Kid-Friendly Fridays: BabyPlays Toy Rental Program
No matter how hard you try, kids seem to accumulate a lot of stuff that is quickly outdated for their age or interests. There are lots of ways to try to keep “stuff” to a minimum but one new program brings an interesting idea to the kid frontier: BabyPlays Toy Rental Program.
You pick a plan, between 4-10 toys per month, and pay a fee (which to me sounds like a lot less than what it would cost to buy the toys new) and each month BabyPlays delivers a fresh batch of pint-sized entertainment to your door. You pick the toys and add them to a wishlist, much like a DVD by mail program if you’re familiar with those. You can keep the toys for a month or longer and there are no late fees. When you and your kiddo are ready for new toys, ship the last batch back and a new one will arrive within a few days.
It’s a great idea along the lines of sharing toys, buying used or borrowing from the library. For more information, and for answers to questions, visit BabyPlays online.
Down2Earth Conference is this weekend!
The Down2Earth Conference - an exploration into sustainable living - kicks off this week on Friday in Boston!
If you’re interested in making your home more energy efficient, eating locally and sustainably year-round, and choosing eco-friendly fashions, then Down:2:Earth is the place for you. Join us March 28-30 at Boston’s Hynes Convention Center as we showcase companies that offer environmentally-responsible choices for aligning your dollars with your values. Educational workshops and chances to win great prizes are included with admission – it’s all happening at D2E.
This is definitely an event that I wish I could attend but I’m too far away, otherwise I would be there. On the list of speakers is Frances Moore Lappé of the Small Planet Institute. Exhibitors will include Alternative Energy Store, Green Source Supply and Design, Mourning Dove (eco-burial products) and many more. For a complete exhibitor list visit http://www.d2eboston.com/about/exhibitors.php.
And for more on this great event, visit the Down2Earth website.
Grist Review: Eco-Friendly Toothpaste
Let’s face it, toothpaste is very personal. Everyone has their favorites and being one of the products we use daily for health, and meet first thing in the morning, having a good toothpaste is an important part of our daily routine.
With that in mind, Grist’s Katherine Wroth has done a great job of rounding up some eco-friendly favorites and testing them out on her family, well her sister’s family actually because there were more mouths there and they were a good group of subjects representing a mix of mainstream and green toothpaste tastes.
Katherine combined the results of the toothpaste tests with info from the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetics database, and voilah, a great resource for readers on the best eco-friendly brands including Dr. Ken’s, Tom’s of Maine, Kiss my Face and more.
Find the review at Grist.
Calculate Your Environmental Impact at Home
There is a great online tool that will calculate your environmental impact at home and help you learn ways to decrease your footprint - the Environmental Impact Calculator from Low Impact Living. It’s easy, fun and pretty comprehensive.
The questions address your home, your car, your travel, your water habits, recycling and lots of other every day living activities. A score of 100 is average, 50 is green territory and 20-30 is you should be teaching class. I scored a 48, which I consider pretty good considering I have yearly long haul “love miles” from Germany to the States to visit family.
The quiz doesn’t account for offsets (I do offset my air travel) for electricity or flying and there are plenty of topics that could be included on the list of questions like consumer practices (buying local, organic) but this quiz goes more in-depth than other similar online tools. And, after you get your score you’ll get helpful hints and tips on where you can improve your green living lifestyle.
Find the quiz here.
TIME for Kids Earth Day Photo Contest
There is still time to enter the TIME For Kids Earth Day Photo Contest. TIME for Kids wants you to show them (in pictures) What’s the Most Precious Thing on Earth?
If you are a photographer, and you care about the environment, we invite you to submit your original photograph for the TIME For Kids Earth Day Photo Contest. The grand prize winner will receive a Canon digital camera and publication of his or her winning photo in the April 18, 2008 Earth Day issue of TIME For Kids.
WHAT: Judges will look for originality, creativity, photo composition, and how well your picture shows us the Earth Day theme: What’s the Most Precious Thing on Earth?
The deadline is March 31, 2008 so get out your cameras! Get the official entry rules here.
Endangered Species Protection Sought for Pacific Northwest Snails & Slugs
In Portland, the Center for Biological Diversity along with four other conservation groups, are seeking Endangered Species Protection for 32 species of snails and slugs that live in old-growth forests, according to ENN. While these animals aren’t high on the food chain, they are an important part of the ecosystem and, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, “protecting them will help protect the environmental integrity of the Pacific Northwest.”
Apparently these animals have fallen through the cracks left by conservation program eliminations that have occurred under the Bush administration and their habitat is diminishing. In a press release, The Center for Biological Diversity explained the importance of protecting these species:
The Bush administration’s attacks on protections for Pacific Northwest old-growth forests are endangering hundreds of species, necessitating their protection under the Endangered Species Act.
With names like cinnamon juga, hoko vertigo, and knobby rams-horn, the petitioned species include 13 land snails, two slugs, 15 spring snails, and two river snails. All were recommended for Endangered Species Act protection by scientific experts concerned about their survival. The mollusks are very rare and many have such limited distributions that they could be extirpated by a single habitat-disturbing activity; fifteen of the species are known from 10 or fewer sites, and seven of them are found in only one or two locations.
Aquatic snails and terrestrial snails and slugs are a critical link in the food web because they consume microorganisms and forest floor litter and are then eaten by birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, mammals, and other invertebrates. They contribute to water quality and soil- and water-nutrient cycling and act as dispersers for mushrooms and other fungi. Empty snail shells are used for housing and egg-laying sites by other insects, and the reproductive cycle of many insects are dependent on snails that serve as parasitic hosts. Because they are extremely sensitive to pollution, mollusks serve as indicators of overall environmental health.
You can read the full petition here (in PDF) and see some pictures of the snails and slugs. For more, visit Center for Biological Diversity
Via ENN
Carnival of the Green at Natural Collection
TreeHugger’s Carnival of the Green makes its way around the blogosphere every week at eco-conscious weblogs. This week is especially good and worth checking out. Plus, Natural Collection is a great site devoted to ethical retail:
About Natural Collection: Natural Collection is the award-winning and UK’s leading (non-food) ethical retailer helping you to make stylish and green choices in your everyday lives. We stock a wide range of carefully selected items for you, your home and your friends and family.
We believe in finding the most inspiring environmentally-minded options to help you live a greener and more natural lifestyle. To find out more about the research involved in bringing you the best of ethical retail click here.
It’s a great site and the Carnival is full of ideas from greening your community to greening your kitty litter. Check it out here.
Planning a Habitat Garden for Critters
It may seem like birds and bees have plenty of places to call home but consider how much habitat we take from them when we change and development the landscape. Picture the perfect meadow of sunny summer days and likely little sunlit moths, butterflies and bees are floating and dancing above it. There’s no reason why you can recreate this kind of perfect tiny critter habitat in your garden and the birds and bees will thank you.
Here in Germany I often see “habitats” integrated into agricultural land. For instance, farmers get an incentive if they plant wildflowers along the edge of their crops and I’m pretty sure they get the seeds for free. This little edge of shelter brings insects and bees back to places where they would otherwise chalk off to for-humans-only, and its a small but important endeavor to keep ecosystems in balance.
Planting a habitat garden doesn’t mean you have to go wild and completely un-manicured. You can integrate this little green gardening step into any kind of garden or setting. In my own garden, I give about a fifth of the area to wildflowers that attract insects and bees - a variety of plants that are beautiful and give enough diversity and density to the tiniest visitors.
This year we are also planting berry bushes for the birds (and us) along the edge of the habitat. The wildflowers are the first thing you see when you walk into the garden, the berry bushes make a hedge and beyond that things get more organized with vegetable beds. On the opposite end of the garden (which is a long strip) I plan a little bit more habitat with some bushes, mint and flowers. So, the garden edges are for wildlife and the middle is for people.
Couple things to keep in mind:
- habitat garden areas should be dense, like meadows
- don’t worry about uninvited guests, if you invite bugs, you also invite birds.
- choose native plants, your local birds and bees know these and the plants will thrive with little maintenance
- don’t worry about size, dedicate as little or big amount of space as you want
Here’s a Backyard Conservation Tip Sheet from the Natural Resources Conservation Service with more great ideas to get you started.
Cracking Down on Illegal Logging in the Amazon
The Brazilian government has launched a new campaign aimed at stopping the illegal logging that is giving rise to increased deforestation in the Amazon. Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) depends on “forestry cops” in these efforts.
The job is dangerous and requires mettle. One of what Greenpeace calls “the good guys” (those who don’t fall prey to threats or bribes from illegal loggers) is a man named Roberto Scarpari. Despite assassination threats and long separations from his family, Scarpari is helping to combat devastation that threatens the forest and the planet.
Recently released statistics show that deforestation for the last five months of 2007 was 3,235 square kilometers (2,010 square miles), an increase over the previous year’s figure. - CSM
Hundreds of government agents, including Scarpari, are on the frontline of this battle. Their job is to enforce compliance to regulations, dispatch fines and help seize machinery and supplies used to harvest illegal lumber.
During the first week of the new crackdown in late February, code named Arch of Fire, authorities closed down three timber merchants and seized more than 9,800 cubic feet of illegal timber, enough to fill 200 trucks, IBAMA reported. - CSM
The task at hand, like the Amazon, is massive. And even though the government has shown its intent to crackdown on illegal activities, the agency’s reputation is far from perfect but people like Scarpari are helping effect positive change, even in the face of constant danger.
The Christian Science Monitor has a great article on IBAMA’s efforts and more on Roberto Scarpari.
Have a Happy, Green St. Patty’s Day!
I have some rules when it comes to beer, among them no fruit and definitely no artificial colors. When I say green, I mean the Daily Tomorrow kind - beer brewed to the highest standards of natural ingredients and with effort to reduce environmental impact, like using renewable energy, reducing waste, conserving water.
Any beer worth brewing is worth brewing with sustainability in mind. And there are plenty of brewers taking a sober approach to reducing their environmental impact. Among them my all-time favorite, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. But don’t just take my word for it, check out this great list of green beers (including details on what makes them eco-conscious) over at Sierra Club.
For a tempting list of local, organic beers head over to National Geographic’s Green Guide, a comprehensive round up of where to get your St. Patrick’s Day buzz locally.
Other tips for keeping it true green:
- Drink from reusable glasses, get creative but leave the one-time-use plastic tossers to someone else’s parade.
- Bike, walk or take the train to your celebration, not only is this a more environmentally sound way to get around, it’s safer and smarter.
- If you can pick yourself up, you can pick up after yourself. Just because everyone else is dropping their plastic hats doesn’t mean it’s not littering.
and last but not least,
- Don’t request ‘Danny Boy’.
Happy St. Patty’s to everyone who’s celebrating!
Greenpeace’s Kleenex Free Schools Project
Greenpeace has an idea about how to make Kimberly-Clark listen up about using products that come from unsustainable sources, and they want your help. It’s called the Kleenex Free School Project and the goal is to tell the world’s biggest tissue manufacturer, loud and clear from the many little noses that need tissues, to use sustainable-sourced paper.
From Greenpeace:
Every time you blow your nose with Kleenex tissue, you’re blowing away an ancient forest. And every time you buy Scott or Cottonelle at the store, you’re flushing old growth trees down the toilet.
Most of the pulp Kimberly-Clark uses for its disposable tissue products comes from unsustainable sources. This includes wood from ancient forests like the Canadian Boreal Forest.
As the biggest tissue manufacturer on the planet, Kimberly-Clark has the resources to shift toward sustainability but it is refusing to use recycled paper in its products. Instead, the largest stretch of ancient forest in North America is being clearcut for disposable paper products.
Tell Kimberly Clark to use recycled paper! You can start your own Kleenex Free Schools project today and be part of the solution for our ancient forests. You also can SHOW the company how you feel about forest destruction - use this new online tool to send a photo and a message directly to Kimberly-Clark. Check out what people like you already are sharing and then submit your own photo.
Kid-Friendly Fridays: One Hen, One Small Boy, One Big Difference
The story of One Hen is a children’s book that teaches the value of money in a global perspective. The book, which is inspired by true events, tells the tale of Kojo, a boy from Ghana who turns a small loan into a thriving farm and a livelihood for many.
One Hen shows what happens when a little help makes a big difference. This help comes in the form of a microloan, a lending system for people in developing countries who have no collateral and no access to conventional banking. In addition to Kojo’s story, One Hen explains the microloan system and includes a list of relevant organizations for children to explore.
The book was recently featured in The Boston Globe, Tale of microloans urges kids to generosity, where the author Katie Smith Milway said “My real hope for the book is that it will develop can-do and compassion in kids, and give schools and families a way to think about making a difference with the money children earn doing odd jobs.”
Available at Amazon One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
Jane Goodall World Tour Has Started
World renowned primatologist Jane Goodall is on her 2008 World Tour, speaking to audiences around the world about programs at the Jane Goodall Institute, her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees, and every individual’s ability to effect change. The tour began in February and will reach more than 17 countries and 15 US states before the close of 2008.
Tour highlights:
- Leon H. Sullivan Foundation is hosting a summit (June 2-6) in Arusha, Tanzania to help advance investment, sustainable tourism and infrastructure development in Tanzania and the African continent.
- International Day of Peace activities at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Dr. Goodall serves as a UN Messenger of Peace.
- Jane Goodall Institute’s 2nd annual Jane Goodall Global Leadership Awards in Washington, DC.
- Teaching and Learning Celebration in NYC, a two-day professional development conference designed to recognize and inspire the education community.
- American Montessori Conference, which brings together educators and child advocates to explore the many ways the world and its children can benefit from the Montessori approach to education.
In the US she will be making stops in: Vero Beach, Boca Raton, Salt Lake City, New York City, Washington, D.C., Rancho San Diego, Gibson Island, Orlando, Hanover, Purdue, San Diego, Davis, Bozeman, & Boston. For a complete listing and details, visit the Jane Goodall Institute’s events page.
Care2 Test Your Global Warming Smarts?
If you don’t know Care2 you might want to check it out. Care2 is the “global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference” and they always have great info on environmental issues and ways you can get involved and contribute to positive environmental activism.
They also have a quiz where you can test your knowledge of global warming facts and stats - “the first step is knowing enough about it to see through the deception and into the real solutions.” You might be surprised at your knowledge and the answers to questions like: How many bills has Congress passed to cap and reduce U.S. global warming pollution?
It’s not an easy quiz but it does have lots of useful information, empower yourself with knowledge at Care2.
Are Green Homes so different?
Here’s a great video from quantumshift.tv that highlights a new home that uses 90% less energy and 50% less water. I like the ideas they’ve used to achieve the savings - like heat recapture and rainwater harvesting - and that they emphasize how the house really isn’t so different from traditional homes. With just a few tweaks of a couple of systems and strategies this house makes a considerably lower impact on the environment….
UNEP Launches Green Passport Campaign
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has just launched an internet-based campaign to raise awareness on how tourists can contribute to sustainable development. The campaign offers green travel tips for the world’s growing number of international tourists.
By using the Green Passport web site travelers will be able to find practical tips to help them reduce their environmental and social footprint while they are on vacations and will learn that traveling green is not as difficult as they imagined.
Tourism is a booming global industry, one that UN-Under Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said: “brings the prospect of income and economic development to countless tourist destinations in rich and poor countries alike. The challenge is to manage this growth sustainably. Governments have a key role to play, but so too do individuals and families when planning and going on holiday,” he said in a UNEP press release.
The green travel tips address many aspects of tourist trips from travel planning and packaging to the way back home. A few examples of what the campaign encourages tourists to do:
- Choose responsible service providers
- Reduce the consumption of energy while on the road or in their hotel
- Buy locally made and environmentally friendly souvenirs
The Campaign has been launched by UNEP, jointly with and the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning and the Brazilian Ministries of Environment and Tourism. It is an initiative of the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development, firmly rooted in the move to accelerate a global shift towards sustainable consumption and production (SCP) that emerged from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002.
More:
Monarch Butterflies Threatened by Clear Cutting in Mexico
An article in today’s New York Times describes how the millions of monarch butterflies that are spending the winter in Mexico are threatened by illegal logging activities. The article is based on satellite images from the NASA Earth Obervatory which show very recent clear cutting in the monarch’s breeding grounds. The images were taken by the commercial Ikonos satellite for the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation, according to the New York Times.
The logging has been documented in progression over several years, showing how although the land is protected the forest and monarch resting zone is still being destroyed. Andrew Revkin’s article Loggers Invaded Butterfly Haven, Photos Show describes how important this land is to this amazing species and how the logging poses a threat to their survival. You can see photos of the clear cutting at NASA here. More on monarch butterflies can be found at Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation and Journey North: Monarch Migration.
To learn more about how to use your consumer dollars to choose wood from sustainably managed forests, visit the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) the world’s leading forest management certification system.
Michigan Farmer Employs Pigs for Pest Control
A Michigan farmer has turned to pigs to help him control a beetle infestation in his organic apple orchard, according to the AP. Rather than spraying pesticides on his beetle problem, Jim Koan has employed hungry pigs to eat up fallen apples infested with plum curculio larvae, a particularly destructive insect that can wreak havoc on fruit operations.
The plum circulio also attacks nectarine, plum, cherry, peach, apricot, pear and quince. This insect is difficult to control and in the past pesticides have been used to try to keep manifestations to a minimum. Koan’s approach makes a lot more sense. Pigs eat fallen apples where the plum curculio has laid its eggs, as many as 500. This breaks the beetle’s lifecycle without disturbing other insect or animal populations.
The idea has caught the attention of researchers at Michigan State University who are studying Koan’s farm in hope of helping fruit growers around the globe manage without pesticides.
Read the full article Farmer uses pigs to battle beetles
‘Empty’ Transatlantic Flight Stirs Eco-Scandal
American Airlines is getting an earful from environmentalists about a recent Boeing 777 flight that used 22,000 gallons of fuel to fly 5 passengers from Chicago to London, according to the UK’s Telegraph.
The near empty flight reportedly occurred so that the plane would be on the right continent to accommodate passengers waiting to fly from London. Regardless of the reason, the flight has used a tremendous amount of resources. Something that Friends of the Earth called “an obscene waste of fuel” in today’s Telegraph.
Friends of the Earth is drawing attention to the incident as an example of why the aviation industry needs to be included in climate change policies.
Read the whole story at the Telegraph.
Researchers Discover Albatross Has Keen Sense of Smell
The albatross is an amazing seabird capable of soaring long distances across the open seas on wings that span up to 11 feet. These birds mate with determination, alternately sharing chick rearing duties and food sourcing which both require constant effort. Researchers have recently discovered that the search for food is driven not just by sight, but also by scent.
Wandering albatrosses seem to have a keen sense of smell: so keen that they can follow their nose to food some 20 kilometres away from their starting point (according to Nature).
Finding food by smell is a tactic often used by many animals but in the case of the albatross it is extraordinary. The distance that albatross can smell is remarkable, but even more so considering the turbulent ocean winds in which they hunt.
Gabrielle Nevitt of the University of California, Davis, has been conducting extensive research on the food foraging behavior of albatross. She estimates that “smell contributes to almost half of in-flight food finds,” - Nature.
Read more at Smelling Dinner on the Open Sea. Also, learn how it is past the 11th hour for the wandering albatross - almost all 21 varieties are endangered.