My Big Jobs Day

When you read a blog, you get a little glimpse into the writer's life, but have you ever wondered what happens the rest of the day? This month, all of the Green Moms Carnival members will be writing about a day in their life, so you can see what our real lives are like.

I decided to write about yesterday (what we call "Momma's Big Jobs Day") because I do laundry and bake bread on Mondays, so it seemed like it would be a consistent and predictable day to write about. But of course, nothing happened like I expected it to happen. Welcome to my chaos.

Monday

6:45 - I can hear the boys giggling in their bedroom. I yell, "Go back to sleep," roll over and try to do exactly that. I am not a good sleeper, so at this point, I've been drifting in and out since 5:00 or so.

7:15 - I can still hear the boys playing in their room, and then finally the oldest knocks on my door - "I'm hungry." I mumble, "I'm coming..."

7:45 - I finally get up, help the two-year-old out of his crib, change him into underpants, and then start breakfast while my husband showers. We eat oatmeal, granola, or toast during the week and only eat boxed cereal on the weekends. I instruct one kid to put out the placemats, the other to get the scriptures, and as soon as breakfast is ready, we take turns reading while eating.

8:15 - After breakfast, I get lazy and loaf on the couch instead of showering while my husband makes his lunch - leftovers packed in whatever mismatched storage containers he can find.

8:30 - My husband starts off on his walk to work. One of the reasons we chose our house is its close proximity to my husband's office, my son's school, the library, children's museum, parks, and downtown. Toward the end of the school year, we started slacking and driving in the mornings, but now that my oldest is out of school for the summer, my husband is back to walking to work.

9:00 - Into the shower (still no poo) with the door open so I can keep an ear out for the boys. The two-year-old hangs out in the bathroom with me, playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain.

9:30 - A friend drops off her two boys. She teaches my oldest piano lessons in exchange for me watching her kids once a week. This arrangement saves me at least $80 a month. As soon as the boys are busy playing, I get the laundry going and then grind some flour in our hand grinder. It's a long story why I'm grinding flour by hand, and although it's a good workout, I can't wait until we can buy an electric grinder. After an hour of grinding, I take the kids to our neighborhood playground.


12:30 - My friend picks up her boys, and we end up chitchatting for a half hour. We see each other twice a week and there's still always something to say. :)

1:00 - The two-year-old has been whiny all day and I consider just sending him to bed, but instead I make lunch - burritos because I haven't gotten the bread made yet today.

1:30 - The little one goes down for a nap. Phew! The oldest and I take turns reading from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He goes to practice the piano while the five-year-old practices reading from a BOB book. Then they both do their chores.

2:00 - Most days, I read a bit at this point (or catnap), but Mondays are really busy. The loads of pants and shirts are ready to be hung up to dry, the towels need folded, and I've still got to get the bread and yogurt going. When the boys finish their chores, they take turns playing on the computer.


3:45 - The little guy wakes up from his nap and thankfully is in a much better mood. During the school year, this is when we would walk to pick up my oldest from school, but today I decide that we need to make a run to the grocery store for oats so I can make granola. It takes us 30 minutes to get everyone out the door (why???), so by the time we get to the store, it's 4:30. While we're there, I pick up some milk so I won't have to make another grocery trip this week - the rest of our food will come from our pantry and CSA.

5:30 - I heat up some homemade pizza from the freezer for dinner since I'm so far behind on bread-making tonight (normally, I'd use some of my bread dough to make fresh pizza).

6:15 - Get two loaves of bread ready for second rise and shape the rest of the dough into bagels. Then I unload the dishwasher.



6:40 - My husband arrives home from work, scarfs down dinner, and we have Family Home Evening. During lulls in the lesson, I finish up making the bagels and bake the bread. Then my husband gets the boys ready for bed while I do dishes.

8:30 - I write this blog post, check my email, skim through Facebook, catch up on my Google Reader, and then settle onto the couch to read while my husband watches TV. (He's working tonight, but usually he'll fold the last load of laundry. I decide to save it for tomorrow.)

10:30 - My husband and I read our Sunday School lesson together.

11:00 - Lights out.

By the end of the day on most Mondays, I've washed and put away four loads of laundry, vacuumed/swept the livingroom, and made yogurt, granola, two loaves of bread, pizza, and some other bread products. It makes for a long, busy day, but it means that I rarely have to turn on my oven the rest of the week, all of our clothes are clean, my house looks fairly neat, and the boys and I can spend our time playing instead of working.

When I've told people about my Big Jobs Day in the past, I often get asked, "What do you do with your kids?" I don't do anything with my kids. They know that Mondays are my Big Jobs Day, and they keep themselves entertained, knowing that if I get all of my jobs done, they'll be able to spend more time at the library, playgroup, and children's museum the rest of the week. If they get bored, I invite them to help me do my jobs...and that usually knocks the boredom right out of them.

Do you have a big jobs day? Or do you spread your chores out throughout the week? What do you prefer?

You can read about a day in the life of more Green Moms on June 21st at Fake Plastic Fish.

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You have hereby been challenged to go green in a year without going broke! Check out the last challenge, or view the whole list of Challengicious Mondays. Sign up for my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, and join my "Go Green without Going Broke" group on Facebook!

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Green Journeys

My green journey began the day I started college. "I'm a vegetarian," I told my new roommate. Little did she know that I'd only been a vegetarian for, oh, two hours. But I stuck with it, I gave up meat "cold turkey," and I even waded into the vegan waters for a year.

After that first very big change, my green-formation went very. very. slowly...Granted, for awhile I was the only person I knew who carried cloth bags and knew what a CFL was, but beyond those surface changes, I didn't do a whole lot that was green.

And then I turned 28. Which doesn't sound like a very important birthday until I remind you that 28 means you've been an adult for an entire decade. I have a very clear memory of having a discussion with my husband on my 28th birthday - we were in the car turning onto Georgia Avenue - and I said, "I'm a completely different person now than when I was 18. I still claim to have the same values, but I'm not living those values. What am I doing with my life?"

I decided it was time to green my life. And more importantly, to get involved. Fast forward three years, and here I am. Blogging almost daily about going green. Working on building up Raleigh's public transit and community gardens. And dreaming of the garden I'm going to plant this spring (though the chickens and the bees are still far in the future).

If you want to read what happened between my 28th birthday and now, you can visit this post I wrote over at The Green Phone Booth about how I became The Conscious Shopper.

I think December is a great month to look back at how we've done and plan for the future ahead, and on that note, I've enjoyed reading all of your posts about your green journeys for December's APLS Carnival. Such progress we've made!

:: Cherie at Renaissance Garden traces her journey back to some eye-opening books and writes that her biggest struggle is now plastic.

:: Kellie writes at The Green Phone Booth that "there was no grand catalyst or life-changing event that caused our decision. It was just something we knew had to be done. Plain and simple."

:: Connie at Penny Basket describes going green in Malaysia, which she says is "not one of the greenest countries in the world, but we're getting there."

:: Rae at My Zero Waste says that her green journey began with being pregnant: "I became aware that 60% of what I put onto my skin would end up inside me. And inside me was a perfect, healthy and growing baby. I wanted to keep her that way as much as I could, so I started looking at the products I was using and was horrified by what I discovered." I think many mothers can relate.

:: At Going Green Mama, Robbie also traces her green journey back to becoming a mother, and her efforts at going green have revolved around her children. She writes, "These days, though, I’m focusing on launching a quiet attack – by teaching my kids habits that can last for this generation and the next."

:: Alison of Green Me describes how she was "outed" as a treehugger. Her life sounds awesome, and I now wish that I lived in Boulder, CO.

:: Steph at Greening Families cites finances, medical issues, and having a child as her green impetus. She adds, "Now that our daughters are a little older, the lives lived by other families is becoming the driver of change for us. We want all children, human and animal, to have the chance to grow up healthy and strong."

:: Hannah at The Purloined Letter writes that for many years she was resistant to environmentalism....until she and her partner were in discussions over the number of kids they should have. At that time, she read Bill McKibben's Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families and it "changed [her] life in the way few books have."

:: Jenn at It's Not Easy Being Green describes how her parents (in particular her parents' garden) impacted her green journey.

:: Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green also had a green mom who was so influential Lisa was already concerned about recycling by age two! She writes, "My dad went to throw away a glass baby food jar to which I said 'no daddy we cycle.'"

I hope you'll take a few minutes to check out these wonderful stories! Thanks to everyone who participated in the carnival.

If you are interested in serving as a host of a future carnival, simply contact Robbie from Going Green Mama at goinggreenmama[at]gmail[dot]com.

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Send a Green Mom to Copenhagen

The following was written by Jennae of Green Your Decor. I think Diane is an amazing woman, and although I haven't read her book, I love her blog. She was also the interviewee of one of my favorite Fake Plastic Fish posts. I'm endorsing Diane for the Huffington Post's contest to send one citizen ambassador to Copenhagen, and I hope you'll take a few minutes to read more about Diane and then to head over to the Huffington Post to vote for her.

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The potentially monumental climate talks in Copenhagen are upcoming, and it's important to have a real person there to represent the interests of "regular" people who care about the environment.

My friend, author, green blogger, fellow Green Moms Carnival member, and environmental activist Diane MacEachern (http://greenwoman.typepad.com/biggreenpurse/) is taking part in the Huffington Post's contest to send one citizen ambassador to Copenhagen, and I am happy to give her my personal endorsement. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/hopenhagen-ambassador-con_n_363672.html?slidenumber=QCjRGmul2Ak%3D

If the name seems familiar, it is because Diane is the best-selling author of "Big Green Purse," a manual all of us should have on our shelves to refer to while navigating the often confusing world of green issues and green business. As a mother, she is particularly commited to the health of children, and she is a tireless activist and fantastic writer. Her interest in climate change comes from a deep sense of compassion and commitment to social justice. It would be so great to have one of our own representing the interests of real people among the politicians and "experts" meeting together this month to determine the fate of the Earth.

For more information about Diane, take a look at the following links:
http://greenwoman.typepad.com/biggreenpurse/
http://www.biggreenpurse.com/
http://fakeplasticfish.com/2009/08/personal-changes-do-make-difference/

To vote for Diane:

1) Please visit this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/hopenhagen-ambassador-con_n_363672.html?slidenumber=QCjRGmul2Ak%3D
2) You will need to login to the Huffington Post web site or register if you are not already a member. You can also login using your Twitter or Facebook account.
3) Please rate Diane's entry with 10 stars.

As you will see, Diane also needs blogger endorsers. If you feel moved to write a post in support of Diane on your blog, please email the link to submissions+copenhagen@huffingtonpost.com, saying "Here is the link from xxxx blog endorsing Diane MacEachern for the citizen ambassador to Copenhagen", along with the link to your post.

FACEBOOK? If you have a Facebook page or fan page, it would be great if you could mention the contest and provide the link so your friends and fans can vote as well.

TWITTER? If you're on twitter, we'd appreciate it if you tweet about the contest using #votehope and @huffpostgreen.

Voting ends in just two short days, on December 4, so Diane needs as much support from you, your friends and your readers right now as possible. Please help us send this deserving green mom to Copenhagen (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/hopenhagen-ambassador-con_n_363672.html?slidenumber=QCjRGmul2Ak%3D) by voting now and spreading the word!

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Sustainability or the Price of Sweet Tea

This post is my submission for the Green Moms Carnival which will be hosted this month by Mary Hunt at In Women We Trust. The topic is "standards" with a specific look at Walmart's sustainability index.

Yesterday, I gave a little background information in preparation for my post today. With this background in mind, Mary asked us to ponder the following statement:

"Wal Mart and other big box stores are developing a sustainability index. I don't have the $250,000 it costs to get a seat at the table, but if I had a seat there, this is what I'd want to make sure is in that index criteria..."

Thinking about this subject reminded me of a novel I read last year called Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. It was a sad but beautiful account of a brave woman in the mid-1700s, describing her abduction from her home in Africa, her trials as a young slave on an indigo farm in South Carolina, her escape to freedom in Canada, and finally her aid to the abolitionists in England.

It might seem strange that Wal-Mart would remind me of a novel about slavery, but there was one particular scene in the book that I've often thought of as I've learned more about environmentalism and social justice.

The heroine, Aminata, is talking to an Englishman who is connected to the slave trade. Aminata tells him about her life, and seeing his sympathy, she asks him how the British can continue to participate in slavery.

The man replies, "Ninety-nine Englishman out of a hundred take their tea with sugar. We live for our tea, cakes, pies, and candies. We live for the stuff, and we will not be deprived."

The price of sweet tea...

I recognize that the scene from this novel was completely fictional, but I have heard this same attitude in real life from modern corporations. And that includes Wal-Mart. "Our customers demand cheap products," they say. "Manufacturing our products in countries with fewer environmental regulations and lower human rights standards is the only way to meet the demand for cheap products."

I have also heard that attitude from the mouths of consumers. "We are just pawns in the system," one friend said. "It's not our fault, and there's nothing we can do about it...But that doesn't mean we shouldn't take advantage of it!"

It seems like everyone wants to blame everyone else for the problems with the system. The corporations blame the consumer for demanding cheap products. The consumer blames the corporation for making poor manufacturing decisions. It's everyone's fault and no one's fault. And nobody really cares...As long as we all get what we want.


Even those of us who don't regularly shop at Wal-Mart have to recognize the importance of the development of this sustainability index. While laws and regulations stutter to a standstill in Congress, Wal-Mart's index will force their 100,000 suppliers to action, leading to improvements and accountability throughout the manufacturing world and hopefully providing customers with an easier way to make informed decisions in the marketplace.

But the demand for ever cheaper products by Wal-Mart and other big box retailers is at the base of our environmental degradation and global human exploitation. The case could be made that Wal-Mart is the root of many of our problems. Can the world's biggest bully make an about face to become the biggest influence in our transition to sustainability?

So this is what I would say to Wal-Mart: Are you committed to sustainability? Are your intentions true? Will you make the standards strong enough to make a difference? Will your lifecycle assessments push for a cradle-to-cradle standard? Will you put an end to ridiculously wasteful packaging? Will you take a stand for safety and quality? Will you establish accountability for social injustices? How will you measure compliance to the standards? (Right now, it looks like they just have to be able to answer "yes" to a bunch of questions. Honestly, that's a fairly meaningless way of measuring sustainability.)

Most importantly, I want to know, if compliance to sustainability standards means higher prices and your customers balk, will you drop out of the game?

And since Wal-Mart only deserves a portion of the finger-pointing, I would ask everyone to ask themselves: Was cheap sweet tea worth the price of slavery? Are cheap products today worth the cost to sustainability?

Photo by prakhar


Related Posts:

• A Little More Action
• Now Is the Time
• Clean, Green and Fair for Everyone
  

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A Pre-Carnival Post

I'm writing a post for tomorrow for the Green Moms Carnival. The topic is "standards" with a specific focus on Wal-Mart's plan to create an international sustainability index. Since some of you might not know much about this index, I wanted to provide a little background information first.

Wal-Mart's plan is to have their suppliers complete a survey on the sustainability of their products. This information will be used to create lifecycle assessments of the products, which will eventually be available to consumers - most likely as a label on the products.

Wal-Mart has prepared an initial 15-question survey, covering Energy and Climate, Material Efficiency, Natural Resources, and People and Community, but they have invited others to help further develop the survey and create the sustainability index by participating in a sustainability consortium.

Now here's the kicker.

The cost to be a part of this group is $250,000. So who gets a say in the development of this important index? Only the big boys. Consumers are not invited.

Is that fair? And if I could come up with $250,000 and participate in the consortium, what would I want to make sure is in the index criteria? That's what I'll be looking at tomorrow...

If you could participate in the consortium, what would you say?


Related Posts:

• A Little More Action
• Now Is the Time
• Clean, Green and Fair for Everyone
  

Read more...

Earth Day: A Day of Celebration

This post is my submission for this month's APLS Blog Carnival. The subject is "Is Earth Day relevant?" Check out all of the APLS bloggers on April 22nd at Arduous Blog.

For this month's APLS blog carnival, Arduous asked:

As Earth Day approaches, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I feel like it's good to have one day a year where the focus is on the environment. Earth Day may build awareness in people, and it might give some people enough pause to significantly alter their lives. On the other hand, shouldn't every day be Earth Day? Many argue that Earth Day allows people to feel good about recycling their aluminum cans, driving their Toyota Prius, and bringing their own bags, when the truth is those actions barely scrape the surface in terms of what might be necessary to combat the forthcoming environmental crises. What do you think?

I see Arduous' point, but still...I love Earth Day. It's in my top five favorite non-holy holidays. Maybe top three.

Since I was born in 1978, there has been an Earth Day every year of my life. The first Earth Day was held in the United States in 1970 when 20 million Americans participated in demonstrations and rallies for a healthy environment. Since then, Earth Day has spread around the world with billions of people participating in activities on April 22nd every year.

As I've thought about the history of Earth Day, I've been pondering the timing of the holiday. Was April 22nd a random choice - was it just that nothing else was going on that month? Or did the founders choose April on purpose?

Whether it was on purpose or not, I think April is the perfect month to have a holiday called Earth Day. April is the month when the weather becomes predictably warm. It's the month when the flowers start to bloom and the trees turn green. In most places in the U.S., April means it's finally time to plant a garden. At my house in April, we end our winter hibernation and head outside, and from then on we spend as much time outdoors as possible until the summer humidity forces us back inside.

April makes me want to celebrate the earth, and I think that is why I love Earth Day. Maybe it's intended to be a day to teach and proselyte about environmentalism, but when I think of Earth Day, I think about how much I love the planet that I live on.

When I asked my husband if he thought Earth Day was relevant, he brought up another point: "People say the same thing about Christmas. Every year, someone starts complaining about how everyone gives during the holidays when we should be giving and being kind all year. Or we give thanks at Thanksgiving, when we should be thankful all year. That's true, but it's still nice to have a day just to focus on those things."

Earth Day is the same. We should be aware of our environmental actions all year, we should be concerned about the environmental crisis all year, but the average person can't spend all their time thinking about the environment, so it's nice to have one day that raises awareness and points us in the right direction.

Tulip photo by Per Ola Wiberg
Azalea photo by aussiegall

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Giving...When There's No Money to Give

This post is my submission for this month's APLS Blog Carnival. The subject is "charities." Check out all of the APLS bloggers on March 20 at Green Resolutions.

Several times when I've told my husband what the topics are for the two blog carnivals I participate in each month, he has responded, "Who comes up with those?!"

I personally enjoy having a topic to write about. It taps into a different type of creativity than just blogging about anything that comes into my head. But this month was different. This month I had trouble coming up with anything to say.

For the record, I'm not saying anything against Green Resolutions, who came up with this topic (and happens to be one of my favorite green bloggers...and I really do think it's a great and unusual-in-a-good-way topic).

But, you see, my problem is that I don't give money to any charities...

I'm not saying never. I've dropped many many handfuls of change (and even a few dollar bills here and there) in the buckets of the Salvation Army, and even in the cups of beggars on the side of the road, although I've been told you shouldn't do that. We used to give to our local fire department every year after they miraculously saved all of our belongings in an apartment fire the first year we were married (and hey, hubby, we ought to start giving them money again...). And when we feel financially secure, we've been known to support our favorite organizations (NPR, New American Dream, Green America, the Sierra Club), who do great good, even if they aren't technically charities.

But the thing is...we give 10% of our gross income to tithing. I know my church is using that money for good, and I think 10% is all any reasonable person should be expected to give. If I were wealthy, I would give much much more, but in the meantime, I'm giving as much as I can. But tithing is not exactly the same as giving to charity.

So as I pondered this topic some more, I began wondering if there are ways to give to people in need and to give back to the community without money. And then I remembered an email I received from Green America a month ago with the subject line: Break Up with Your Bank.

The email was a reminder to me and other Green America members about the ridiculous behavior of many banks in this time of economic crisis. (The bank I use, for example, Bank of America, is receiving a $45 billion dollar bail-out but threw a $10 million dollar Super Bowl Party.) The email then went on to encourage Green America members to switch to a community investing bank.

What is a Community Investing Bank?

To understand what community investing banks do, you have to remember that when you stick your money in a bank, it doesn't just sit there, like valuables in a lock box, waiting for you to come collect it. The bank puts your money to work. They loan it out to people and charge interest, and they invest it. That's how banks make money, and also how they can afford to pay you interest on your savings accounts.

It's a smart system that benefits both the banks and the people who use them, but there's a catch: you have no say in where your money is loaned. Bank of America, for instance, is one of the largest investors in the U.S. in coal mining and coal-powered plants. I'd prefer not to be supporting that, thank you very much.

With a community investing bank, you still have no say in who gets to use your money, but you will have a general idea where it's going. Community investing banks loan to local organizations and businesses, economically disadvantaged people, and often environmentally friendly or socially responsible businesses and organizations as well.

Why should I use a community investing bank?

Green America explains, "Community investing provides the means for low-income people to use their own skills and talents to lift themselves up economically—the money provides loans to start environmentally sustainable businesses, builds schools, or funds critical services like affordable child care. As the saying goes, it’s not a hand out, but a very effective hand up for people who have been disenfranchised by our economic system....Continue to be generous in giving to charity, and then also devote at least 1% of your portfolio to community investing."

Plus, according to the Better World Shopper, changing your bank is the #1 thing you can do to vote with your wallet. And when you think about it, it seems obvious...Banks control where the dollars go, and they manage huge amounts of money. So it does no good for someone to start buying organic cotton clothing if they are still supporting a bank that invests in pesticides. Picking a bank and a credit card that make sustainable and fair choices will greatly magnify your ability to vote with your wallet.

How do I find a community investing bank?

If you live in Raleigh, you're lucky because I've done all the work for you. There's a credit union in Durham called Self-Help where you can open a savings account, CD, IRA, or money market account. If you don't live in the Triangle and would prefer a bank closer to you, you can check the Community Investment Database.

I am also interested in an online bank called ShoreBank Pacific, which is "committed to environmentally sustainable community development." The disadvantage of an online bank, of course, is the inability to withdraw money from an ATM. (The most attractive feature of Bank of America, when we chose it, was it's nationwide system of ATMs). But there are ways to get around that, like keeping a small account open in a nationwide bank for withdrawals.

For more information about community investing, you can read Green America's guide to Investing in Communities.


What else can I do?

What other ideas do you all have for giving to the less fortunate and giving back to your communities if you have no money to give?

Photo by borman818

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Reduce Clutter: Start a Swap Network

This post is my submission for the Green Moms Blog Carnival. The topic is "Green Spring Cleaning." Check out the musings of all the great Green Moms on March 10 at Tiny Choices.

I have a huge pile of stuff in my bedroom. It's taking up one corner, and sometimes creeps toward the center of the room until I fight it back into the corner with a couple of swift kicks. My husband keeps asking me, "Why is that stuff there?" I keep telling him, "I'm going to give it away when I get around to it."

It's almost spring, so now is a good time to work on reducing the clutter. I could sell it on Craigslist, but...I don't enjoy selling things - I'd rather give stuff away. So I could Freecycle it, but...I'd rather give it to someone I know. And that's why I'm starting a Swap Network.

I'm sure I read about Swap Networks somewhere, but when I tried to research the concept for this post, Google was a bust. So maybe I made it up. Either way, I think it's a good idea. :)

(But if I stole this idea from you, please let me know so I can give you credit.)

There are three advantages to being part of a Swap Network, rather than just using Craigslist or Freecycle:

1. Besides swapping stuff, you can also trade time and skills. For example, I'm hoping to utilize my Swap Network as a babysitting co-op, coordinating babysitting trades and playdates with my friends.
   
2. You can borrow and lend, rather than just give stuff away. Say you're a poor college student with a tiny lawn and no lawnmower, and your neighbors are starting to give you the cold shoulder because your lawn has turned into a jungle. (True story, by the way.) Wouldn't it be great to have a network of friends with lawnmowers who would loan you one for a weekend? Or friends with tools? Or a Wii? (Everybody needs a friend with RockBand.)
   
3. You swap with people you know, building a sense of community and friendship.

Ideally, you would create a Swap Network with your neighbors, perhaps through your homeowner's association. You could utilize your association's newsletter or website for posting needs and wants. You would get to know your neighbors, and the stuff wouldn't have to travel far.

But since I'm new to the area, and I live in an apartment mostly housed by college students who are constantly changing, I'm going to try the Swap Network with friends from church. My plan is to set up a Ning page where we can post our needs and wants, and then swap the items at church, since we all see each other there once or twice a week anyway.

Sample ads would look like this:

I have a huge pile of baby boy stuff that my kids have outgrown, including an infant carseat, an Exersaucer, a bunch of clothes, and some toys. If you would like any of these things, let me know!

I am going to a fancy wedding this weekend. Anyone have a dress I could borrow?

I would like to learn to knit. Who knows how and would be willing to share their skills? Could we start a knitting group?

I need to spiffy up my wardrobe. Anyone want to be part of a clothes swap?

You get stuff you want, get rid of stuff you don't, trade skills, and make friends. What could be more fun than a Swap Network?

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Clean, Green, and Fair for Everyone

This post is my submission for the Green Moms Blog Carnival. The topic is "I believe...." Check out the musings of all the great Green Moms on February 9 at The Smart Mama.

Last August, Slow Food USA held a festival in San Francisco to celebrate and promote their belief in local and sustainable food. The slogan of the Slow Food movement is "good, clean, and fair food," but over and over when I read media reports describing the event, it was labeled as an elitist gathering for wealthy yuppies. Admission to the various pavilions and panels was expensive, and the many displays of high-priced artisinal foods made slow food seem out of reach for the average American, used to Walmart and McDonalds prices.

Sadly, the stereotype of the 21st century environmentalist is a white college graduate driving a Prius, shopping at Whole Foods, wearing over-priced organic cotton clothing, and reprimanding everyone for not doing the same. The stereotypical image of environmentalism from the last century was a poorly dressed, Birkenstock-wearing, treehugging hippy...but still white.

But is environmentalism really just a movement of the white and affluent, who have the time and the means to enjoy a green lifestyle while the poor and minority populations are left behind?

I don't think it has to be that way. I believe there is a green hat to fit every head, blonde or brunette, buzzcut or dreadlocks, black or white (or as First Son would say...peachy or browny.) I believe in clean, green, and fair for everyone.

But how do we make going green accessible and desirable for everyone?

Here are some possibilities:

Promote Energy Savings

The media has done a good job of selling compact flourescent lightbulbs as energy and money savers. But I recently learned that an energy efficient home retrofit can shave as much as 30% off of the average home energy bill. Why isn't the media advertising that? For low-income families who can't afford to retrofit their homes, the U.S. government has created a Weatherization Assistance Program. But let's face it. Government sponsored programs are slow and often ineffective. If we're going to have clean, green, and fair for everyone, we need more programs, perhaps sponsored by charities and non-profits, that help low-income people make their homes energy efficient.

Promote Green Jobs

If the future of America is clean, renewable energy, we are going to need lots of people to make that happen. Instead of bailing out companies that have already demonstrated bad business practices, we should be investing in future jobs: installing and maintaining solar panels, building wind farms, retrofitting houses, and rebuilding America's infrastructure. We will also need people to develop these new green technologies. Going green will provide thousands and thousands of people with a new reliable source of income.

Promote Affordable Public Transportation

As energy prices rise, it's going to be more and more important to improve public transportation options in our cities. Besides reducing energy consumption and pollution, a good transit system can stimulate economic development by revitalizing aging downtowns and urban neighborhoods. Clean and affordable public transportation will be especially beneficial to poor and minority populations, the majority of which live in cities.

Promote Health Benefits

Huge numbers of low-income people live near oil refineries, garbage dumps. waste treatment plants, polluted waterways, and other sources of pollution, leading to higher incidents of cancer, asthma, and other illnesses among the poor. A cleaner, greener world would lead to fewer health problems among the poor, as well as less money spent treating those health problems.

Promote Urban Gardening

Organizations such as Urban Farming, Food from the Hood, and The Garden Project teach urban gardening techniques to low-income people, at-risk youth, and former offenders, providing educational opportunities, skills, and food for people in need. Additionally, urban gardening can provide independence and self-sufficiency, important qualities in hard times.


I believe that if we don't show environmentalism in a way that will attract more diversity, we will fail. Our green umbrella must cover a broader group of people or we will never build up the momentum to have a long term impact. If we are going to succeed, we need to declare, "Clean, green, and fair for everyone!"

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A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down

This post is my submission for this month's APLS Blog Carnival. The subject is "mind games." Check out all of the APLS bloggers on January 22nd at VWXYNot.

My kids got Mary Poppins for Christmas, and I'm enjoying re-learning all the great songs and dances from that classic musical. I've also found myself quoting her to my children many times the past few days. In her wise words...

“For every task that must be done, there is an element of fun.
Find the fun, and snap, the job's a game.”

I've also been applying this mantra to my own life as I've tried harder and harder to be less consumeristic. In my own home, I'm safe, but as soon as I step out into the real world, I meet a thousand enticements to slide right back in to that spend, discard, spend, discard cycle.

For example, I went to the mall last November for the first time in several months, and suddenly I was intensely aware of how drab my clothes are, how my shoes are out of style, and how I have no cool jewelry. I was feeling a little despondent about my dowdy appearance and had the impulse to spend to my heart's desire to make myself feel better.

Instead, I came up with a compromise: I could buy myself new clothes whenever I wanted as long as they came from a thrift store.

Up to that point, I had never enjoyed thrift store shopping. But as I began visiting my thrift store on a weekly basis, I began to see the fun in it. It is a challenge to find good buys. And when I do find them, I feel a victorious high that I've never felt from a shopping spree at the mall.

If you're trying to live a low-impact lifestyle, it's easy to start feeling deprived, but if you find the fun in your new way of life, it becomes a game, and it can be amazingly rewarding.

Here are some more examples:

• I am hooked on Craigslist. Why would I ever want to buy something new again when there are so many “like new” items on Craigslist? And like shopping at thrift stores, I see Craigslist as a challenge. I have a running list of things I want, and I check it regularly. I have to be patient until just the right item at just the right price comes along. But if I put in the effort, I reap some amazing rewards.

• In my attempt to be more frugal and buy less, I've started seeing everything in a new light. Before buying something, I ask myself, “How could I improvise and use something I already have to do this job?” Before I throw something away, I ask myself, “Is there any way I could reuse this?” When I come up with a way to solve a problem using that method, I feel creative and satisfied.

• Trying to support my local economy, I do a lot of shopping at the farmer's market. I hate going grocery shopping, but the farmer's market is fun every time. I only take one kid with me at a time, and we make it a date, giving me a chance to teach each child on an individual basis about where our food comes from. First Son always asks, “Momma, are these eggs from happy chickens?”

• Sometimes if you're willing to be behind the times, you can reap some great benefits. For example, we still have a VCR. I can pick up old VHS tapes, like Mary Poppins, from the thrift store for a couple dollars. The videos are getting extra use instead of heading straight to the landfill, and we get to enjoy some classic old movies without waiting for them to be released from the Disney vault.

If you're feeling deprived in your non-consumer, green lifestyle, take a note from Mary Poppins. Make it a game, and you'll be surprised at how much fun it can be.

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Now Is the Time

This post is my submission for the Green Moms Blog Carnival. The topic is global warming. Check out the musings of all the great Green Moms on January 12 at the Not Quite Crunchy Parent.

A month or so ago, I watched President-Elect Barack Obama on 60 minutes soon after his election. The interviewer asked him if changes in energy policy are less important now that gas prices have dropped so much. Obama replied that energy is more important and when pressed for an explanation, he responded:

"Well, because this has been our pattern. We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again.

And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it."

I mentioned awhile back that I listened to Alisa Gravitz, the Executive Director of Co-op America, speak at the DC Green Festival about her organization's proposed 12-steps to curb the climate crisis. The premise of her speech was that we have ten years to take extreme action to stop increasing carbon emissions, by 2050 we have to start moving in reverse, and by the turn of the century, we need to be producing zero carbon emissions. She repeated many times during the speech, "We can do this. We can."

So if “Now is the time to break it” and “We can do this. We can!”, then why does it seem like so few people care? Why am I still wondering what to say to others about environmentalism without offending them? Why are other environmentalists still feeling embarrassed about their “unusual” actions? Why was “green” voted the most annoying word of 2008?

I think that people would be willing to sacrifice to counteract climate change if they felt like there was a real eminent crisis, but the American public is still getting mixed messages from scientists and the media.

I feel like we need one of those emergency weather warnings:

"blaring annoying ear-piercing sound"

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this message from the National Weather Service. If we don't all start taking climate change seriously RIGHT NOW we will all be in for some seriously bad weather!”

The twelve steps outlined in Alisa Gravitz' speech were:

1. Increase fuel economy. We need to go from the worldwide average of 27 mpg to 40 mpg by 2012 and then to 60 mpg by 2020.
   
2. Reduce driving. Cut miles driven per car in half between now and 2050.
3. Accelerate the production of zero emission vehicles like plug-in hybrids.
   
4. Develop waste-based biofuels. She stressed waste-based, not corn or palm oil.
   
5. Building efficiency. Get every new building right.
6. Improve efficiency inside of existing buildings.
7. Increase solar power. Solar needs to be the major form of energy by mid-century. By 2012-2015, solar will be as cheap as coal.
8. No more new coal plants.
9. Replace 1400 of the most inefficient coal plants with natural gas.
10. Get the remaining coal plants to be more efficient until we can phase them out.
11. Stop deforestation.
12. Eat local, eat organic, eat vegetarian.

You may notice that few things on this list are actions an individual can take. Most of the steps are wide-scale changes that are going to require mass support and policy change.

Environmentalist writer and activist Bill McKibbin also gave a speech about climate change at the DC Green Festival, and at the end of his speech he says something to the effect of: "I was asked what the three most important things are a person could do for the planet, and my answer was, 'Organize, organize, organize.'"

If we are going to curb climate change, we have to organize. We have to stop being afraid of what others think, and we have to act now.

Now is the time. We can do this. We can.

You can listen to Alisa Gravitz' and Bill McKibben's speeches at http://www.greenfestivals.org/radio/.

I also recommend this video about the effects of climate change on island nations, specifically Kiribati where a friend of mine served in the Peace Corps.

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Last Child on the Urban Farm

This post is my submission for this month's APLS Blog Carnival. The subject is "children are our most precious resource." Check out all of the APLS bloggers on December 15 at Going Green Mama.

Yesterday was a fluke warm day (nearly hit 70 although the high was predicted at 57), so I took the boys outside to let First Son practice riding the bike he got for his birthday. We rode along the sidewalk in our apartment complex, and then the boys asked if they could park their bikes and play for awhile. There's an island of trees in a cul-de-sac-like part of our complex where the boys and I played in the leaves a couple of weeks ago. There weren't any leaves yesterday, so the boys played in the dirt, stacked rocks, and pounded sticks together.

I am pretty sure we are technically not supposed to play there, but I'm also pretty sure that the management of our apartment complex frowns on children playing anywhere on the complex grounds.

None of the apartment complexes we looked at within walking distance from Raleigh had playgrounds. This one was better than most with its pool, tennis court, volleyball court, and grassy areas, but people never pick up their dog's poop in the grassy areas, and a month ago, the complex put up a sign on the tennis court basically stating that the court was for tennis only. (I had been letting the kids play in there since it was a flat, fenced-in area good for bouncing balls and not getting run over by cars.)

There is a nice wooded playground within walking distance from our apartment, but we would have to risk our lives on a dangerous road to walk there. There is another small playground that's part of an apartment complex down the street (again I think technically we are not allowed to play there). The street to get there is not safe for small children riding bikes, but we walk there now and then.

My kids are five, three, and one, and because of the urban lifestyle my husband and I have so far chosen to lead, my kids are growing up with very limited outdoor experience.

I compare this with my own childhood and feel a deep sense of remorse. I can remember being as young as five and playing freely in the field in front of our house with my older sister. Later, my friends and I ran wild in the woods, building treehouses, climbing trees, occasionally falling into the pond, bringing home toads and frogs and snakes, getting covered in poison ivy.

I can't imagine letting my kids have the kind of freedom in nature that I enjoyed. Not only because the world seems less safe now, but also because there's just no place like that around here where they can play.

In Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv points out that children today are taught about the rainforests and global warming, but very few of them are having real, hands-on experience with the outdoors. They have an intellectual connection to their environment, but not an emotional connection. And when they grow up, they will have memories of books and pictures and classrooms, but not memories of tangible experience: swaying in the branches of a tree, squishing in the mud, being peed on by a frightened toad!

The modern disconnect from nature that our children are experiencing makes me wonder what the future holds for environmentalism. Without experiencing nature, will the next generation have any desire to preserve it? As Louv says, "No child can truly know or value the outdoors if the natural world remains under glass, seen only through lenses, screens or computer monitors."

While reading Last Child in the Woods, I contrasted the neighborhood I live in with some European neighborhoods that Louv mentions while describing Timothy Beatley's book Green Urbanism: Learning from European Cities:

"He describes an astonishing array of European green-city designs: cities with half the land areas devoted to forest, green space, and agriculture; cities that have not only preserved nearby nature, but reclaimed some inner-city areas for woods, meadows, and streams. These neighborhoods are both denser and more livable than our own. Nature, even a suggestion of wildness, is within walking distance of most residences."

Louv goes on to describe several cities' greenways, city-encircling bike paths, and urban farms. My first thought when I read this was, "I need to move to Europe." That's not a very practical solution, though, and a better one would be to work to make that kind of green urban development happen here in the United States.

Here are some ideas on how to do that:

• You can get involved in your area by contacting your city's planning commission and letting them know of your desire for more green spaces, pedestrian and bike friendly streets, and natural play areas for children.
  

• You can attend town meetings and voice your opinions about green building and park planning.

• You can also join the 40 million Americans involved in the No Child Left Inside coalition, whose goal is to create outdoor learning opportunities in classrooms and schools across the nation.
  

• Or you could start a farm to cafeteria program at your children's school or help them plant a school garden, both of which help children understand the source of their food and provide them with a healthier alternative to typical cafeteria lunches.

• In Raleigh, city officials recently posted the Public Review Draft of their 2030 Comprehensive Plan, the plan for Raleigh building, growth, and expansion for the next 20 years. They are asking all Raleigh residents to review the plan and provide feedback at their Public Input Portal.

• Triangle residents can also get involved with the Triangle Emerging Green Builders, who host a Green Drinks every other month, including a local speaker on green and sustainable building.

I think it's simple and logical to say that children need to spend more time outdoors, but it's harder in our increasingly urban society to provide children with outdoor experiences. It's important, though, for us as environmentalists to find ways to increase children's connection to nature if we want our torches passed on to the following generations.

As one woman in Last Child in the Woods explains, "Connecting [our daughter] with nature offers...a place to learn about love and respect for all of life - to see, touch, and smell where it all comes from, and to understand why she'll be called to do her part to take care of things."

Photo by lepiaf.geo

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Eat Conscious and Local

This post is my submission for this month's APLS Blog Carnival. The subject is buying local. Check out all of the APLS bloggers on November 15 at the Green Phone Booth.

At the DC Green Festival this weekend, I attended a presentation by Co-op America's executive director, Alisa Gravitz, about the 12-step program to reversing climate change. The 12th step she outlined was to eat locally grown food, which she said uses less energy because it cuts down on “food miles,” the distance food travels from where it is grown to where it is consumed.

I've read several reputable sources disproving the “fewer food miles equals less carbon” assertion because of the current infrastructure of our food transportation system. Lots of farmers driving long distances to farmers markets and lots of individual cars making individual trips to farmers markets have a bigger impact on the environment, local-eating opponents say, than big trucks delivering tons of food to the grocery store.

I'm sure local-eating enthusiasts have their own argument against these findings, much like my own insistence that cloth diapers are better than disposables (despite the evidence that they are equal) because I've committed to using cloth. Frankly, I don't really care which argument is right. I think there are many, many more reasons beyond the environment to jump on the local-eating bandwagon. And I also think there are many reasons to think beyond local when choosing foods to eat. That is why I've developed my own philosophy regarding food. For lack of a better term, I'm calling it Conscious Eating, and it basically goes like this:

Eat food that is grown sustainably on a small-scale farm by a local farmer who pays his workers a fair wage and whom I know personally. When all of these qualifications cannot be met, try to meet as many qualifications as possible. But even one is better than nothing because all of these qualities are good.

1. Grown Sustainably

I read in a New York Times article by Michael Pollan recently (please please read this article) that “[In Argentina], in a geography roughly comparable to that of the American farm belt, farmers have traditionally employed an ingenious eight-year rotation of perennial pasture and annual crops: after five years grazing cattle on pasture (and producing the world’s best beef), farmers can then grow three years of grain without applying any fossil-fuel fertilizer. Or, for that matter, many pesticides: the weeds that afflict pasture can’t survive the years of tillage, and the weeds of row crops don’t survive the years of grazing, making herbicides all but unnecessary.”.

That system sounds so perfect, so naturally designed, that you've got to wonder why we ever moved away from it. The answer is that people got greedy, people got lazy, and the farther we've gotten away from the old ways, the harder it is to go back.

2. A Small-Scale Farm

It seems to me that most of the problems with our current agricultural system stem from the fact that we've let the farms get too big. Farms are not farms anymore. They are agricultural factories. Because of subsidies and various other legalities, it has become much more cost-effective to grow all of our food on a ridiculously large scale by drenching them in pesticides and chemical fertilizer and to raise all of our livestock in inhumane conditions. The little man only has a chance of survival if we give him our support.

3. By a Local Farmer

You want to know how to ensure that there will be jobs in your area? Support the economy where you live by buying local. And I'm not just talking local farmers. Support your local food co-op, your local restaurants, your local artisans, your local musicians, your local clothing makers, your local furniture makers. You might be surprised what you find. As I have tried to buy more locally in my area, I have discovered an unexpected outcome: I am loving where I live. In keeping with the gratitude challenge this month, this is my thought about gratitude for the day: I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to move to Raleigh.

4. Pays His Workers a Fair Wage

I read an article a few months ago about a farmer in Florida who was practicing slavery. He had hired some migrant workers, but he soon stopped paying them and instead started beating them and locking them in boxes at night. If there's any reason why I think it's more important to eat consciously than to eat locally, it is this.

If my main qualification for food was that it came from within a 100-mile radius from my house, it might never cross my mind that the workers on the farm where I'm getting my local oranges might not be treated fairly. Slavery is an extreme example, but farm and factory farm workers are regularly paid poor wages and forced to work under poor conditions.

Also, even as I become more and more committed to eating locally, I'm not about to give up tropical fruits. Bananas are one of the few fruits that everyone in my house will eat. And mango pancakes? Oh, my, divine....So what I am going to be concerned about is that the banana farmers and the pineapple farmers and all those other wonderful fruit farmers way down south are being paid a fair wage.

5. And Whom I Know Personally

Last year, my family joined a CSA, and for me, the best thing about it was that we knew the farmer and we regularly visited the farm. I knew how dedicated our farmer was to organic farming, I got to see first hand that her chickens were indeed “free range,” and I knew how much she was struggling to fulfill the CSA quotas because of the drought. It is amazing to have a close connection to the source of your food.

In my perfect scenario, I would be the local farmer with that sustainable, small-scale farm. In my other perfect scenario, all of my neighbors would have gardens and everyone would stop wasting precious land on lawns that are never used and we would all swap vegetables and farming techniques. But right now, I have to be content with CSAs and farmers markets and doing my best to get to know the farmers I buy from every week. It's not a perfect situation, but at least I'm doing it consciously.

Update: If you've never read anything discrediting the "fewer food miles equals less carbon" statement, you can see some examples on my post "Eat Conscious and Local, Part 2," which I posted in response to one commenter's request.

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Thank You, Dear Stranger

This post is my submission for this month's Green Moms Blog Carnival. The subject is gratitude/favorite green things. Even if my submission is not chosen, you should check out the musings of all the great Green Moms on November 3 at Best of Mother Earth.

Gratitude is a frequent subject of conversation between me and my two older boys. The conversation is generally one-sided and goes a little like this:

"A thank you would be nice." OR "A little less complaining, a little more gratitude." OR "Gee, I'm so glad I did this for you since you are showering me with thank-you's."

First Son is just catching on to sarcasm, and it's way above Second Son's head, so dear hubby and I decided maybe we ought to have some more specific, less sarcastic lessons on gratitude. In the past two months, we have had five family night lessons on the subject of gratitude. I haven't noticed an increase in the number of thank-you's, but they can tell you this:

First Son: "Gratitude is saying thank you and showing love."

Second Son: "You show gratitude by being kind to people."

The point we've been trying to get across to the boys is that gratitude is meaningless without action. It does no good at all to feel grateful for someone if you don't tell them, or even better, show them.

Last week, my husband needed a ride to work really early in the morning, and the only way I could get my sleepy boys to put on shoes and head out to the car was to promise them some donuts. You'd think they'd be grateful for the treat, but as typical three- and four-year-olds, they spent the morning fighting and complaining, and by the time we were settled at a table in Dunkin Donuts, I was pretty frazzled. It was 8:00 in the morning, and the day was not looking good.

And then a nice gentleman at the next table started teasing my boys and making them laugh. He showed us pictures of his twin grandkids and told us some jokes. In short, he brightened the morning.

I am truly grateful for a man that I will never see again.

I'm sure you can think of similar times in your life when you've been grateful for the kindness of a stranger. How do you show gratitude to someone who was only in your life for a moment? How about passing on the kindness? Share a smile with the next person you see. Open a door for someone who needs a hand. Say thank you to the cashier, the bank teller, even the workers at the DMV. Show your gratitude for a stranger by being kind to another stranger.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the holiday of Thanksgiving were accompanied by a season of kind-giving?

In the spirit of showing gratitude for strangers, I would like to tell you about three of my favorite green things, which are not really things at all. They are organizations filled with people I've never met but for whom I feel grateful because they are people who are making a difference.

New American Dream

• Mission Statement: Help Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice.
• Why I love it: The New American Dream embodies just about everything I believe in. I like what they stand for so much that I actually applied for a job with them two years ago when I lost my job and was panicking about becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom. I didn't get the job, but I like them anyway. If they were a political party, I would vote for their candidates.
  
• How I'm Showing My Gratitude: I'm spreading the word about their "Break the Bottled Water Habit" campaign.

Co-Op America

• Mission Statement: Harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.
• Why I love it: Co-Op America focuses on economic action to end injustices, and I obviously believe where you spend your money makes a difference or I wouldn't be blogging about being a Conscious Shopper. Also, although I am concerned about the environment, what really sends me on a rant is social injustice. (It seems like our society would have progressed enough by now that we wouldn't be treating each other unfairly.) So I'm grateful that Co-Op America has the two-sided mission of social justice and environmental sustainability.
  
• How I'm Showing My Gratitude: I'm participating in their Fair Trade Trick or Treat, and I'm hoping to attend their Green Festival in Washington, DC.
  

Sierra Club

• Mission Statement: Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
• Why I love it: What's not to love about an organization that encourages people to get outdoors?
  
• How I'm Showing My Gratitude: I plan to get involved in my local chapter.

Time Magazine had a special edition a few months ago called "The Case for National Service." I'm not sure if I agree that service should be required, but wouldn't it be great if we all embraced the concept of volunteerism? Maybe this holiday season, we could show a little gratitude by being kind to those around us - even strangers - and by giving back to our communities. Let's all have a little less complaining and a little more gratitude.

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Armed against Consumerism

I tend to be more of a media education type of person than a media abstinence type. I admit that I let my kids watch TV and play on the computer, and I don't feel guilty about it (most of the time). I restrict how much they can watch, I monitor what they are watching, I try to balance outside play with couch potato time. I enjoy the media, so why shouldn't I have kids who also enjoy the media?

The problem is that we live in a commercial culture, and Big Business has their eye on our children. And as we head into the holiday season, it becomes more important that our kids are armed with the resources to resist the consumer frenzy. I believe in teaching our kids to have a healthy skepticism about advertisements they see on TV, or on the computer, or on a billboard, or a bus...(they're everywhere!) And I thought I was doing pretty good at teaching this to my kids.

But then my First Son, who is almost five, says to me, "We need to buy some Motts applesauce."

"Hmmm," I say. "Did you see a commercial for Mott's applesauce?"

"Yes," he replies. "But you say commercials are trying to get us to buy things we don't need, and I think we need applesauce."

"You're right, we do need applesauce. But we buy whatever kind is cheapest, and Mott's is not the cheapest," I say, and then explain, "Commercials play with your emotions to try to get you to buy what they're selling, and sometimes they lie to you. I like to make my own decisions, and that's why I don't listen to commercials, even if they're selling something like applesauce that I usually buy."

I thought I got the point across, but the next time we were at the store, he brought it up again. "Can we get Mott's applesauce?"

I decided I needed a book that could teach my son about advertising strategies. My first stop was my local library's website, but after an hour of trying out various search terms, the only book I could find was The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Commercials, which my library does not yet have but has ordered. I put it on reserve, and I'll let you know how it is once I get it.

My next stop was two of my favorite organizations, Common Sense Media and The New American Dream. Common Sense Media is a non-profit organization that rates movies, books, TV shows, and websites based on their age-appropriateness and provides tips and guides for managing media in the home. These are great resources, but not exactly what I was looking for.

Next stop, New American Dream. This is where I hit the jackpot. They have a terrific brochure called "Parenting in a Commercial Culture," which includes a list of books and websites to use when teaching your kids about commercialism. My library happened to have two of the books, so I picked them up this afternoon, and also spent some time perusing a few of the websites.

1. The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell
This is a fantastic book about Mooch the cat, who wants to give his best friend Earl a gift. What do you get for the dog who has everything? Nothing! Mooch's gift of "nothing" reminds us that the best gift to give a friend is time spent together.


2. Henry Hikes to Fitchburg by D.B. Johnson
Based on a passage from Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond, this book tells the story of Henry and a friend, who both agree to meet in Fitchburg at the end of the day. The friend says he will work until he has enough money to take a train to Fitchburg, and Henry says he will walk. The friend spends the whole day working, while Henry enjoys a long leisurely walk exploring nature and picking blackberries. In the end, the friend gets to Ficthburg faster, but who had the better day?

3. http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/
This is a great website, even if it was made by PBS kids, which seems to be one of the big marketers to children these days. (I think my son probably saw the Mott's commercial on PBS). This site is targeted at upper elementary to middle school age kids, but I played a few of the games with my son, and I think he got the gist. I also learned some fun (but sad) facts. For example, how much of the cost of a $50 pair of jeans goes to the Eastern European worker who made it? Answer: $0.50

4. http://web.mit.edu/civenv/K12Edu/game.html
This website includes a game where you can test your skills as a consumer. It doesn't have the best graphics, but my son enjoyed guessing which was the best object to buy, and it was fun to see how we're doing as conscious consumers.

All of these are great resources for arming our children against the media, but none of them were exactly what I was looking for. Anyone know of a good children's book about advertising? I need some help if I'm going to win the battle against Mott's applesauce.

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