Couple Married 83 Years

I know this has nothing to do with being green, but everyone needs to take a minute and read the story, here, of the couple that just made it in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest marriage. 

Clarence and Mayme Vail got married in 1925 and are both still alive and glad to be married to each other. This morning on the radio all I heard was bad news. This should be the lead story of all news shows today. This is the kind of stuff we need to know about.

2008
03/17
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
just because
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It’s Green’s Favorite Holiday – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today, everyone is Irish, right? I saw a lot of kids wearing green walking into school when I dropped my son off this morning. I didn’t even think of dressing my Irish guys in green. I think that if I told them I wanted to wear green today, they would get annoyed because recently I’ve been all about green and I think they are starting to grow weary of hearing about it. They wouldn’t have seen it as a St. Patrick’s Day thing, they would have seen it as a mommy thing.


I wrote a piece last week that will be published on another blog in the near future (I’ll let you know when it appears) about how I’m helping my kids to make being environmentally friendly a part of their everyday lives so it just is how they live and not something that is a big deal.

I suppose it’s hard when they’ve got a mom ramming it down their throats all the time. No one likes to hear the same thing over and over. If I was just quietly turning my family green like lots of parents are doing, that would be one thing. But our family’s greening is something that I talk about, write about, announce to the world almost daily. It’s part of my job to talk about it. 

The boys hear people ask me about environmental things all the time. Yesterday at church I was asked if I knew anything about eco-friendly palms (it was Palm Sunday), and I said I hadn’t really thought of it, but I’d look into it for next year. 

Like most normal kids, when mom says to do one thing, they like to see what happens when they do the opposite. I wonder if I’m going to start having an eco-rebellion in my house. I think it would be different if this was the way I raised them from babies. But I’m trying to change the habits that I helped to ingrain in them from birth. Resistance is bound to happen. 

If anyone has any advice or words of wisdom, please share them. I’d love to know how others help their kids make green just another thing they do.

2008
03/17
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
educating kids about green
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Dr. Suess’ The Lorax Project

 I’ve mentioned the book The Lorax on this blog quite a few times, but I have a confession to make. We never owned the book up until today. We have, however, borrowed it from the library dozens of times over the past six years or so. But my brother gave me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for my birthday, and I spent hours online the other night choosing books. 


The books came today, and attached to my new copy of The Lorax is a sticker that says it is printed on recycled paper (yay!) and mentions something called The Lorax Project.

This is what the back of the book says: On Earth Day 2008, Conservation International, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and Random House will launch The Lorax Project, a multifaceted initiative designed to raise awareness of environmental issues and inspire earth-friendly action worldwide by passionate individuals of all ages. 

It says to visit www.theloraxproject.com, but as of right now the link doesn’t work. I suppose it will work by April 22nd (Earth Day), but I’ll be checking frequently and if it works before then, I’ll let you know.

I’m hoping that whatever The Lorax Project turns out to be, it’s something that I can share with my boys. They love Dr. Suess, and I’ve been looking for ways to get them more interested in environmental concerns. I’d love it if eventually they took this on as their own concern, and not just something that their mom does and they join in once in a while. 

2008
03/14
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
educating kids about green
recommended books
The Lorax/The Lorax Project
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World Water Day Walk for Water

A few days ago I blogged about the prescription drugs that are contaminating the water in the U.S. It certainly is a problem that needs to be addressed. But compared to the water that many people in developing nations need to use every day for drinking, bathing, cooking and sanitation, the water available to me and my family in the U.S. is fabulous. 
On Saturday, March 22nd, I (and the rest if of my family if I can talk them into it) will be participating in the World Water Day Walk for Water with others from my church. It’s estimated that women in many developing countries have to walk an average of 1.5 miles a day just to get water for their families, and the water that they do get is often of very poor quality. 

What does this have to do with being green? Lots.

This water crisis is due in part to the changing global climate. Whether you believe that the reasons behind the changing climate have to do with global warming or not, the fact is that things are changing. 

The water crisis is causing a health crisis. It kills as many as 5000 children a day. The people faced with this crisis spend much of their time seeking out water. Girls often have to forgo an education just to collect water for their families to survive. All of this focus on water leaves these people with little time to devote to the other environmental problems that their countries face. It’s not their fault. They need water to live. 

But even if this had nothing to do with being green, it’s something I would do. I believe in being green for two reasons. One is because I want the environment to be a nurturing place for my children and their children. The other is because I believe in creation care. God created this planet and expects us to care for it. But he also created people and expects us to care for them whether they live in our neighborhood or half way around the world. This is one way I can help care for those half way around the world. 

The money raised from this walk will be donated to WaterAid, an organization which does great things to help people in developing nations get clean, safe water and maintain their sources of water. If you’re interested in sponsoring me on my walk, please e-mail me.

2008
03/13
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
environmental problems
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Green Term of the Week: High Density Polyethylene (HDPE)



HDPE is a kind of plastic resin that is used in things like milk and water bottles, detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, grocery bags, and margarine containers. It’s the type of plastic that has a number 2 in the center of the recycling symbol.


HDPE is one of the easier plastics to recycle and most community recycling programs accept these products. They usually aren’t recycled into their original form. Often HDPE products are recycled into things like park benches, milk crates, toys, plastic lumber, and plastic speed bumps. 

If you are concerned about the chemicals that leech out of plastic water bottles, look for bottles with a #2 on the bottom. HDPE is one of the safer plastics and is one that is considered reusable/refillable. If the water bottle has a #1 on the bottle, it is safe for only one use and then should be recycled. 

2008
03/12
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
green term definitions
recycling
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Can I Still be Green and Keep My Addiction to Diet Soda?

Hi my name is Robin and I’m a diet sodaholic. I’ve tried to quit. I really have. I’ve gone for months without it. I was pregnant twice and went without. A few years ago I quit for months without the pregnancy incentive. But I always go back. 


I always wonder if the check out person at the grocery store is judging what’s in my cart. Organic milk, eggs, oatmeal, soups, natural peanut butter, and hormone and antibiotic free meats sit side by side in my cart with bottles of diet cola. They all get put into my reusable grocery bags and then loaded into the back of my Prius. 

But the diet soda (along with a certain colored box of macaroni and cheese that is a staple in my house) make me feel like a fraud, and I know that the cashier is thinking it, too. I can hear what’s going on in her mind, “Here’s another one of those mommies following the green fad. She’s probably also ready to switch back to leggings and skinny jeans.” 

So today, I decided to go without the diet soda. Since it’s not the caffeine I’m trying to give up but the aspartame, I started out my day with a great big cup of coffee (organic and fair trade, but even that doesn’t impress the cashier, I’m sure). By lunch time, I was jonesing. I had to fill the Prius up before I went to get my taxes done, and there at the gas station were two soda machines. That’s all it took to break my will. “Just one bottle,” I thought. “16 oz and that will be all.” Both machines were out of diet sodas. I had to go get my taxes done without my “drinking problem” as my mother refers to it. 

By 2:30, I was exhausted. I actually fell asleep while trying to read. If the cat hadn’t jumped up on my lap just before 3pm, I would have slept right through picking up the boys from school.
I decided that it wasn’t the right time to give up my addiction, but then I read a very timely article. 

Over at Natural News, Jennifer McKinley reported today on a bill in the Hawaiian legislature to ban products with aspartame. There is enough evidence that is bad for you that people are trying to pass laws to ban it. 

In addition to the toxicity of aspartame, studies indicate that drinking diet soda can actually cause you to gain weight! I’ve been working very hard to loose weight recently, and I’ve been fairly successful at it, but I wonder if I’ve been retarding my efforts with all of the diet soda I’ve been drinking. 

I’m not just trying to green the earth, I’m trying to green my body, too.  I want to treat it with respect and nourish it – not poison it. 

So, can I be green and still drink my diet soda? Sure. No one is 100% perfect at this green thing. 

But I’m not going to drink any diet soda, today. And perhaps when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll make the same decision. One day at a time, right? 

2008
03/11
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
organic food
2 comments

Associated Press Investigation: Drugs in the Drinking Water

A friend of mine sent me this link last night to an AP article about the levels of pharmaceutical drugs in the drinking water. It’s very eye opening.  Basically, drugs are getting into our water because our bodies don’t absorb all of them when they are taken. Some of the drugs pass through our bodies and back out into the water system. 


But it’s not just the drugs that humans are taking. The steroids that are being given to cattle to make them bigger to get more meat from them are turning up in water systems, too. According to the study “Water sampled downstream of a Nebraska feedlot had steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small heads.” Now here’s another great argument for all natural, organic meat and dairy products. If the cattle aren’t given the steroids in the first place, they can’t leech into the drinking water.

I’m not a scientist, and I don’t have any answers to the problems that this report exposes. The report says that even home water filtration systems may not be of any help in this instance and bottled water is usually no better than tap. But I wanted to bring the study to everyone’s attention today just to help spread the information.

2008
03/10
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
environmental problems
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A Green Alternative to Antibacterial Hand Washing: CleanWell Products, Day 2

Yesterday, I reviewed the hand soap that CleanWell products asked me to review for them. They also sent me a second product, their all natural hand sanitizer which comes in both a spray and individual wipes.


A while ago I got one of those alarming mass e-mails warning that hand sanitizers have the potential to poison children if ingested.  Unlike 99% of those stupid e-mails, this one turned out to be true (according to Snopes). Children who lick enough off of their hands or drink from the container can get alcohol poisoning. It’s not just children. I also recently read about an inmate somewhere (who apparently had a substantial substance abuse problem) who drank it to get intoxicated. These products have a really nasty taste, but that doesn’t always deter everyone.

So an all natural hand sanitizer that contains no ethyl alcohol (which is the main ingredient in regular santizers), caught my attention. Here’s some information it.

CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Sanitzer

The info from the company:

  • kills 99.99% of erms including MRSA, E. Coli, and Salmonella
  • all natural ingredients
  • alcohol free
  • non toxic chemicals
  • safe for kids
  • 4x more uses per oz. than alcohol gels
  • safe for sensitive skin
  • biodegradable
  • certified cruelty free
  • active ingredient: thymus vulgaris oil (the essential oil in common thyme)
  • scent: citris herb

my take:

Just like the hand soap, the first thing you notice with this is the scent. Interestingly, the first thing all of the children whose noses I stuffed it under smelled was the citrus. They would either say they smelled lime or lemon. All of the adults noticed the herb – the tyme or oregano, which is also in it.

It smells good, but not what you expect for something that is essentially a cleaning product. Most of the people liked it, but again, my oldest son didn’t like it and neither did my mom. I like it, but honestly, smelling it makes me want to bake a lasagna. 

Even though the scent is unexpected, I have gotten used to it. I suppose that as I switch from the chemical laden products that I am used to with their artificial fragrances, I’m going to have to adapt to natural scents. That seems backwards, doesn’t it? But it’s good.

I also like the way the CleanWell hand sanitizer feels on my hand. It goes on thinly and absorbs into my skin quickly. I’ve never liked the feel of the alcohol gels. 

So there you have it, my first product reviews. 

Again, if you have any questions, leave a comment.

2008
03/07
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
green products
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A Green Alternative to Antibacterial Hand Washing: CleanWell Products

Traditional antibacterial hand soaps and sanitizers can contain some pretty harmful chemicals. The main ingredient in many hand (and dish) soaps that are antibacterial is triclosan, a highly toxic chemical. The main ingredient in hand sanitizers is often ethyl alcohol. Children have been known to be taken to the hospital with alcohol poisoning after licking it off of their hands.


There are safe, green alternatives to these harmful products, however. One company that manufactures safe antibacterial hand cleaning products is CleanWell. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that this company sent me their products for review. However,  I am under no obligation to give them a good review (they are not paying me), and if I hadn’t liked the products I would have contacted them and told them I was unable to give them a favorable review.

Here’s one of the products I was sent that my family has been using for over a week. I’ve also been asking guests and relatives to use the products and to smell them.

CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Wash 

The info from the company:
  • lab proven to kill 99.99% of germs (including MRSA, E. Coli and Salmonella) on contact
  • all natural and triclosan free
  • made with ingenium (there own  patented formula of essential plant oil) and infused with white tea and aloe
  • sustainable
  • certified cruelty-free
  • comes in ginger bergamot (which is what I tried), orange vanilla, or lavender absolute

My take:

The first thing I noticed was the scent – ginger bergamot is different for hand soap. It wasn’t bad though. And, this is very important, I could tell the scent was all natural before I even looked at the ingredients. Why? Because it didn’t attack my sinuses and threaten to bring on a full grain migraine in five seconds. Chemical fragrances wreak havoc on me. 

The foaming soap leaves hands feeling clean and soft. 

My younger son and my adult niece love the smell. My niece is quite excited about it actually. My oldest son is not too crazy about the smell. I’m going to try the lavender absolute soap next. I think he’ll like that better.

I’m very happy to be able to find hand cleaning products that are safe and effective for my family. I am just beginning to green all of my personal care products and household cleaning products (remember I’m getting a little greener every day – not jumping into the whole thing at once). CleanWell products are going to help me reach my goal of making my family’s personal care products safe and green.

Tomorrow, I’ll review the CleanWell All Natural Antibacterial Hand Santizer.

If you have any questions about the products, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer it.

2008
03/06
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
green products
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Green Term(s) of the Week: Organic vs Natural

I wrote a post recently about club stores selling more organic and natural products. It occurred to me that not everyone may know the difference between the two. So today I’m here to explain the difference.


Organic means that the food has been grown without chemical/synthetics/poisonous pesticides and fertilizers. Animals that produce food have been given no antibiotics or growth hormones. The FDA regulates foods that are organic and issues a certification. To get that certification, strict rules must be adhered to. No artificial flavorings or colorings are added to organic foods.

Natural foods are ones that are minimally processed and don’t contain any additives, preservatives, and artificial flavors and colors. The fruits and vegetables in all natural food may have been grown using non-organic standards and the animal products may come from non-organic animals.

Example: I have bought natural peanut butter for years. I like just peanuts and salt in my peanut butter. However, since the peanuts have not been grown organically, I may be getting more than just peanuts and salt. The peanuts contain harmful chemicals from pesticides and fertilizers used to grow them. So in my all natural pb, I may have some not so natural stuff.  An organic pb would be free of that not so natural stuff.

Still, it’s better than regular peanut butter that may contain high fructose corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated oils, and other stuff that pb just doesn’t need.

2008
03/05
POSTED BY
robin
CATEGORY
green term definitions
organic food
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