My friend lives in what can only be described as a “McMansion.”  I’ve heard that term applied to huge houses that have entirely too much space and impressive features, usually including two or three SUVs parked in the spacious garage.

A couple of years ago she was an avid consumer. She would pack her baby up in the stroller and walk through the mall, buying whatever caught her eye. At the grocery store, she would buy mostly prepackaged foods that would save her time even though they were more expensive than the raw foods that she could have fashioned into meals for her family. Her family had the money, so why not enjoy it?

Nowadays things are a little different. She still lives in that same McMansion, but her SUV has been traded in for a more economical and environmentally-friendly vehicle. She grows fruits and vegetables in her spacious yard and buys groceries that are in a more original state. I don’t think she has step foot in the mall for some time and when she does go shopping she’s carrying reusable cloth bags.

It’s not like her husband lost his job or anything, but I think she saw what other people were going through and heard all the alarmist news stories about the economy and she realized that she just can’t assume that everything is always going to be okay. Combine this with the growing popularity of going green, and I think my friend has had a bona fide transformation.

I know I’ve changed the way I spend money too, both because of the recession and because of the environment. I didn’t start out with a McMansion or an SUV, but there was certainly room for improvement nonetheless. For example, when the weather starts to get warm it’s not unusual for ants to start finding their way into our dining room. Usually this elicits a panicked call to the local exterminator who comes over and sprays pesticides all over the house and in the yard. After doing a little research about the effect these chemicals can have on the environment – and on the health of my kids – I found out that there are natural ways to stop the barrage of ants. When I saw the first few ants crawling around a few days ago I staved off my urge to call an exterminator and instead did what I had read: Sprinkle some paprika where you see the ants and it will repel them.  It seemed entirely too simple, but it has been effective so far.  Not only is it much more environmentally friendly, but I saved the usual $80 I give to the bug guy.

Almost all of my friends are making similar changes that happen to be concurrently good for their finances and the environment. Most of them have started bringing canvas bags to grocery stores and hardly any of them drive gas-guzzlers anymore, or at least they certainly aren’t buying new ones. Organic fare is becoming more and more common as snacks at playdates, and the same moms who always dressed their babies in the newest designer clothes are now (gasp!) buying clothes at consignment stores for their kids.

I’m assuming it isn’t just my social circle that is going green and saving money. What have you been doing?

April 22 is Earth Day and this year’s theme is The Green Generation Campaign. My husband and I are trying our best to raise our own green generation – our two almost six-year old sons. Here are the ways we try to instill in our kids love and respect for nature:

Garbage and recycling. We are lucky to live in a country like Switzerland, easily the country with the strictest rules on recycling, garbage sorting and disposal. I don’t want to go into too much detail (otherwise this post would be three times a long), but in our community, we sort our rubbish into more 10 different categories – biodegradable, PET plastic, paper, glass 1, glass 2, cardboard, metal, textiles just to name a few, to facilitate easier recycling. By teaching our kids to sort for recycling, we are preparing the next generation to carry on and to make the system in place sustainable.

Nature walks and hikes. Last weekend, we did the 7 km World Wildlife Fund beaver walk along the River Rhine. It took us three hours, including a short picnic lunch of sandwiches. We never saw any beaver and we saw the signs of beavers. This is just one of the many nature hikes we would do from March till October. The hikes may also include wading in streams and swimming in lakes and camping. In exposing our children to nature, we hope that they will learn to love and respect it.

Public transport. We use as much public transport as possible. Again, we are lucky because Switzerland has one of the most efficient public transport systems in the world. Our skiing holiday end of February, for example, were all done by public transport – by train and by mountain bus. We could send our luggage in advance, also by public transport. In using the public transport system, we reduce our carbon footprint, we help the economy, and we get some exercise – we have to walk to the nearest bus stop or cycle to the train station.

Energy savings. Switzerland is just a great place to be green, no doubt it. This country is doing its best to reduce energy use. Since the beginning of this year, the old energy guzzling type of light bulbs is slowly being phased out. The few left in the shops are much cheaper but we opted to pay more for the more energy efficient ones. In the same way, new construction is required to follow the so-called “minirgie” system, short for minimum energy. This includes better insulation for warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer, windows that require less artificial light, and installation of solar panels on the roof. Recently, fuel-efficient cars were also given special tax incentives.

Explanations. We reinforce practice with theory. We try to explain to our boys why we do what we do. Why we save on water and energy. Why their paper planes need to be recycled. Why one car for the family is enough. And why snails and slugs and worms can be looked at and appreciated but never hurt.

It is easy to be green in Switzerland but we won’t be here forever. We hope that we can teach our kids to be green, wherever we will be.

This book starts out with a warning from the author to parents.  Readers are urged to not get overwhelmed by what they are about to read.  It’s a lot of information, the author admits, but don’t freak out.  I read that part and then continued on to the rest of the book, and promptly freaked out.

Plastic bottles? Don’t use them because they’ll poison you.  Lotion? No way; it will seep into your skin and pollute your insides.  Don’t even think of the term “aerosol air fresheners” because you might lose consciousness from the anxiety that will undoubtedly ensue.

At least, that’s how it seems at first.  I was assaulted with a bunch of information that really made me want to pack up my kids and go live in a cave that was first tested for lead before we moved in.  After I got over the initial nervousness from what I was reading, however, I started to digest what was being presented and realized that this is the perfect book for any parents who want to create a better environment for their kids.  This isn’t just about how to be greener, but also how to be safer and healthier.  After all, if you don’t really care about the environment, my guess is that you at least care about the well-being of your offspring in one way or another, right?

One of the best parts of this book are all the “recipes” for healthy, environmentally-friendly items such as household cleaners and finger paint.  Everything is easy to follow and actually a lot less expensive than the stuff you can buy in the stores.  It helped me a lot that the author didn’t just say, “Don’t use toxic cleaners!” but instead said, “Use this instead, and you can make it yourself.  You’re so clever!” I’m paraphrasing there, by the way.

Another thing I really liked about this book were all the excerpts from famous parents.  Some of them were incredibly environmentally conscious while others had changed some things but were still using disposable diapers or hadn’t given up their gas-guzzling cars.  The point is that even little changes can make a difference in the health of your children and your impact on the environment, and that’s an incredibly valuable lesson to learn…even if it initially freaks you out a little.

Available now at Amazon.com

I’m notoriously frugal, but I also care deeply about the things my kids are exposed to. I was brought up as a strict vegetarian and my parents were always very careful to make sure the foods I ate were as natural as possible, but back when I was a kid there wasn’t as great a prevalence of organic food and items readily available.

Now that I’m a mom I sometimes wonder if paying extra for organic items is worth the cost. Many times I have stood in front of something like strawberries and glanced back and forth between the regular and organic strawberries, wondering if I should pay extra for the organic ones or if it’s more important to save money.

I went to a reliable source to solve this dilemma. I chatted with Rod Olaes, Director of Marketing for EcoBaby, but perhaps more importantly, father to a four year old daughter. “Traditional clothing has a lot of synthetic materials in it and they use a lot of chemicals in the clothing to keep it the way it is.” He says that organic clothing gets softer with each wash and he doesn’t even have to use fabric softener anymore.

Organic clothing items have additional benefits beyond just how nice they feel. He says that children with eczema may soon find that their skin is not as irritated when wearing organic clothing instead of traditionally manufactured items. So not only are the clothes more comfortable to wear, but they are less irritating to the skin.

Sounds great, but what about the cost?

Organic clothing and other organic items usually cost more. Why? “Keep in mind that a lot of products that are organic are made in the U.S., and because the cost of labor is higher in the U.S. that’s something that we have to pay for as opposed to something that’s made overseas and that’s a lot cheaper.” Rod also emphasizes how important it is to support the local economy and think along the lines of environmental sustainability.

So the bottom line is this: Although I may have to pay extra for organic items, overall they are better for my babies and better for the environment. I don’t take much more convincing than that.

You can find out more about the items offered through Rod’s company at his blog. Be sure to also check out a really interesting website he gave me to look at: Pedoodles, a company that offers baby shoes made out of recycled materials. Now that’s cool.

Meet the National Children’s Study, supposedly the largest human health study ever. Its goal is “to improve the health and well-being of children.” However, before they can do this, the researchers involved need to collect data. They will do this by tracking 100,000 children from all over the United States from before birth till the age of 21 and examine the effects of environmental influences on their health and development. By “environment”, the researchers mean

• natural and man-made environmental factors
• biological and chemical factors
• physical surroundings
• social factors
• behavioral influences and outcomes
• genetics
• cultural and family influences and differences
• geographic locations

The study will be conducted by researches in several centers across the US and will cost millions of dollars in funding. So far, pilot studies have been conducted and study centers chosen. The full study is scheduled to begin in 2010.

Now, before they can conduct such a study, they need study participants, specifically families from 105 chosen locations all over the country.

But if I were living in the US, am I (and my family) willing to volunteer and participate? My science background urges me to say “yes.” No doubt about it, the aim of the study is noble and I completely agree that we can learn a lot from the data that will be generated. Wouldn’t it be great if I and my family can help in finding the cure to childhood problems such as autism, asthma, SIDS, ADHS, and obesity?

The private individual in me however hesitates. Imagine being under scrutiny for 21 plus years, with all the family going ons recorded and archived. Imagine having my son’s complete life history documented and digitized, be it his first tooth, his shampoo (chemical environment!), his friends (social factors!), and his school records. How safe would his data be? Can they be used against him later in life?

So what’s your take on this issue?

A new eco-friendly book series for children was launched in September. The goal of the creators of the Little Green Books series is to educate kids and their parents about the environment and how they can protect it.

Each book in the series focuses on improving the environment and preserving habitats. The books themselves are eco-friendly and are made from recycled materials. They are also printed with soy ink.

Currently, four titles are available in the series:

• Can Save the Earth: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This story is about a monster named Max, and how he changes from a wasteful monster to an environmentally responsible monster.
• The Polar Bears? Home: A Story about Global Warming. A parent and child learn about polar bears and how they can reduce the effects of global warming.
• Little Panda & Little Monkey. These two books in the series were created for young children and their caregivers to read together. They tell the story of Panda, his best friend Monkey, and their adventures. The books are super soft and perfect for cuddling! Both books are machine washable and are made from cotton and recycled fleece. I love baby products that are machine washable!

If your family enjoys living an eco-friendly life, or if you just want to teach your children about the environment, you may want to check out this new series. More books will be added in January 2009.

Although I like to think of myself as an eco-friendly person, I am not using cloth diapers for our new baby. I am just too tired and too busy to add more dirty laundry to our overflowing hamper.

With two active, older boys, I am constantly spraying stain remover onto dirty baseball pants and grass-stained soccer jerseys. The laundry never ends.

My younger sister, on the other hand, is the role model eco-friendly mom: she uses cloth diapers, sprays water and calendula oil onto a cloth to wipe baby’s bottom (doesn’t use disposable baby wipes), only serves baby organic fruits, veggies, etc. from her own garden), as well as from glass (vs. plastic) containers. When I compare myself to her, I could easily blame myself for being lazy and environmentally irresponsible.

But she’s on baby number one. I’m on number three, with two busy, older boys. A fitting bumper sticker for my car would be ‘Mom’s Taxi’. There’s a huge difference there. My sis does claim that her water bill is higher since adding dirty diapers to her daily laundry routine, so she’s using more water than before.

Another disposable item I use for baby are liners for Playtex Drop-ins bottles. I have found the collapsible liners to be very effective in keeping air out of his tummy. (Less air equals less gas, equals happy baby, equals sane mommy!) Plus, with all the talk about the potentially harmful BPA found in many plastic baby bottles, BPA-free liners are probably a safer choice when you have to bottle-feed.

It’s all a balancing act. I have to consider how valuable my time is: Can I really devote more time to doing laundry when I can’t keep up with it as it is?

I’d rather spend what little time I have with my family, taking much needed breaks for myself and even, on occasion, writing.

I will try to continue to bring paper, cardboard and magazines to the recycling bin in town. I will try to remember to use my cloth grocery bags again (I’ve found it hard to remember such things with a new baby in the picture!). For now, I’ll just have to pick and choose when it comes to doing what’s best for my family, what’s best for the planet and what makes my hectic life a little bit easier.

The Green Light philosophy is to support the efforts of individuals who are trying to make our planet a better place to live.

Click here to get a Free annual digital subscription.

It has been reported that cattle farming does more harm to the environment than all the planes, trains, and cars put together! According to the PB&J Campaign, eating peanut-butter & jelly is good for the Environment. Simply eating peanut-butter and jelly can reduce as much as 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions in to our atmosphere, preserve hundreds of gallons of water, and free up 50 square feet of real estate, when compared to what goes into preparing hamburgers.

Other than being a lot better for the environment, there are also substantial health benefits to eating PB&J according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. It has been reported that woman who ate peanut-butter and jelly multiple times a week showed a 20% reduction in diabetes. Peanut-butter is also rich in an antioxidant which has been proven to strengthen cardiovascular health!

Read more about it

Every household accumulates old, raggedy towels that typically end up in the trash bin. Why not donate those old, useless towels to your local animal shelter? They have all sorts of uses for them from bathing towels to cage linings that act as bedding for the homeless animals.

The ASPCA’s Web site makes it easy to find local animal shelters close to home. Most of these shelters have a wish list that they encourage kind hearted people to donate from, and towels are usually on the list. If they aren’t, you will find all sorts of things they do require, and most of these items can be found around your home.

So help your community’s animal shelter today by donating items you would otherwise throw away, and you are also making the GREEN choice by recycling and reducing your impact on the environment.

In a story first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, Ari Derfel of Berkeley, California, saved all of his trash for a year to see how much he actually generated. Final tally: 96 cubic feet. He has plans to donate it to a sculptor once the experiment is over.

In his own words from his blog http://saveyourtrash.typepad.com/, “I started the project for my own edification – my own learning, my own discovery, my own experience.” Project Trash Retention called for him to keep every piece of garbage including tissues, receipts, food wrappers and plastic bottles to show that when we dispose of something, “There’s no such thing as ‘away.’”

In addition to learning just how much trash he accumulates, the experiment taught him to observe his life in a different light. He is a much more positive person than he was a year ago.

Source: USA Today and The San Francisco Chronicle

Daily we see or read about how our earth is constantly struggling to survive through the damage that we all have placed on her; throwing away trash that could easily be recycled, using her natural resources without thought, and choking her air as we drive to and from our day to day activates.There are many of us that want to rethink how we currently use our earth?s resources and to become a more consciences user. Recycling what can be recycled, changing how we use water and energy, and to help reduce our carbon emissions for a cleaner, healthier earth.

Carbonfund.org is an organization that can do just that. Carbonfund.org is a devoted organization to helping change our climate and educate consumers. Offering online resources, Carbonfund.org, teaches consumers how they can reduce their carbon emissions at various points within their life, like at home, at work, and while traveling.

By using Carbonfund?s calculators, you can see exactly how much emissions you generate and place into our air. Taking into consideration the damage that is done, you can reduce and offset those emissions by using the suggestions on Carbonfund.org and by also making a contribution based on the amount of emission that you create.

The service that Carbonfund.org offers, allows you to contribute to them the dollar amount of the carbon emissions that you have created, or any other dollar amount to help offset your emissions. That money is then placed into various projects like reforestation and energy efficiency to mend damage caused to our Earth.

Get your children involved. Children hear about the damage as much as parents do with current events in school. Children are great promoters and can rally neighbors together to help repair damage that has been caused. They can offer neighborhood recycling tips, how to reduce and offset, and even organize a drive to have your street donate as one group to recognize there involvement in the damage.

Source: Carbonfund.org

Now that Christmas is over it is time to think about recycling what you don’t want.

One big issue is Christmas trees. Many people have opted for an alternative, or a rooted version, but for those who have not (over 30,000 million in North America), what is the best thing to do with a Christmas tree when it is finished with?

The main uses for recycled Christmas trees are

for chippings, for cycle paths and similar places
to prevent beachfront erosion
to stabilize lake and river banks
for fish and animal habitats
to manage river sedimentation
for making a flu vaccination by removing the shikimic acid from the needles
for compost
for fuel.

What you will need to do is to track down your local Christmas tree recycling depot. If there is not one in your area why not consider setting up one of your own, it is probably too late for this year, but it would be good for next year, there are guidelines at Earth 911.

For further information

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Search for recycling centers in your town at Earth911

Real Versus Artificial

What Happens to It After the Holidays

From the Farm to Your Home