CT Green Scene

Planning for a Green Baby

By Eileen Weber

A father asked his young daughter what she would like for Christmas. She said that what she wanted more than anything else was a baby brother. That Christmas Eve, her mother came home from hospital clutching a baby boy.

The following year, the father again asked his daughter what she would like for Christmas. "Well," she replied, "if it's not too uncomfortable for Mommy, I'd like a pony."

Most first-time parents probably know as much about caring for ponies as they do babies. Any veteran mom can tell you, having a family can be one of the most rewarding—and the most challenging—part of our lives.

That’s where Berkeley Murray comes in. A 15-year Fairfield resident, she has recently launched Bliss Baby Planning. She has a master’s degree in Elementary Education, certification with the International Baby Planner Association, and countless years working with families who just need a helping hand.

Murray, an easy-going mother of two, said getting her business off the ground has been years in the making. Parents struggle with the new responsibilities of taking care of a child. It can be a pretty daunting task taking care of a newborn, juggling the new baby with a toddler who has sleep issues, or becoming an adoptive parent for the first time.

Are you a Parent? Are you Awake?

by Heather Burns

I only needed to open the door a few days ago to my child's gymnasium and take one whiff of the newly polished floor to be reminded of how much work still needs to be done to create awareness, turn inaction into action and create real change when it comes to the toxic environment our children are exposed to.

And while I may not be able to instantly control what school administrators put on floors, on the lunch menu, or on the school yards - I can create change to the degree I feel comfortable, have time for or feel compelled.

Healthy Child, Healthy World is a stand up organization helping keep "conscious" parents like me well informed so I can make sound choices on behalf of my children.

Chronic Illness: Coming Through Loud and Clear

by Eileen Weber

Did you know that one in 91 children have autism? Did you know that one in eight children have asthma? Did you know that one in six children have a learning or behavior disorder? Did you know that one in 10 children have ADHD?

These are alarming statistics by anyone’s standard. They’re even more alarming when these statistics apply to your child. And for many parents, it’s an all too grim reality.

No one is really sure of the root cause for autism and other illnesses like ADHD or even some severe food allergies. But what is very clear is that chronic illness in children is a nationwide epidemic.

We’re not talking about a singular group of children tucked away in a remote village with no running water and scant electricity, hours from the nearest town. We’re talking about your neighbors, your friends, kids you know at school.

Opening the Doors on Natural Childbirth

by Michelina Docimo

In Italian, dare la luce, a phrase that literally means “to give light,” is used to allude to the act of a woman giving birth. Natural childbirth, a concept that seems so foreign today, has been replaced with a delivery process that takes place behind closed doors in a steely gray, windowless room. The physical labor has been removed from the woman by performing quick, convenient C-sections, often for the doctor’s sake of avoiding liability in the event that something might go wrong. Laura DePreta, a Bradley Method® childbirth educator, is shedding light on childbirth options, which empower pregnant women and their partners in making educated decisions on how they will bring forth a new life into the world.

What’s so green about having a baby naturally? Everything – it’s about taking responsibility and making healthy decisions for yourself and your family. As a society, we’ve become so detached from nature, that we even have lost sight of something so primal as how to give birth – something women’s bodies are made to do naturally.

Meatless Mondays - Coming to a School Near You

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

I often wonder how old my son will have to get before his peers notice he's a vegetarian. He's in kindergarten, and so far, no one's the wiser that his "turkey sandwich" is made from spelt and soy-beans and his "hot dogs" are SmartDogs. It was no big deal last year when I could afford to send him to Waldorf, but this year we headed to, gulp, public schools.

Even so, I keep thinking that with a little luck (and global warming + overpopulation = not enough land for raising animals) being vegetarian will become the norm and he won't have to cope with being seen as different (doesn't every family have a bug relocation program?) Well, the Baltimore school system is one of the first to introduce Meatless Mondays, where they'll serve 80,000 kids up an all veggie menu. 

And they're not stopping there. From The Green Fork, "BCPS has teemed up with local farmers and distributors to provide students fresh, locally raised fruits, vegetables and milk. They’ve also introduced Great Kids Farm, a 33-acre teaching farm, home to chickens, goats and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Educators on the farm teach kids and adults how to produce home-grown fresh food, even in an urban setting."

I'm staying the course and letting the tides turn - and if they don't, he can go to therapy like nearly everyone else.

Ready or NOT!

by Heather Burns-DeMelo

I'll be the first to admit that I'm extreme when it comes to what I feed my kids. Whole food, organic, local, vegetarian, no sugar, non-GMO...the whole nine yards. Grandparents and friends have long since given up trying to convince me that I work too hard at keeping my 5 and 4 year old children in a "bubble," but in less than a week, I'll be forced to let them venture off to (gulp) public school and POP, the bubble will go.

Thanks to the film, Two Angry Moms, its group site and the example of other moms who have forged ahead to become advocates of healthy school food, I know I'm in good company. But the truth is, I'm scared.

While I know nothing will improve unless a squeaky wheel garners attention, creates a plan and rolls up her sleeves to encourage action, I'm not shy to admit that I want someone else to do it. After all, why would any mother in her right mind want to be the fall guy or risk having her child labeled as the kid with the vegetarian, tree hugging mom who complains all the time?

Love.

So here I go, jumping head first into school food advocacy, with the same "can't turn back now" attitude I summon when cliff diving.

Want to Understand Your Carbon Footprint?

by Tracey Finch

Then read the Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon (Orchard Books/Scholastic $15.99 and worth every penny).  Oh yeah, and don't forget that this is supposed to be a children's book. But the book should be required reading for all kids 8-100.

This colorful and nicely designed book is a must read for children and yes, even adults who could use an easy-to-read primer on today's environmental problems. If we want to educate ourselves and our children, this book covers the science of global warming, the effect on our weather, the impact on plant and animal life and the many steps we can all take to help reverse global warming.

When asked about her favorite green products, author Cambria Gordon said, "My favorite green products are bio-bags . They are completely bio-degradable and great for lining trash cans in the house.  I also can't live without my SIGG stainless steel water bottle.  Mine says "Simply ECO Logical."

Common' FDA! Look Who You're Letting Down

Submit Comments for Healthy School Lunches by 10/15!

Read more posts on motherhood and the environment on Eco-Mamas.com

My last post, before the haze of a holiday weekend set in, focused on the reauthorization of The Child Nutrition Act in 2009. I asked readers to comment on the USDA's public comment website to make their voices heard. We want fresh fruits and vegetables! We want increased funding! We want standards for "snack line" foods! And, then I got to thinking. I asked all of you to comment, I commented, but then I stopped there.

Today, energized by a sunny holiday weekend spent with my children, I realized I could do more. Did you comment? Do you want to take it a step further? To quote someone very politically relevant - YES, I CAN! Today I wrote a letter to every member of the school board as well as my children's school principals and some powerful PTA women that I know that can really get the job done. It was so simple and so quick. Visit your school's website, scout out the email addresses and type a quick letter. No time to write the letter? Here - take mine! Just don't tell the kids how quick and easy plagiarism can be!

Dear Members of the Board,

My name is (your name here), a mother of x, y, z attending the (ABC) Consolidated Schools. I am writing you today to request your attention to an important matter:

The Child Nutrition Act - a major piece of federal legislation that helps determine school food policy and resources – will begin reauthorization in 2009. Amazingly, this act has been unchanged since the 1960's and besides being outdated, it doesn't address many issues facing students today, such as: obesity, diabetes, cholesterol levels, allergies, working parent households, religous beliefs and many other factors not present in the 1960's. In addition, the current act doesn't contain any standards for so-called "snack-line" foods such as brand name items, fast food chain selections, sodas and marketing gimmicks.

The good news is the USDA and the government are accepting the public's comments on the reauthorization of this act, but the comment period ends very soon - October 15, 2008. I understand this email is reaching you during the busiest time, right at the beginning of a new school year. However, I am only asking for a moment of your time to pass the word along to your fellow colleagues, the schools and their PTAs and the food service department.

For those who are limited on time, simply visit the website I provided below and enter your comments. The website address:

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064805f47dd

A basic set of comments are as follows (please feel free to cut and paste these comments into the comments section if you wish!):

• Increase funding for school meals and provide incentives for schools to offer healthier foods.
• Increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Improve nutrition standards for school meals so they align with the most recent dietary guidelines.
• Establish standards for food sold in schools outside of the school meals programs such as that sold at snack bars and cafeteria a la carte lines.

Idbids: Ecologically Friendly Toys for Kids

Not only can you live greener, but you can also teach your children to lead more ecologically friendly lives with the new toy Idbids. The name is a play on the words iddy biddy, or rather small.

This correlates with the children (since they are iddy biddy) and taking iddy biddy steps to improve the environment. The toys are all made of 100% Egyptian cotton. There are three toys to choose from: Scout the Cloud, Waverly the water drop and Lola the flower. Each comes with a guidebook that is printed on recycled paper and offers a checklist of activities for the children to do to make the earth a cleaner place. The kit comes with:

1. 9" toy

2. Organic cotton cinch sack

3. Storybook and Field Guide printed on recycled paper with eco-friendly inks

4. Online reward program

5. Kit packaging is made from recycled and eco-friendly materials and includes paper doll cutouts and a playland insert

Idbids is located in Atlanta, but the toys can be purchased online and delivered to people in CT or NY as well as the rest of the United States. The toys were debuted in New York City during the 2008 toy fair.

Ticking Off the Ice Cream Truck Man

I was at the park today with my kids when a diesel ice cream truck pulled in. The man, in his fifties, kept the fifteen year old truck spewing smoke as he passed out frozen treats packed with artificial colors and flavors and enough preservatives to outlive the kids who ate them.

I stood by silently, my  young ones knowing better than to ask, since for the past four years their mommy claims not to have any money, or rambles on about how unhealthy that ice cream is, convincing them to go to the New Morning to pick up some organic, lactose-free, all natural, frozen desserts.

Then it hit me: this must have been what the first proponents of banning second hand smoke must have felt like. Unsure, insecure, timid. I marched up to the truck and asked if he'd be staying long. "Nope."
"Good, I replied, because we can smell your truck all the way across the park."  "If you're so worried about it, why didn't you walk instead of drive here?" he spat back.

Tonight, I'll dream of electric powered ice cream trucks that sell organic, healthy frozen treats on sultry summer days.

Green Beyond their Years

Some of you may remember Jordan and Alex from the March GreenDrinks event at iPark...

By Brian Lockhart

Staff Writer

Stamford Advocate                

WINDSOR - Of the nearly dozen individuals, including Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, the state honored yesterday for helping the environment, two were barely tall enough to peer over the podium to deliver acceptance speeches.

Two Wilton boys, Jordan Reichgut, 10, and Alex Scaperotta, who told the crowd he is almost 10, were presented with leadership awards by the Governor's Steering Committee on Climate Change.

The third annual ceremony was hosted at the Windsor offices of ING Financial Services, honored for its green architecture and conservation initiatives that include urging workers to use coffee mugs at work and recycle office supplies and paper.

When they were 8, Jordan and Alex and their parents founded Little People, Big Changes, a club that encouraged 120 Wilton households to sign up for the state's Clean Energy Options program.

The program allows customers of Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating to pay a voluntary clean energy surcharge to help fund wind, hydroelectric and landfill gas projects that contribute to the nation's electric grid.

Anne George, commissioner of the state Department of Public Utility Control, presented the boys with their award, saying the state has many programs to help residents conserve energy and it is important to spread the word.

George said state officials launched Clean Energy Options with trepidation, knowing Connecticut residents pay high utility costs.

"I can only hope my children start taking on some of the activities Alex and Jordan have," George said. "When I was 8 years old, I was just running around the neighborhood, playing."

The boys also launched a "no idling" campaign in Wilton to reduce auto emissions and have made several presentations to schoolchildren and officials.

Sneaky, Green Feet: Earth-friendly kids' footwear

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve found environmentally friendly shoes for myself, but have had trouble finding similar shoes for my kids. Are they out there?    -- Dawn Masterson, Augusta, GA

Kids’ shoes are a quickly expanding market and companies with a green perspective are now jumping into the race with mini versions of everything from flip-flops to slippers to heeled dress shoes. While green kids’ shoes from makers like Simple, which offers organic cotton EcoSneaks with car tire soles, might seem expensive at $40 or more, they are durable enough to get passed around from sibling to sibling. “It is an investment if you’re going to do quality,” says Craig Throne, general manager of footwear at Patagonia.

 

"Image Courtesy "Isabooties and Patagonia."

Prom: How to Look Great, Help the Planet, and Throw an Incredible After Party

By Kia Martinson-Wenzel

www.ESTOccasions.com

Before we know it, prom season will be upon us--the tuxes, limos, of course the dress, make-up and post prom parties. By keeping a few simple tips in mind, you can make your child's prom dreamy AND eco-friendly.

For Him
There are plenty of stores renting formal attire where guys can rent a tux. If for some reason you feel the need to purchase new threads, www.myowntuxedo.com has both new and used tuxes for sale.  Ask your local store if they use Green Cleaners to dry clean their tuxes. If you are looking for a Green Cleaner, try Pure Elegance Cleaners in Westport Connecticut, or one of the three Bell Cleaners in Darien.  These cleaners are trying to find greener solutions when it comes to dry cleaning.

For Her
While it is common for parents to spend hundreds of dollars on their daughter's dress, the eco-conscious consumer will consider purchasing a dress that can be used for more than one event.  Cocktail dresses are very in, and can be used for different occasions.  Check you local consignment shops, like Touch of Class Consignment,where you can submit an online form describing your needs. 

De-commercializing the Holidays... A Swap

by Elizabeth Howard

Every year, earlier and earlier, the decorations come up at the stores. Ugh.

This year, on Halloween day at Target, I overheard one morose father contemplate giving out candy canes for Trick or Treat: the sales associates were stripping down the Halloween merchandise before the holiday had even started. Why? To make way for the lighted trees and green and gold wrapped Hershey's Kisses.

That's why I LOVE this article "12 Ways to Decommercialize Christmas" by Megan Kamerick, posted on Bankrate.com. She offers a slew of ways to take it all DOWN a notch. Number one on the list is my favorite, a "Yankee Swap" or what my Canadian family calls a "Chinese Gift Exhcange." Called by many other weird names-- White Elephant, Thieving Elves, and my personal favorite, Dirty Santa-- it's a gift exchange for adults: one gift each, a price limit, a certain amount of creativity and theft! How can you go wrong?

Just Beat It

One of the hardest things to deal with at this time of year is the pressures, most significantly, I believe,  the pressure of competition. For example, one woman ahead of me in line at Christmas Tree Shops was spending $300 on wrapping paper, stockings, their stuffers, and dozens of other throw-away pieces of junk. What for? A school Christmas party. At what point does (or has?) the "holiday spirit" become infected with something else entirely?

At the holidays, I feel there seems to be a sense that because we have the means, we need to somehow-- if not each other-- at the very least outdo ourselves. A better and bigger gift, party, tree than last year.

The decision to embrace a greener, more holistic lifestyle definitely means fighting all sorts of demons. And for American consumers at the holidays, the meanest demon of all is that one inside, something like "competitive goodness," which, if you are looking for it, often disguises itself as "giving."

Start a Recycling Program at Your School!

It's Back-to-School and what better time to kick off a great year by starting a school-wide recycling program! Check out these tips from Treehugger.com

1. Find out who else in your school is passionate about recycling and is willing to help!

2. Decide what can be recycled in your school district. Items such as paper, plastic, printer cartridges, batteries or clothing are all fair game.

3. Form a recycling club to be responsible for the program.

4. Determine who will get the recyclables to the transfer station. Some potential candidates include custodians, parents, volunteers or in many areas the trash company or town itself.

5. Decide where to store your schools recyclables until transport.

6. Find out how many classroom, lounge and cafeteria recycling containers will be needed, and then raise money for their purchase.

7. Have committee or club members make presentations to each classroom about the importance of recycling.

8. Weigh and measure recyclables and post this information for the entire school to see to encourage more recycling.

9. Hold contests and competitions between grade levels or classrooms to see who can recycle the most.

10. Find fun things to do with the funds raised by collecting bottle-return money!

11. Write to CTGreenScene and let us know how you made out!!!

Parents and School Librarians Take Note!

Thanks to this post on Treehugger.com, we've discovered that our wish for kids books that deal with issues of sustainability has come true.

"There’s a couple of new books out for kids that have just been released by the Eden Project, gotten some great reviews, and may be a terrific addition to a school library or home collection. After all, what better than a classroom or bedtime story with a positive message about protecting the environment?

The first is George Saves the World by Lunchtime, by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts which features a boy named George, his sister, dog, and grandfather. The message to kids being that yes, you can help save the world through simple everyday actions such as repairing items that are broken and recycling regularly as his grandfather teaches him throughout the book.

The second book being The World Came To My Place Today. It’s been written by the same pair of authors with the same set of characters, but discusses where everyday household items actually come from. And with most kids today probably suspecting all good things come from stores while completely missing the connection with the environment that actually provides them, I suspect that helping kids understand their personal impact on the environment is tops on the list of teachers and parents everywhere. Happy Reading!"

The second book being The World Came To My Place Today. It’s been written by the same pair of authors with the same set of characters, but discusses where everyday household items actually come from. And with most kids today probably suspecting all good things come from stores while completely missing the connection with the environment that actually provides them, I suspect that helping kids understand their personal impact on the environment is tops on the list of teachers and parents everywhere. Happy Reading!"