherr and his fellow researchers, including leading oceanographers, ecotoxicologists, and ecologists, conclude that scientists need more time to study how to contain damage from such accidents, especially given the trend to seek new sources of oil in off-shore regions around the U.S. and beyond.

“The deep sea is not a dead zone. It’s not a desert. There’s a lot of life down there,” adds Cherr. “Unfortunately it’s not until a disaster happens that we try to piece together the impacts. That’s difficult to do when you don’t have a complete—or even partial—understanding of the ecosystem.”

CONTACTS: James Morris, ww2.biol.sc.edu/~morris; Greenpeace, www.greenpeace.org; Bioscience paper, www.aibs.org/bioscience-press-releases/resources/Peterson.pdf.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Book Review and Interview: "Vegan is Love" the newest children's book from Ruby Roth

Author/illustrator Ruby Roth's newly released children's book, "Vegan is Love", has drawn plenty of praise from notable figures such as Jane Goodall, Gene Baur and singer Jason Mraz. Building on the success of her first book, "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals", Roth offers a more detailed description of vegan living in "Vegan is Love", complete with information for children to make cruelty-free choices at home, in school and in their communities.

Some critics of Roth's book say it is inappropriate for children because of its subject matter and the book's references to animal testing, factory farm pollution, and animal cruelty. Roth has been making the rounds on the air addressing the media "controversy". This past week, I talked with her about what parents can expect from the book and how she developed its intriguing illustrations.

With "Vegan is Love" you've gone more in depth on vegan life choices that children can make, from simply focusing on eating a vegan diet in "That's Why We Don't Eat Animals" (published in 2009) to making a choice to avoid zoos, circuses that use animals, choosing cruelty-free products, etc. When did you decide to take this message further and what age range do you believe the book is best suited for?

The official age is seven and up, but I believe that children even younger can relate to the illustrations. Where my first book was about the “why’s” of a plant-based lifestyle, “Vegan Is Love” is about the “hows”—how to send our love across the world through the choices we make everyday. This book discusses the far-reaching impact of veganism. I wrote it because America has had a very hard time in the last couple of years. Instead of worrying or “occupying,” I decided to write this book for a new generation of children who will have to think, eat, and live differently if we are to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Are children ready to handle the responsibility of making the consumer choices you describe? Some reviewers say that the subject matter may be too "controversial"? What is your take on this?

 There is nothing more graphic in my book than what any child might see in a deli case or on the myriad fishing, hunting, or cooking shows on TV. I think it’s never too early to begin teaching your kids how to love deeply, think critically, and act responsibly. We do not give kids enough credit for their insight and ability to make inferences and draw conclusions. When we give kids the information they need to make educated choices, they choose wisely—for health, animals, and the environment. For example, if children are educated about animal testing, they are excited to help their parents look for cruelty-free logos at the grocery store. The PG versions of reality in my book are a child-friendly way to begin discussions.

Your newest book is quite an empowering guide for young people, have you received any notable letters of admiration or support from young fans of your books?

Absolutely! Parents around the world send me news about their children’s thoughts and reactions to my books as well as the “controversy” in the media—the notes are always hilarious and insightful. In response to the negative critique of “Vegan is Love” by a child psychologist on FOX, one mother told me her young vegan daughter said “Why is that expert so ignorant?” I also have letters about the activism my book inspired—children doing presentations, science projects, and placing signs in their neighborhood about the benefits of veganism. Kids feel empowered by information.

The subject matter of "Vegan is Love" is serious, but needn't be frightening to children who are ready to comprehend it. What were the biggest challenges you faced when creating the illustrations for the book? What was your creative process like when deciding on the look and feel of the book?

Thank you, I’ve never once seen a child overwhelmed by my books—only adults. The purpose of the text and illustrations is not to instill fear but inspire action. The animal testing spread, for example, shows only the most minor slice of the reality inside labs. To kids, the illustration appears simply as animals in cages, some with “ouchies.” Children don’t have the context that adults do when we look at an image like this, which reminds of us exposed organs, syringes, restraints. I made sure every page was manageable for a child’s capacity and contained an affirmation about action. The most important lesson for kids to learn is that we don’t have to fear anything we have the power to change.

For more information on Ruby Roth's books visit http://www.wedonteatanimals.com/

-Christine

EarthTalk: A Kid's Life--Marketing Messages and Sales Pitches

Dear EarthTalk: Are all the commercial messages kids are bombarded with today having any noticeable negative effects? And if so what can a concerned parent like me do to limit my own kids’ exposure to so much advertising and marketing? -- Jason Baldino, Somerset, NJ

No doubt, marketers are hard at work targeting our children with their messages and creating young demand for their products. Companies in the U.S. today spend some $17 billion yearly advertising to children, a 150-fold increase from just a few decades ago. Some cash-strapped school districts have even started selling ads on and sometimes in their school buses as a way to bolster sagging education budgets. To be an American kid today is to be bombarded with marketing messages and sales pitches. It’s no wonder that, given the amount of advertising and marketing they endure, young people in our society are experiencing record levels of obesity and problems with credit card debt.

According to the non-profit Center for a New American Dream (CNAD), a leading proponent for more ecologically sustainable and community-oriented lifestyles in the United States, this incessant marketing is turning our children “into little consumers, alienating them from nature, getting them used to unhealthy diets filled with junk foods, and making them want ever more stuff.” The group points to several disturbing studies, such as one that showed how U.S. children could recognize more Pokemon characters than common wildlife species, while another found that the average American kid is exposed to more than 25,000 television ads spanning some 10,700 minutes over the course of just one year.

The result of all this aggressive marketing to kids is not just excessive materialism and obesity, but also a host of other problems including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders, increased violence, and family stress. “Economically, societally and ecologically,” CNAD reports, “this is unsustainable and not the best path for children.”

Against this backdrop of media and marketing saturation, what can be done to help steer our kids in a more healthy direction? Given that shielding American kids from these messages would be nearly impossible, the next best thing is teaching them how to parse through the different come-ons and solicitations they are exposed to these days at nearly every turn. CNAD’s free, downloadable 32-page booklet “Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture” offers loads of useful information on how to limit kids’ exposure to commercial influences that come via the television, computer or mail slot, and replacing those lost hours with new opportunities for more beneficial activities. Examples abound: playing board or card games, going on a walk or hike, riding bikes, and much more. The booklet also elaborates on how to limit or rid commercial influences in schools and other places where kids spend time away from home.

Another great resource for parents and teachers looking to reduce commercial influences on kids is the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, a coalition of more than two dozen other groups started by consumer advocate and author Susan Linn. The coalition advocates for the adoption of government policies that limit corporate marketers’ access to kids and works to mobilize parents, educators and health care providers to stop the commercial exploitation of children. Teachers love the coalition’s free downloadable Guide to Commercial-Free Book Fairs while concerned parents can download the Guide to Commercial-Free Holidays in order to help themselves and their kids resist the hype.

CONTACTS: Center for a New American Dream, www.newdream.org; Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, www.commercialfreechildhood.org.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

-photo credit: iStockPhoto

EarthTalk: Our Destructive Consumer Culture

Dear EarthTalk: I don’t hear much about the environmental impacts of our consumer culture any more, but it seems to me that our “buy, buy, buy” mentality is a major contributor to our overuse of energy and resources. Are any organizations addressing this issue today? – M. Oakes, Miami, FL

There is no doubt true that our overly consumerist culture is contributing to our addiction to oil and other natural resources and the pollution of the planet and its atmosphere.

Unfortunately the tendency to acquire and even horde valuable goods may be coded into our DNA. Researchers contend that humans are subconsciously driven by an impulse for survival, domination and expansion which finds expression in the idea that economic growth will solve all individual and worldly ills. Advertising plays on those impulses, turning material items into objects of great desire imparting intelligence, status and success.

William Rees of the University of British Columbia reports that human society is in a “global overshoot,” consuming 30 percent more material than is sustainable from the world’s resources. He adds that 85 countries are exceeding their domestic “bio-capacities” and compensate for their lack of local material by depleting the stocks of other countries.

Of course, every one of us can do our part by limiting our purchases to only what we need and to make responsible choices when we do buy something. But those who might need a little inspiration to get started should look to the Adbusters Media Foundation, a self-described “global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age.”

Among the foundation’s most successful campaigns is Buy Nothing Day, an international day of protest typically “celebrated” the Friday after Thanksgiving in North America (so-called Black Friday, one of the year’s busiest shopping days) and the following Saturday in some 60 other countries. The idea is that for one day a year we commit to not purchase anything, and to help spread the anti-consumerist message to anyone who will listen, with the hope of inspiring people to consume less and generate less waste the other 364 days of the year. The first Buy Nothing Day took place in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1992 with a few dozen participants, but today hundreds of thousands of people all over the world take part.

In recent years some anti-consumerists have added Buy Nothing Christmas to their agendas as well. Some ideas for how to leverage Buy Nothing Christmas sentiment without looking too much like Scrooge include giving friends and family “gift exemption” cards and asking shoppers in line at a big box store, “What would Jesus buy?”

Beyond Buy Nothing Day and Buy Nothing Christmas, the Adbusters Media Foundation stokes the fire of anti-consumerism throughout the year via its bi-monthly publication, Adbusters, an ad-free magazine with an international circulation topping 120,000. Do yourself a favor and subscribe...and cancel all those catalogs stuffing up your mailbox in the meantime.

CONTACTS: Adbusters, www.adbusters.org; Buy Nothing Day, www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd.

EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: [email protected]. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Book Review: The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking

Austinite blogger Kate Payne's new book "The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking" (Harper Design 2011) is a fun and easy read for anyone looking to add a bit more fancy to their frugality and learn some simple DIY skills for "decorating, dining and the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency on a budget".

The author tackles topics like simple hand sewing, bread making, canning, eco-friendly house cleaning, cooking, entertaining, gardening and fix-it projects around the home. Whether that home is a spacious bungalow or a tiny high-rise studio, it's important to celebrate that space. As Payne writes:

"it's cool to have a cool house. It's damn gratifying to throw down a loaf of homemade bread with your own home-preserved blueberrry jam. Because feeling in control in your own house does wonders for every instance when you're not under that sweet roof."

This book would make a great gift for a wannabe domestic goddess (or god) looking for advice on how to outfit a first apartment or someone seeking to impress their friends with all their new found knowledge of how to reuse, revamp and recycle thrift, vintage and flea market finds.

Even a more experienced modern "homemaker" looking for fresh ideas and inspiration should certainly find something useful in Payne's no-nonsense, straightforward guide filled with plenty of interesting projects, links and resources.

-Christine

 

 

 

Swap-O-Rama-Rama today: Bring Your Crafty Kids, Bring Your Crafty Selves

 

Swap-O-Rama-Rama, the clothing swap and simultaneous series of do-it-yourself workshops,   returns to its former location at The Chicago Waldorf School today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for one day only.

According to event organizer Katie Hawkey Swindler, a volunteer staff consisting of "renegade" crafters of all ages "from hipsters to grandmas" will be be on hand to teach kids and adults to be creators not consumers.

Some of the creative skills attendees can try their hand at include:

• sewing
• silk screening
• dyeing
• jewelry making
• up-cycling old clothing   

In addition to DIY workshops, the event will also feature live music, DJ's, and fashion shows throughout the day hosted by Chicago based Size Eight Sketch Comedy. 

"It's truly an all ages event," said Hawkey. "I had a mom show up with a couple of kids last year, she asked if she could skip the admissions donation because she was "just bringing the kids."  After she had been in SORR for about 10 minutes, she comes out with a huge smile on her face and asks to pay for herself so that she could get in on all the cool projects and free clothes" 

Admission is $20 (or what you can afford) + a bag of clothes ($10 for students/seniors). With admission, participants get unlimited access to all workshops and supplies and may leave with as many clothes as they can carry.