Kids outgrow toys and clothes faster than the weeds in my garden (well, maybe not that fast).  Beyond hosting your own kiddie swap, there are several sites now that make exchanging kids’ gear easier for families, who may not have local connections for such trades.  Reusing and reducing the amount of your children’s paraphernalia will not only lessen your carbon footprint, but it will de-clutter your home!

• Zwaggle:  Kristen Chase of Cool Mom Picks calls Zwaggle, “basically a more organized Freecycle“.  Organization is good, especially since Zwaggle focuses on socially responsible parents.  It is a simple concept:  “You receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain “new” things for your family.”  You can obtain Zoints just by signing up through Parent Bloggers Network. 
• SwapBabyGoods:  This site’s motto is “Keeping the Earth green one swap at a time.”  You can swap, buy, trade your gently used kids’ items to save money and reduce your consumption of new goods.  Best of all, SwapBabyGoods was started by a stay-at-home mom!
• Swango:  Everything listed on Swango sells for just $0.99!  It’s online dollar store that doesn’t feature cheap junk made in China that will be recalled after you purchase it.  You can buy maternity clothes, baby clothes, accessories, etc.  by listing your own used clothing in exchange for credits used to buy other items. Swango makes “Swapping as easy as shopping”.

All of these sites have the best names!  They are worth signing up for just to be able to drop these cool words into conversations with your friends.  What I want to know is can you Swango while you Zwaggle?
Image courtesy of Zwaggle

• Green Gift Ideas: Stubby Pencil Studio is now carrying wooden toys. The Spinny Speller is great for teaching children phonemic awareness and reminds me of the homemade phonics mediators my grandmother used to make for her first graders. The Made By Me wooden kits are perfect for little hands to decorate and assemble. Both toys are made in the USA. Stubby Pencil recycled cards and eco-art supplies also make nice additions to your child’s Easter basket. The cards now come in eco-friendly packaging consisting of a custom button/string tie envelope made from 30% post consumer recycled paper and green seal certified.
• Avoid food coloring and dye your eggs naturally Check out Autumn’s great post on “The Incredible, Edible Egg Dye” and last year’s posts by Phillip (”Weekly DIY: Natural Dyes for Coloring Eggs“) and myself (”Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs“).
• Give your child a book instead of candy; Whole World by Christopher Corr and Fred Penner is a new children’s book based upon the gospel spiritual originally sung by African American pianist and composer Margaret Bonds (1913-1972). We’ve reviewed a lot of great, green children’s literature on Eco Child’s Play that would be perfect for your child.
• Fair Trade basket, no plastic: Green Mom Finds featured this week a Fair Trade basket called the Bolga Basket. It is hand-made of straw by a local artisan weaver in the town of Bolgatanga, Ghana in West Africa and is colored with plant extracts. You and your child are sure to find a use for this basket long after the Easter egg hunt ends.

Skip the plastic eggs and fill your child’s basket with eco-friendly goodies this year. You can help the Easter Bunny leave a smaller footprint while pleasing your children! For more ideas, please visit my post from last spring titled “Prayer Flags for Easter“.

Image courtesy of Stubby Pencil Studio.

What is this entire new buzz about? Critics are fast to point out that it is just a new term for a market niche, but Jonathan B. Tourtellot thinks differently.

Jonathan B. Tourtellot, Senior Editor of National Geographic coined this term in 1997 in response to many requests for a concept more inclusive and holistic than “ecotourism” and “sustainable tourism”. The concept was introduced publicly in a 2002 report by the Travel Industry Association of America and National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Geotourism, note Tourtellot is the type of tourism that not only sustains and preservers the environment, but is also committed to respecting cultural sensitivities and building on local heritage. Geotourism enhances the geographical character of a place and community involvement is essential. They can be small-scale entrepreneurs like Liz Perdomo, a local woman in the town of Gracias, Honduras, who opened a restaurant specializing in Maya-inspired dishes served on Maya pottery or well connected civic leaders that foster awareness of cultural traditions and products not only with foreigners but with locals, too.

Geotourism is incompatible with loss of natural or cultural diversity; it seeks to preserve that distinctiveness that every destination in the world has in order to avoid the overwhelming expansion of franchises that convert destinations in look-alike screen sets for a bad movie suitable only to resort mass tourism that seeks only the cheapest price. So geotourism means great trips. Enthusiastic visitors bring new knowledge home, telling stories that send friends and relatives off to experience the same thing—a continuing business for the destination

It all sounds good, but how to implement the idea?
The Center for Sustainable Destinations (CSD) from the National Geographic Society provides guidance to destinations and governments to help them use the geotourism approach to improve stewardship and attract the most beneficial, least disruptive forms of tourism.

How to start?
By signing the Statement of Principles provided by the CSD. The CSD can also provide information to help destination stakeholders develop a strategy to develop, sustain and market this approach to the local population and will work with a community-based local geotourism alliance to create a co-branded National Geographic map that highlights the natural, historic, and cultural assets unique to a destination. There is even a 13 principle charter for destinations to follow.

It may sound like a lot of work and in fact, it is, but it may also mean good business. Michigan State University's Tourism Resource Center points out “over 50% of U.S. tourists fit nicely into the geo-tourist category, and these tourists are especially active travelers with relatively high incomes. Their share of total domestic travel expenditures far exceeds the 50% share of tourists they collectively represent."

We may also have to leave behind prejudices when thinking about profiting from tourists; backpacker travel, which costs far less and in many cases treads more lightly upon the Earth, is a form of geotourism, and Tourtellot devotes considerable time trying to convince tourist officials that they shouldn’t just focus on attracting big-bucks visitors. An Australian study showing that backpackers spend just as much as deluxe travelers, but over a longer period of time. And more of their money, he notes, stays in the local economy rather than being sucked up by foreign interests

Peru is regarded by many as one of the most perfect travel destinations in the world. A beautiful coastline, tropical jungle, the breathtaking Andes and some of the earth’s most important historical sites make Peru a truly ‘something for everyone’ travel destination.

Peru has started working with the CSD and the World Bank on some specific tourism aspects of a project for rehabilitating the valley of Rio Vilcanota, from Machu Picchu almost to Cuzco, including the “Sacred Valley”. A small effort to start with. With people expected to take a billion and a half trips by 2015 without including people taking domestic vacations. It is definitely a essential not to miss the boat.

The first country that announced an official Geotourism strategy was Honduras in 2004.

Sources:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/sustainable/about_geotourism.html

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001712.html

www.odemagazine.com

I love chocolate as much as the next guy/gal, but I am not a fan of cut flowers, even though I worked in flower shop in high school.  Lavish bouquets purchased to celebrate holidays have spawned a thriving industry that heavily relies on pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. According to the Wise Geek:

Most cut flowers are grown in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia in large greenhouse environments staffed by underpaid, non-unionized workers…Because cut flowers are grown in nations with more lax environmental laws, many banned substances including DDT and methyl-bromide are used in flower production…Some cut flowers may be shipped thousands of miles, adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at every step of the way.

Purchasing a live plant is a great, greener alternative to cut flowers, especially when you buy a blooming or fruiting plant that will remind your family year after year of your love.   Involving your children in selecting and planting the living gift will create a natural experience to accompany the gift.  Anxiously awaiting, predicting, observing the plant throughout the growing season turns a Valentine’s gift into a long term nature study.

Alternatively, Oxfam is asking people this Valentine’s Day to “think outside the chocolate box”. For $40, you can purchase your loved ones a dozen baby chicks.  This gift will go to a family affected by HIV/AIDS.  If chicks are not your style, you can purchase a sheep, fair trade honey, or plant a garden with your donation.

For more ideas on having a green Valentine’s Day, check out Crafting a Green World.

You can read about the history of Valentine’s Day here.

Image courtesy of Oxfam.  

And they are not alone. Most of the top 25 food producers own one or more organic brands and are rapidly developing their own.

Here’s a short list of some of the most popular organic brands and their corporate parents :

Odwalla (Coca Cola)

Morningstar ( Kellogg)

Horizon (Dean Foods)

Boca Foods ( Kraft)

Earth’s Best (Heinz)

Cascadian Farms (General Mills)

Naked Juice (Pepsi)

We shouldn’t be surprised, after all, once these products appeared in our local grocery store, we should have known. But, it’s started to raise the question: how big is still green?

Dr. Phil Howard, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, concludes recent trends in organic food have both positive and negative effects

On the positive side more and more of our foods are healthier for us, as more and more become certified organic. The USDA standards for organic prohibit genetically engineered and irradiated ingredients and synthetic pesticides. The volume purchasing power of these large corporations has also helped bring down the average cost of organic foods and increased their availability.

On the flip side, rather than rotating crops, major food manufacturers tend to plant a single item, then farm in on an industrial scale using trucked in organic fertilizer. Then harvested product is processed, packaged and shipped all over the world increasing fossil fuel consumption and packaging waste.

So, is it a wash? Should we be concerned about the industrialization of organic foods or should we applaud the fact that our food supply is becoming healthier? Dr. Howard thinks both.

As the industry evolves, we must address concentration in the industry, where food comes from, how far it travels and by what means, packaging and waste, a living wage for farm workers, preserving farmland and keeping farmers on the land, and continuing to be the front line for sustainability.

However,

The success of organic, is a striking reminder that we have the power to influence the way food is grown, processed and distributed. Those who continue to fight for the ideals of the original organic movement should feel optimistic about achieving these goals in the future.

Read more about this topic at: PCC Sound Consumer.

See organic brands owned by the top 25 Food Producers here.

The UN World Food Program has come up with an ingenious game, Free Rice. You are presented with four or five definitions for a word and with each correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated to feed the hungry around the world.

It didn’t take me long to work up to 1080 grains of rice and I had the option to set the game to remember my computer and add to the total. Some smart programmer has made the game toss out a few different levels of words to determine what level will challenge you, but not demoralize you. I noticed that when I missed two or three words in a row, the words got a little easier. A very kid-friendly way to play!

Try this as a family and end with a word that everyone can use in a sentence over the next 24 hours, or until you play your next round! Considering that 90 million people in over 80 countries survive on the World Food Program each day…this is a game you can feel really good about playing!

Gavin Hudson blogged about this back in October…green minds must play alike! How’s your vocabulary now, Gavin? I’m guessing it must be behemothic!

What’s This? A Seed’s Story begins with a bird discovering a seed one winter morning. I anticipated the bird would eat the seed, then deposit its droppings somewhere and begin the plant’s life; however, my prediction was wrong. Instead, a little girl, along with her marmalade cat, discovered it and “planted the seed carefully in a corner of her garden.” My daughter has her own garden, as I believe every child should, so I was happy to see the main character in this book also has her own garden bed. (Fellow writer Beth recently wrote about her child’s birthday garden, but back to our story…)

The girl tends to her seed, and then one day, it starts to grow. At this point during our reading, I asked my daughter what kind of plant she thought it would be. She guessed a flower, and I guessed a pea. As the plant grew taller and taller, I changed my prediction to a bean, and noticing the pole used to support the plant, my daughter thought it must be clematis.

Every day when she woke up, the little girl ran straight out to the garden to look at the plant that was growing from the seed. And one morning, when she ran outside, there, turning its head to the sun, was a magnificent sunflower.

At this point in the story, I was reminded of Melanie Eclare’s A Handful of Sunshine. Like Tilda in A Handful of Sunshine, the little girl saved her sunflower head in the fall. In What’s This? A Seed’s Story, the little girl takes her sunflower head to school, where the teacher helps her shake the seeds out gently. Too bad the teacher didn’t take the opportunity to teach the children about Fibonacci and flowers. When spring returns, all of the children in the class plant the sunflower seeds, “and when the next summer came, every child had a beautiful, smiling sunflower!”

Organic gardening with children is challenging at times, but it is also very rewarding. The fact that my daughter would guess that a plant in a book illustration is clematis shows that her plant knowledge is far superior to my own at six years of age. As spring time approaches, you can look forward to many posts on Eco Child’s Play about gardening with children.

If she were alive, Barbie would be a woman standing 7 feet tall with a waistline of 18 inches and a bustling of 38-40. In fact, she would need to walk on all fours just to support her peculiar proportions. Yet media advertising, television and Hollywood would reinforce her message, influencing what would become the American ideal of beauty.

And what’s up with Ken being an eunuch?  Leave it to artists to find a creative use for Barbie and comment on this cultural icon.

Chris Jordan is famous for using photography to explore American consumerism.  In one of his latest pieces, Chris uses Barbie dolls to demonstrate how this doll has affected American women’s body images.  Empowered Parents further explains:

Barbie holds the distinction of being the first doll to become an adult figure in the child’s life…She would ultimately become a representative of our own culture. Mothers, as well as their daughters took in Barbie’s messages about how shape and size matters at the very brink of our society’s revolution for women who were becoming liberated, entering the professions in greater numbers, becoming divorced, participating in the sexual revolution, blending families, and abandoning mealtimes and family rituals in favor of work force and the work out.

Chris’ “Barbie” (2008) is a 60″ x 80″ piece depicting 32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006. Did I say 32,000 boob jobs a month? This is reason enough not to allow my daughter to play with Barbie.  Whether her breasts turn out large or small, I want her to be happy with her body and even happier with her soul!

Margaux Lange is making jewelry from Barbie doll parts.  Margaux explains,

Whether you love her or hate her, there are few who feel neutral about the plastic princess. I am fascinated with who she is as a cultural icon, her distinguished celebrity status, and the enormous impact she has had on our society. Specifically, I’m intrigued with her influence in defining gender roles of women in contemporary American culture.

At least Margaux has found a way to reuse this mass produced toy into something unique, preventing a few Barbie dolls from entering our landfills.

For another artist’s use of plastic dolls, please visit our post “Finally, a Use for Plastic Baby Dolls“.

Images courtesy of Margaux Lange and Chris Jordan.

So, when the inevitable question came during the party, the Kiddo took a moment and thought hard. “Berries,” she said. “Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.”

It would have been easy enough to go buy them (imported) at the grocery store. And, likely I will do just that. But, I also ordered her the plants for her own “teaching” garden. Perhaps not the usual gift for a three-year-old, but I have a feeling she will love it. She already helps water and plant herbs. This season, we will grow plants from seeds indoors as well.

Teaching gardens are one of the more innovative approaches to hands-on learning and getting kids to embrace real foods again. Personally, I think it would be great if such a tool were a mandatory part of public education, just like PE. But, waiting for schools to catch up and do something innovative in a “No Child Left Behind” system could be a long wait. The teaching garden will have to be our backyard.

What can kids learn from a garden? Quite a bit, if you take a look at the curriculum suggestions that can be tied to a school garden project. Life science questions like “How do plants reproduce? How do seeds work?” can be explored by even the youngest of gardeners. Older gardeners can explore topics like photosynthesis or how plants adapt for survival, or the role of bees in pollination. Earth sciences like weather can be introduced along with food webs.

Math concepts can be used in planting to divide the rows, or measure growth, or determine planting dates. Nutrition and healthy cooking are, of course, part of the process. But even the history of the plants and the cultures of people who grow different varieties are great topics. Art and language can even play a part in the learning. Children can write and illustrate a garden “story” or read books about gardening. Art projects can include seed mosaics or leaf art. The topics are nearly as endless as one’s imagination.

Beyond education, this hands-on approach to growing food and then helping prepare those foods has been shown to increase children’s interest in eating vegetables and in the importance of nutrition.

In addition to strawberries, we’ll plant greens like kale and chard and lettuces, romanesco cauliflower; Roma green beans, shell peas like Crowder and a couple other heirloom varieties; and the stock of various tomatoes, pumpkins and squash seeds I have been saving. And strawberries. Lots and lots of strawberries.

For more information about starting a school or home garden, here are some helpful resources:

School Garden Network
Farm to School Program
Square Foot Gardening (easy kid-friendly gardening)

What better lens to view that change through than environmental education? Despite No Child Left Behind’s (how can I put this delicately?) marginalization of non-core classes such as environmental education and fine arts, teachers and schools all over the country are finding ways to incorporate sustainability and the environment into their curriculum. The No Child Left Inside Act, designed to give support to environmental education is in committee in both the House and the Senate. Schools are creating gardens, whole foods programs in cafeterias, recycling programs, and worm bins. Districts are choosing to incorporate sustainability into school design and construct LEED-certified buildings, and California hosted the very first Green Schools Summit.

For me, this journey has been multifaceted. I’ve grown as a writer by facing deadlines and seeking new subject material. Writing about what I do in my own classroom has provided me with valuable reflection, which is a tool every teacher needs to have. Seeking out what others are doing in their own classrooms and what schools can do to lessen their own footprint has been inspiring and empowering.

I’ve also learned what my limits are as a writer and where my interests lie. Through perusing the green blogosphere (and watching it blow up over the past year), I realized how much I’m interested in how our food choices impact our environment. I love reading about the politics of food, perusing farmers markets, and cooking incredibly satisfying dishes using fresh, local ingredients. I’ve also become really interested in the DIY/reusing scene, figuring out ways to avoid buying something when I could just make or find a suitable substitute. Although my heart and my passion lies in education, I realized I’m not quite ready to dig deeply into green parenting issues.

What I’m most thankful for is being a part of the “green scene” just before it exploded, right when it was reaching the tipping point. When I first started teaching sustainability (pre-Inconvenient Truth), my kids were completely oblivious to the idea of climate change or sustainable living.

Now, just a few short years later, the vast majority of them come in with some background knowledge of sustainability concepts. Watching the movement blossom has allowed me to be more informed than the average citizen and consumer, and has helped me develop a sense of green literacy–the ability to distinguish between hollow claims of consciousness and effective sustainable practices. I’m able to see through much of the hype, and, if I’m confused, I know someone at Green Options will be able to help me evaluate companies, politicians, products and programs for truly sustainable alternatives. As a person that seeks to live her life as consciously as possible, that’s reassuring.

See, the US is already one of the main cotton suppliers of Peru. Under a system of trade preferences (linked to the US drug eradication scheme), Andean textiles can enter the US markets without paying taxes, but only if they are made mainly from US cotton. It seems like a joke.  Peru produces some of the best cotton in the world and can't sell it because it is already difficult to compite with low quality/cheap American cotton.

This, not only affects the quality of garments worldwide, Peruvian cotton and other fibers growth using traditional methods by families and communities are the closest thing to sustainable crops, since the communities understand they have a limited capacity of production and that land is all they and their families have.  They take care of the land and usually don't use pesticides on it because they are bad for the land, for the crop and for their health and ultimately because they can't afford to buy them.

But wait, there is also the issue of work and lifestyles.  People that have visited Peru and other Andean countries love the feeling of seeing the farms and the farmers working and living simply in the countryside.  This traditional lifestyle is also threatened by the agreement, national cotton production has already fallen: 260,000 hectares of cotton were grown in Peru in 1960; in 2004, barely 89,000 hectares.   What do farmers do? The move to the cities without money, job or skills that can be useful to support their families.  This perpetuates the circle of poverty in the country and the region.

Luis Chavez Valentin, 30, a cotton grower shares: “At the moment what I am earning is just about enough to look after the family. With the free trade agreement what little we have now will become even less. We will have nothing leftover after paying the costs. I really don’t know how we are going to survive. When the subsidised US cotton enters we are simply not going to have enough money to live. Cotton is no longer ‘white gold’: now it is a symbol of poverty.”

Lily Arteaga Cabrera, 47 also grows cotton in Pisco.

“How are we going to live now [under the FTA]? We are going to die of hunger. My kids would like to be professionals – my daughter a dentist, my son wants to join the army. But they can’t they have to stay at home and work in the cotton field.”

The current preferences for the FTA favour export-agriculture (e.g. asparagus, artichokes and mangos) not traditional crops like cotton and maize, which are grown and subsidised in the US. Small producers generally grow traditional crops. They face barriers in trying to get into the export market. So the people benefiting from the opportunities to export tend to be big businesses, with money to invest, and access to the international markets. The FTA would confirm the preferences for agribusiness, while exposing cotton and maize farmers to more dumping. Of course, the export agriculture creates jobs, but these tend to be precarious, with insecure labour rights.

Still, many people are starting to support FAIR TRADE (not Free Trade) like Oxfam America at NYU and its co-sponsor, NYC Fair Trade Coalition.  They hosted their third annual Holiday Gift Market last December with ten Fair Trade vendors offering items from all over the globe.

"We're trying to influence people's thought process [and] make them realize that the choices they make have an effect on the international community," said Molly Heyman, a School of Social Work junior and president of Oxfam America at NYU. "We're using the holiday season, with its emphasis on shopping, and the underlying current of generosity to inspire people to rethink their consumption choices."

The fair trade movement has a definite impact on the lives of the individuals who create these items. The vendor organizations at the market negotiate directly with the producers, usually men and women with limited options who are taught these specific trade skills from scratch.

"Perhaps they've just gotten out of bad relationships, or had no other source of income," said Allan Thayer, a Handcrafting Justice vendor representative. "This way, instead of working in a sweatshop in the cities, they can stay in their own hometown and take care of their kids."

Once they learn the trade, they can live in their villages and make their own living from their products. The project thus provides a long-term income for the community.

If you are interested in learning more about our Fair Trade Project, please visit us and support Inca Kids (www.incakids.org)

Fair Trade is a voluntary model of trade that brings consumers and companies together to offer small-scale farmers a price for their products that covers the cost of production and provides a sustainable livelihood so that they can send their kids to school and pay their bills.  It helps them support their families while improving their standards of life  but mantaining their traditional way of living (which they usually like, to the surprise of some people).

In summary, it gives disadvantaged small producers more control over their own lives and fosters awareness and appreciation for different cultures.

Some people ask: "Shouldn't we buy everything locally?" In theory YES! In a perfect world we would weave and knit our own clothes and craft the toys we give our children; grow the vegetables that go into our meals,etc to make sure the environment is taken care of given that it provides all the resources we need to live.  However, there is very few people that even grow their own spices, leave alone make our own clothes.


Recycling is of course good but that is an "after the fact" action and doesn't encourage necesarily businesses to grow based on ethical and eco-friendly principles (unless we talk about the stores that sell recyled items or recycle their products) 

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Zest Books is hosting a Teens Go Green Book Cover Design Contest. Here are some of the specifics of the contest:

1. The book title must be very easy to read. Make sure the title is very visible and large enough to be seen on a book shelf from 1-3 feet away.

2. The book cover must be the size indicated above: 6.5 x 6.5

3. ALL FINAL ENTRIES MUST BE EMAILED NO LATER THAN JAN 31, 2008 TO: contest@zestbooks.net

4. The design can be created in any medium either by hand or on the computer. If created by hand, entries must be scanned. All entries must be smaller than 2 megs.

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Just as doing things the old fashioned way, from cloth diapers to wax paper turns out to be good for the environment, so too does cleaning the air using that retro favorite…plants.

Most of the attention recently has been, as it should be, on the big picture clean air issues: how pollutants impact our breathing air and how industry destroys some of our major sources of oxygen, the rain forests and seaweed beds.

However, as we move closer to home, an old and moldy NASA study, Foliage Plants for Removing Indoor Air Pollutants from Energy Efficient Homes, is recently receiving another look.

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Young children are especially susceptible to the negative effects of modern life, including indoor air quality and heavy metal exposure, such as lead. Many eco-living families feel like they have to sacrifice some of their green morals when placing their children in daycare or preschool. These families do the best they can by packing their children organic snacks, but there is little they can do about other aspects of the program. Now, parents in Atlanta, Georgia will have a choice to enroll their children in the first completely eco-friendly child care center FIO360.

What makes a child care facility eco-friendly? According to FIO360,

• Solar tubing to conserve energy and provide natural daylight throughout the facility;

• Radiant, heated floors in all classrooms-proven to reduce energy costs, enhance air quality and improve circulation, which contributes to a stronger immune system, a healthier heart and better sleep;

• Activclassroom whiteboard technology and software informed by teachers to foster an interactive learning environment that keeps students engaged, focused and enthusiastic;

• Streaming video capabilities in each classroom for parents who want to periodically join in on their children’s learning and play experiences throughout the day;

• Waterless urinals and sensor-activated faucets in all lavatories to preserve water;’

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By using “Eco-palms” as part of a congregation’s start to Holy Week, parishes can make Palm Sunday a day of celebrating economic justice for farmers and stewardship of God’s creation in Guatemala and Mexico. Eco-palms are harvested in a way that rewards workers for the quality of the palms they harvest rather than the quantity, which helps to limit the amount of palms taken from a forest. Eco-palm communities have taken upon themselves to learn about harvesting practices that minimize impact on the natural forest where the palm grows, and ways to protect this wild species of palm, thus the term “eco.”

And, rather than sending the harvested palms off to a distant warehouse for sorting and packaging, the community members complete those tasks themselves and sell their palms directly rather than relying on middlemen—ensuring that more of the money paid for the palms actually goes to those who worked the hardest to provide them. Also, a 5¢ social premium is added to the cost of each palm—money that returns to the harvesting communities. In this way, Eco-palms protect the unique and important biodiversity of the region and improve the local communities’ standard of living.

To have your Eco-palms fill the sanctuary with justice this Palm Sunday, you need to order by FEBRUARY 20, 2008. Click on this order form image to print out a copy of and follow the ordering directions carefully.
If you have questions about the Eco-palms, their prices, delivery dates, etc. call the distributors directly at 612-624-7418. If you’d like to learn more about how Eco-palms relate to Catholic Social Teaching, call me at 410.951.7508. Ordering Eco-palms doesn’t have to be a once-a-year event, more than 300 million palm fronds are harvested each year for U.S. consumption alone, including for floral displays at church-related events. Your parish’s commitment to purchase Eco-palms plays an important role in protecting forests, local jobs, and sustainable livelihoods in the harvesting communities.

Palm Sunday promotion of Eco-palms is a project led by Lutheran World Relief and the Chamaedorea Palm Certification Project of the University of Minnesota. I appreciate the welcome our friends at LWR have given to including Catholic parishes and organizations in this effort. Ecumenical embrace of Eco-palms transforms this day from one of worry to wonder at the good work possible through responsible consumption!

As a father and pediatrician, I’ve changed many diapers—enough to teach me that diapers are a daily reminder that as humans we deplete resources as we consume, and we make messes with our waste.

Those landfill diapers that are so easily tossed into the trash are clearly a major ecological issue. But what about the energy, water, and often chlorine involved in laundering cloth diapers? Comparing the environmental impact of different types of diapers has been the subject of a number of studies—with differing results often linked to the vested interests of those behind the study.

The largest and most objective study to date was carried out by the Environment Agency, the public body responsible for protecting the environment in England and Wales. The panel compared disposable diapers to home-laundered cloth diapers and commercially laundered cotton diapers in terms of global warming, ozone depletion, smog formation, depletion of nonrenewable resources, water pollution, acidification, human toxicity, and land pollution. The study did not include what I call hybrid diapers—the reusable diapers equipped with flushable, biodegradable liners. (more…)

In a very close contest, the makers of Baby Einstein and similar “early” learning products take home the Pre-K Stooge award. Pre-K Now will present them with a wealth of reports and other resources to help them learn about the science behind early childhood development and high-quality pre-k.

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Sometimes you’re glad you did because besides awesome, if complicated recipes, you sometimes pick up a tip that impacts your life in other ways…such as saving energy. A recent New York Times article posits that:

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