Ecominded Mama

Article: 15 Green Must-Haves for Mom

I couldn't resist reading the 15 Green Must-Haves for Mom article when I saw the title, and I wasn't disappointed. The tips are what I think of as basics these days (reusable shopping bags, earth-friendly detergents, etc.), but the article does include a few products I hadn't heard of. I'm especially intrigued by the Earth Machine (tip #8) -- I've wanted to compost for a while, but have been overwhelmed by the different styles of compost bins and couldn't decide which one to buy. I don't know that I'll buy the Earth Machine, but I'm grateful for the reminder that I need to quit dilly-dallying and just buy a compost bin and get to it! 

Article: 25 Eco-Chic Ideas for Your Home

There are some fun and clever ideas in the article 25 Eco-Chic Ideas for Your Home on WholeLiving.com. My favorites are #14, reusing Altoid tins, and #11, making cloth napkins out of old dress shirts (I've also thought of using pieces from old, ripped flannel sheets to make napkins).

Good articles about eco-friendly diapers

The talk at my playgroup turned to diapers today, so I thought I'd see if I could find some insightful articles with reviews and information about eco-friendly diapers. I found three that, when read together, offer a pretty comprehensive overview of the eco-friendly diaper market:

• Green Your... Diapers: This article includes a broad overview of the environmental impacts of diapers, both cloth and disposable. It's a good place to start if you're deciding between the two types.

• The Case for Disposable Diapers: The first of a two-part series (the second part is Cloth Diaper Brands You Can Trust), this article focuses on the practical reasons some very ecominded parents go with disposables and gives information about readily available eco-friendly brands.

• Throw the Bums Out: The eco-friendly diapers reviewed in this article were put through real world (and real baby) tests. It also includes interesting information about the materials used in each of the diapers.  

Useful info about antimicrobial household products

I came across the article Antimicrobial Products: Who Needs Them? by Philip Dickey, and although long and somewhat dense, it has a ton of great information. The following is from a sidebar at the bottom of the page:

• Avoid household products containing triclosan. There is little evidence they are effective in homes and considerable concern about resistance. Triclosan does not kill viruses.
• Wash your hands frequently during the day with hot water and soap, especially before eating, after using the bathroom, and after contacting surfaces that might harbor a lot of germs.
• Keep your house clean using cleaning products without antimicrobials. Don’t try to maintain a germ-free environment unless there is a particular medical reason to do so in your family. If so, consult your physician.
• Handle meat, fish, or poultry with care. Avoid cross-contaminating utensils, cutting boards, sponges, towels, or hands. Use one cutting board just for meat, fish, or poultry. Use only clean implements on food that will not be cooked before eating. 
• Replace kitchen sponges frequently. Disinfect them weekly by boiling in water for at least three minutes or microwave for a minute or two (or both!). Launder dishrags in hot water every week. Keep sponges and rags as dry as possible. 
• Use disinfectants only if they are really needed. Choose an EPA-registered product labeled for the type of use you need. Avoid products with the word DANGER on the label. Vinegar and borax are not disinfectants.
• If using a disinfectant, read and follow label directions to ensure that the product will be effective.
• Don’t use aerosol disinfectants as air fresheners. You can’t disinfect the air. Find the source of an unpleasant odor and deal with it appropriately.
• Keep an antiseptic in the home for cuts and scrapes.

How to Recycle Anything, Part 2

I posted a link to Real Simple magazine's How to Recycle Anything article a while back, which included items starting with letters A through M. Here's N through Z. 

One of the most surprising tips is related to the manila (or "goldenrod") envelopes that are common in offices. They are not recyclable because they (as well as dark or fluorescent paper) are saturated with dyes that are hard to remove. One of the experts quoted in the article, Marti Matsch, says "It's what we call 'designing for the dump,' not the environment." It never occurred to me that dyed paper would be impossible or cost prohibitive to recycle. I'm only going to buy white envelopes and paper from now on. 

Organic make-up

I got a copy of Scholastic's Parent & Child magazine from my daughter's preschool this week, and the short article "Saving Face" has some good information about organic make-up. I don't buy much make-up, but I'll keep the article's simple tips in mind the next time I buy some.

One of the most interesting facts in the article is that cosmetic companies are not required to safety-test or fully list ingredients. I'm cursed with sensitive skin that reacts differently to products with seemingly similar ingredients -- now I know that I could be reacting to an ingredient that isn't even listed. Frustrating!

What's in an egg?

I haven't written about food much here, but it definitely figures into my environmental aspirations. We eat organic food whenever we can, and we also are huge fans of our local farmers market and the individual vendors that grow and sell fruits and vegetables and livestock in our general area. In an ideal world all of our food would come from our own garden or from the farms and gardens of our neighbors, but we don't even have a garden and neither do our immediate neighbors, so our local farmers market -- supplemented by our local grocery store -- has to suffice. 

One item we try to buy at the farmers market but often arrive too late to get are eggs (there's a lot of competition for them in our town!). So we buy them from the grocery store, and although the ones we typically buy aren't labeled organic, they claim to be from vegetarian-fed chickens that were not given artificial hormones or antibiotics. Some others claim to be "natural," "all-natural," "cage-free," and "naturally raised." Huh?!? Thankfully, I saw yesterday's NY Times article Sorting Through the Claims of the Boastful Egg that explains what all those similar-sounding terms mean.  

Two useful articles in Real Simple magazine

I'm in the middle of reading the September issue of Real Simple magazine, and I wanted to share links to two really useful environment-focused articles in the issue. Well, I actually can't find a link yet for the second item below, but I'll add it when I find it.

1. How to Recycle Anything -- This is the first of a two-part article, with information about how to recycle a sampling of items that begin with letters A through M (the second part will be posted next month). Some of the items are ones I never thought to recycle (like carpet and nail clippers), but most of the tips are actually focused on how to donate or trade unwanted items (like eyeglasses and backpacks), which are particularly helpful.

2. The best compact fluorescent lightbulbs -- Since I can't find the article on their site, I'll just tell you which bulbs they found to be the best in their "road test" of CFLs:

• Best for pendant lamps: N Vision Soft White G25 (14 watt)

• Best for floor and table lamps: GE Energy Smart 60 Dimmable (15 watt)

• Best for track lighting: TCP Springlight BR30 (14 watt)

• Best for task lamps: Sylvania Daylight Extra (13 watt) 

Ask Umbra

The NY Times profiled the Ask Umbra column on Tuesday, and it's a fantastic resource. I'd never heard of her column before (actually, as the article highlights, Umbra isn't a "she" but a couple of women who contribute to the blog), but it is chock-full of really helpful information. I like the sensible approach that the advice takes (clearly these women know what's reasonable and what isn't for real people) and the science they quote to support their opinions. These women know their stuff. So if you're looking for information about an environmental topic, search through the archives to see if there's an Ask Umbra column devoted to it (I searched for sippy cups, pet waste clean-up bags, and compost bins, for example). And I was happy to read the column about Method products and learn that they're as good for the environment as they claim to be -- I don't have to worry about that Method hand soap I bought the other day. Whew!   

More quiz fun: Measure your eco-footprint

I stumbled upon the Conservation International website today and decided to take their Measure Your Eco-Footprint quiz. It has 10 sections, asking if you do everything from bring your own shopping bags to the grocery store to having solar panels in your house. All of the options are eco-friendly (there's no checkbox for "I drive a Hummer"), so you're able to learn what steps you can take while you're evaluating your eco footprint. Although it didn't tell me what the other categories are, I scored a 60 ("eco-ally"). Not too shabby! One option was particularly relevant and reminded me of something I will do before we go on vacation in a few days: turn our water heater to vacation mode.   

Are you eco-smarter than a fifth grader?

My friend Jenna Schnuer, a freelance writer, has a quiz in the July 15 American Way magazine that is both fun and informative: Are You Eco-Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Here's the intro:

Amid the swirl of information rising around the green movement, some myths have made their way into our brains and settled there as truth. Cloth diapers are unquestionably better for the environment than disposables. Smog creates beautiful sunsets. But Meaghan O’Neill, coauthor of Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living and editor of TreeHugger.com and PlanetGreen.com, knows better. She helped us craft a true-or-false quiz that separates fact from pop-fiction.

I'm happy to say that I am eco-smarter than a fifth grader (for the most part) -- I missed the questions about organic clothes and recycling cars, though. How'd you do? 

The power of the Danish

I just finished reading the New Yorker article "The Island in the Wind," by Elizabeth Kolbert, which is focused on the Danish island of Samso. About 10 years ago the residents of the island decided to reduce their reliance on conventional energy sources. Today, after some pretty remarkable (but not all major) changes, the island produces (via wind and other renewable sources) more energy than its inhabitants collectively consume. I won't go into the details of how they do it, but this paragraph really struck me: "The residents of Samso that I spoke to were clearly proud of their accomplishment. All the same, they insisted on their ordinariness. They were, they noted, not wealthy, nor were they especially well educated or idealistic."   

Kolbert also writes about the 2,000-Watt Society (I'm linking to Wikipedia because it describes the society's goals in plain English). One quote in the article by the project's director, Roland Stulz, about living a 2000-watt life speaks to my philosophy about trying to be more environmentally conscious in my daily life: "... (it's) not a program of hard life.... It's not starving, it's not having less comfort or fun. It's a creative approach to the future." And I also like the simplicity of this statement, "There is no formula for how to achieve a two-thousand-watt society. Three things are needed: societal decisions... technical innovation, and the resolve of every individual to act in an energy-conscious way." Every individual.   

An eco guidebook for beginners

I'd read quite a few articles online and in print about how to be more environmentally conscious, but The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time tied it all together for me. It's organized in easily digestible chapters, with tangible tips and their relative impact clearly explained. I really appreciate that the book breaks the alphabetized suggestions into a section titled "The Little Things" for each chapter, which immediately follows an overview section titled "The Big Picture." The big picture overwhelmed me, but the little things are just my speed ("Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. An open damper can let 8 percent of the heat in your home escape. In the summer, cool air escapes. That can add up to about $100 a year -- up the chimney." How easy is that?).

I read the book for a few minutes every night and I finished it in about a week. I made a list on the inside cover of things I wanted to try doing, and I've crossed a few off already (like getting off junk mail lists and switching to paperless bill statements). I can't say that I've noticed a huge reduction in junk mail (www.dmachoice.org says it takes a few months to see a change since labels are pre-printed in advance) but I'm looking forward to having less recycling to take to the curb every Friday.