latest finds for kids

once my daughter was born, i knew better than to swear that i wasn't going to have ANY plastic toys in my house. but i did really want to keep from buying cheap plastic toys as much as possible. i was grateful for all the hand me down items that were given to us [which have since been handed down again]. and i scoured craigs list and freecyle and berkeley parents network for items that i thought we could use. [btw - berkeley parents network is a GREAT resource. it's full of information on parenting and tips on bay area businesses, etc. you have to be in the bay area to sign up for their lists, but anyone can browse the site for info. i wonder if other communities have similar networks set up? if you know of any leave the info in the comments?]




i was really happy to discover green toys . they are actually made in california [the state where i live] and are made from recycled plastic milk jugs. you can read more about the process here . the thing that i really like about green toys, though, is that they LOOK nice too. i have to admit that looks are important to me. especially since toys are going to get left lying around. i might as well find the objects strewn about my living room aesthetically pleasing to look at right?




i was able to find a shop locally that carried the toys so i went and checked them out in person. they look and FEEL nice. my daughter is still a bit young for most of their toys, but i definitely will be getting some for her in the future.

green toys has their own online shop, or here's a list of stores that also carries their stuff.



the other thing i found were these stainless steel drinking straws. my daughter has just discovered the joys of drinking from a straw. i happened to have a very old box of plastic straws around that we've been going through, but i really didn't want to have to buy a new box of straws. so wasteful. and i certainly didn't want to try and explain to an 18 month old that we couldn't use a straw because they were bad for the environment. nor did i want to try and find BPA free plastic straws [somehow the thought of trying to keep a plastic straw clean didn't really work for me]. but stainless? these i like! the only bummer was that i couldn't find any locally to buy, so i gave in and purchased some from amazon .

and so goes my recent adventures in green shopping for the little. not as cool or green as re-making bibs into handy wipes, but it's what i got !

rechargeable batteries

having a baby monitor finally got me on the path to re-chargeable batteries. i KNOW. what took me so long? honestly it was the initial cost and then all the bad reviews of rechargeables that i read oh so long ago. but battery technology has changed by leaps and bounds - even in the last couple of years.

i broke down and bought an energizer recharger to charge batteries for the baby monitor. i was in line at walgreens - realized the three AAA's in it were about to die soon and i WAS NOT going to just buy more cheap batteries to keep throwing them away [ahem i mean recycle them. luckily where i live it's easy - you just put them in a plastic bag on top of your garbage can and the city recycles them. you can use this site to find a recycling spot for your batteries in the states].

i bought the sort of lame energizer re-charger that i spied amongst all the normal akaline batteries. i say sort of lame because it DOES work - i always have charged AAA batteries when i need them [1.5 weeks is about how long they last with how i use the monitor daily]. the lame part is that plugged in the charger has constant green lights. not green when they are finished charging, or green for a little bit, but green all the time. i leave the charger in the kitchen and since i need the batteries so often i have to admit i pretty much always leave it plugged in [because if i didn't i would forget to charge the batteries. i know this for a fact].

i tell myself that it is functioning as a night light - but i do feel guilty about the vampire drain and wish it shut off when the batteries were charged. but that's too complicated a task for my less than $10 charger. you get what you pay for... but i am happy that i have spared almost year and a half's worth of AAA batteries every 1.5 weeks. [that's 156 batteries if my math is right].



it's definitely time, though, to invest in a whole SET of batteries and a charger. the energizer will do AA's too, but i do have things around the house that need C's and sometimes even D's.... [flashlights, portable radio, the all important bubble making machine that my daughter loves]. i know that we'll probably have toys in our future that will need batteries too.

in my quest for better rechargeables i read this article . and am thus really contemplating the eneloop batteries pictured above. you can find a set of 8 AA's, 2 AAA's, 4 C's and 4 D's for under $40 with shipping. here's a list on amazon . that pays for itself after what only 8 packs of $5 batteries. not bad i think.

apparently this new generation of rechargeables holds their charge longer [even away from the charger] and the charger is smart and won't over charge the batteries. two problems i read over and over in complaints about older NiMH rechargeables. my only complaint is that there isn't a 9Volt option. we have a remote that uses a 9Volt and so i'll have to find an alternative for that.

if you want to read all about different kinds of batteries, how they work, and how long they last - i found this very technical [and yet readable] article.

anyone out there have any great rechargeable experience that they want to share??? i'm all ears. i think i'm going to make my final purchase decision by the end of the month. if anyone cares i'll try and post a post script to this post with my choice[s] and how i feel about them.

brown bagging / bento

one of the things i've been thinking about lately is how to pack food economically and safely and in a more environmentally friendly way. it's no secret that packing a lunch is a great way to make sure you know what you are eating and to save money. with my little girl it's also becoming increasingly important to have snacks available at all times ! [nothing like being able to pull out a healthy cracker when she signs eat in line at the drugstore].

i'm trying to avoid using plastic bags of any kind - even ones like evolve - ziplock's "environmentally friendly" bags. i do use recycled content kitchen trash bags - which i feel guilty enough about.

anyway - above is a wrap-n-mat which you can use to wrap a sandwich or snack.



granted, you could make one of these yourself [i was thinking maybe oilcloth would be a good thing to try it out of - double sided] - but i spied these in a store and couldn't resist the ease of purchasing them. i do like how they disclose that some of their product is made in china, and that they have versions that are made in the USA. they also use a plastic for the lining that is BPA, lead, and phthalate free. [more info here ]

they work really well - keep leaky peanut butter and jelly from getting on anything else and are easy to clean up. they also double as a place mat - which can come in handy. if i end up actually trying to make any i'll try and post a tutorial.



i also really like boon's snackballs. they are stylish, hold a lot for their size, and double as a distraction toy with the little if need be.

my husband and i are also just a little bit into japanese bento boxes. we've collected quite a few and my husband actually uses them quite often to take leftovers to work. i wonder if i'll be able to make great bentos for my daughter when she goes to school [i have a few years to practice]. if you just want to be inspired by bentos - try just bento . or if you want all the gear - lunch in a box has a great online store list .

anyone out there have any great brown bagging tips?? [minus the brown bag of course]

preserve

I have been on the hunt for items that have post-consumer recycled product in them. I started to think about how much time we spend recycling paper, glass, plastic, etc. in our homes, but where does it all go really? I mean we all feel better by doing it, but ultimately how are we really helping if we don't actually use our purchasing power to buy things that contain recycled material?

I try and try to buy garbage bags that are either bio-degradable or use post-consumer content. Same with toilet paper and paper towels [although we try to use mostly dish towels I do sometimes just want a paper towel -- and we do get to recycle them in our food bins where I live. More on this in another post]. Luckily Trader Joe's makes this quest a little easier. Their paper products contain post-consumer fiber.

I was reaching for their laundry detergent a few months ago when I spotted preserve's toothbrushes. Oh right. I need a toothbrush - so I picked one up. Nice colors, simple packaging. And then I read the box.

from their website:

Preserve makes everyday products that offer more. We believe performance and style are every bit as important as their impact on the earth. Our toothbrush, tableware and all other Preserve products feel good to use and perform as well as or even better than the old standbys.

We make our products from 100% recycled materials, which saves energy and natural resources. By manufacturing Preserve in the USA, we use less energy to get our products to your door. And all of our products are designed to stay out of landfills when you are finished with them.

Great in theory, right? You mail the toothbrush back to them when you are done and they re-use the plastic again.


So I went to their website and they make SO MUCH more than just toothbrushes.

The colanders [right] are some of my favorites. I also think that I will invest in a razor .

What impressed me the most, though, is that they recycle BRITA FILTERS . Brita Filters have always irked me. I want to use them to clean up my water, but they seem like such a waste of materials. Now I know I can drop them off at my local whole foods and that they will actually get re-used. You can read all about their partnership with stoney field farms yogurt too.

I know we are supposed to consume less -- but there are still times we need to consume. I feel like preserve offers an alternative and is trying to do the right thing.

** all images are from the preserve website.

seedling pots for an urban garden

we recently did some renovation in our backyard. we've always been weekend gardeners planting tomatoes and peppers and other veggies in planters every summer. this is the year, though, that my husband decided to get more serious about our gardening patch. he's now decided that he wants to try doing some farming all year round.

we definitely live in an urban environment - our neighborhood is mixed use with warehouses a stones throw away. we used to joke that hummingbirds and butterflies would make a pitstop in our yard flying from more vegetated areas.

[side note - is seems like we're not the only ones thinking urban gardening. i'm sure you already have heard - but check out the white house's new veggie patch.]

we try to have our backyard reflect our tastes and needs. so my husband built these fenced in vegetable areas. we have dogs and cats and so we wanted to be able to protect the plants from animal [and kid] invasions. he also set up a drip system that runs on a timer so that we can be as economical as possible with our water usage.




in the spirit of re-using we put our tomatoes and anaheim peppers in an old clawfoot tub that we rescued from a neighbor's remodel.

Newspaper pots
Originally uploaded by Clementine's Shoes

the other day i was looking at Clementine's shoes' blog and she had posted some newspaper origami pots she had made for seedlings.

Newspaper pots
Originally uploaded by Clementine's Shoes

what a great idea i thought. if we are going to try and have carrots and onions and broccoli and fava beans and lettuce going throughout the winter starting from seed we'll have to start plants continually. i was trying to think of an easy, eco-friendly way to do this lo and behold ! here it is. we get the Sunday Times - why not turn it into our start pots?? She links to it in her post, but here are the blow by blow directions . i have saved a bunch of the plastic started pots you get from garden stores, but those eventually fall apart - and i personally hate the "bio-degradeable" brown started pots you can get. they always seem to crack and break and never seem to fully degrade. newspaper is the ticket!

when i emailed Clementine's Shoes to ask her if i could re-post her pictures she mentioned that she also knew that people used toilet paper rolls as starter pots too.
indeed they do .

happy gardening. i can't wait to taste our beets!

cloth diapers

I had a baby in January. Before she arrived I had been thinking about what my choices were when it came to diapers. I couldn't help but think about how many diapers I'd be adding to a landfill [5-10 a day for 2-3 years?!?!]. I also really really dislike the smell of some diapers. They add this chemical fake baby powder smell that makes me cringe. If my nose can't stand it, how could I feel OK putting that up against a newborn's skin?? And don't get me started on the dumb cartoon characters. Why does everything have to be cross marketed that way?? I also I knew I'd be drop dead tired and most likely not up for any sort of complicated diapering plan. What could I do to do my part??

I researched g diapers ... but the thought of standing over a toilet with a wand in the middle of the night or saving those diapers until morning really didn't appeal to me.

Then I hit the gold mine in terms of cloth diaper info. I read ask moxie's cloth diaper posts part 1 and part 2 . OK - so the reality check is that even using cloth diapers isn't the best - but as much as I planned on being in tune with my baby, the elimination communication method probably wasn't going to work for me.

Realistically, I also knew there was no way I'd want to launder my own diapers. But there are some ways to make it easier than you'd think. check out soft cloth bunz or diaper pin for all the possibilities - and for articles and support on how to diaper at home. I wish I could be that hard core and good.

And then we got lucky. One of my friends gave us 3 months of a diaper service as a baby gift. ABC diapers is run out of Sacramento, CA and they serve the entire Bay Area. As Hayley mentioned in her last post - it's easy. You drop a bag of soiled diapers on your porch one night and the next day you get a whole bag of clean ones. [see the above blue bag] YES these services use water - and yes water is a scares and precious commodity in these parts - but I still feel better than if I used disposables. I don't have to contribute to what goes into manufacturing the diapers [if you want to know what goes into making a diaper - read here [eeewww] , shipping the diapers, disposing them. Although when my daughter goes to daycare I'll have to use disposables there - at least that will be only part time. YES ABC's delivery trucks use gasoline, but they are looking into bio diesel.... and at least we're talking delivery of a couple hundred miles instead of thousands of miles.

Sometimes I feel as though it's simply important to do what you can when you can. And trust that every little bit helps.

I do wish there was a good disposable that used recycled content. Seventh Generation eschews the chlorine - which is great - but still uses wood pulp [and doesn't list that it's post-consumer content]. There's also tushies diapers which like Seventh Generation are better for baby. But the magic better for the environment diaper that is convenient could be someone's million dollar money maker. [maybe anjolina jolie or some other celebrity environmentally conscious mom should champion this cause]

The cost of this diaper service is comparable to buying disposables. Maybe even cheaper. If you want to find a diaper service in your area try the national association of diaper services . If you are in So Cal... Hayley used this service.

Don't think it's tough to use cloth diapers out in the world. It's really not. Just keep a few extra in your bag... and be sure and keep some baggies [I like to use the bags that our Sunday paper comes in] to hold the dirty ones until you can get them home and into your pail. I ended up getting the vinyl sleeves to hold the diaper - so there is no pinning - just folding and velcro and snapping involved. Every couple of months I have to get the next size up sleeves. 3 has been a good number for me. 1 to wear 1 that's in some state of wash/dry and 1 as backup. What to do with these sleeves when you are done I still haven't figured out. I'd be happy to hand them down to someone - they are technically cleaned and washed [although no longer white and shiny] -- but I'm not sure I'll find a taker.

Plus having the diapers on hand is really a nice thing. They make great emergency breast pads/burp cloths, they clean windshields on cars like there's no tomorrow, they pick up cat puke incredibly well [and i didn't hear a peep of complaint from ABC about the mystery non baby mess], they are quick to catch the pee stream that always happens once you REMOVE the diaper [don't think this won't happen to you], and you can hand a clean one to the babe while you change them to keep them occupied [who knew a cloth diaper could be so fascinating?]



and the cat likes sleeping on them. How could I take away his favorite spot??

do it yourself oil changes

hi all... my dad wanted to post this article on green tips for changing your car's oil! [i know ideally we all wouldn't have cars, or cars that run on gasoline, but i think that part of what we can do as concerned folks is do the best we can with what we have and can afford]

it's from the union of concerned scientists - their website is actually a huge wealth of knowledge

here's the article on greener oil changes .

i'm actually due for one....

new architectural materials

an architect friend sent me this link to a lecture by Blaine Brownwell .

the lecture is really great - he talks about new materials for buildings [like windows that actually house solar panels with in them instead of having to place panels as an add on]. and then goes through a litany of recycled, re-purposed products [a cool lamp out of drinking straws]. it's really cool.

watch the video

Dwell - How Green are You contest

AIA & Dwell Magazine have a how green are you contest going. Entries are accepted through June 30th [so you have a few days!]. all you have to do:

1) Pull together up to 4 images of your green or sustainable project, please include photo credits if the shots are not taken by you.
2) Write a simple yet specific 250 word description of the project highlighting the most important aspects of the project. You may include material names, vendors, etc.

First place is $1000 and 2 runners up get $500. not a bad deal m'thinks.

click here to enter.....

poppy talk green market

buy local, buy handmade, re-use, re-cycle. sure we all want to do what we can. but what do you do when you just do really want to BUY something. you know - that consumerist itch we're all trying not to scratch?

well - at least this month you can put a little bit of money where your mouth is and support up and coming creative folks.

jan - the genius behind poppytalk has put together an eco themed market for us this month. up through april 11th.

shop with a little less guilt here

Cloth Pads + Goods 4 Girls

I got this email from Deanna and thought it might be of interest to our readers:

I don't want to take up much of your time, but I did want to tell you about a new project I just started, Goods 4 Girls. In short, it is an organization that collects donations of new, reusable menstrual pads (aka Mama pads) from women who either want to sew their own or want to buy pre-made ones. Goods 4 Girls is working with aid organizations in Uganda and Kenya to distribute the pads to girls in need.

There are currently Tampax and Always ads airing on television regarding Proctor and Gamble's donations of disposable pads to South African schoolgirls to help keep them in school. My concern when I first saw the ads was with the environmental impact of the disposable menstrual products. So, I posted on my blog about the alternative with reusable pads and the interest was great enough that I started up Goods 4 Girls and now have several aid organizations on board. To sum it all up, girls miss school when they have their periods because they don't have adequate supplies.

Currently, GladRags is offering a promotional Goods4Girls kit to be donated to Goods 4 Girls and other large pad manufacturers will be do so soon. The interest is very high with this project.


In the future, part of the program will involve assisting local African communities in teaching women and girls how to sew their own pads with materials donated and sent via Goods 4 Girls so they can be more self-sustainable.

You can find out more information about the project at the website . If you are interested in promoting the project on your blog, there are different buttons you can grab from the contact page

nikki posted awhile back on sew green about making her own cloth pads . the tutorial is on the right.

and if you are interested in purchasing some really cute and well made handmade pads you can visit amanda's shop modern acorn on etsy.

eco moms unite

my dad sent me a link to this New York Times article about moms getting together to talk about ways to go green at home....

i really enjoyed many of the points they bring up. even though i'm not a mom :)

read it here

[the image above has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that it feels weird to post without a picture and it feels like winter becoming spring where i live at the moment]

bleeding hearts benefit

hi sew greeners.

renee is hosting a sale on FRIDAY with the all of the proceeds going towards the Sierra Club . In her own words this is why:

I was reading about the impact oil drilling will have on Alaska, should the US pass legislation to begin leasing drilling rights in the Chuckchi Sea . Environmentalism is a cause I feel very strongly about, and couldn't sit back without doing something to help out. Especially with Valentine's Day coming up, I believe there is no better time to show the world a bit of positivity through loving actions.

She's collected a bunch of crafty goods and will sell them online starting Friday. If you'd like to support the cause there's more info and a preview here . the etsy shop [that will be filled] is here

a little hut - a large inspiration

patricia is an amazing graphic designer. she is also an outright outstanding maker and crafter of things - as her blog - a little hut will attest.

i wanted to point out two ways in which she shares her creative genius with us.
check out her tips on recycling materials, and all of her tutorials in general.

wow. perfect ideas for holiday recycling if you ask me!



you can support patricia by buying from her shop too.

wrap away

it seems like a lot of us like to re-use wrapping materials.

i keep ribbons, tissue paper, boxes, padded envelopes and re-use them when i can. obviously i am not alone - yay!

shelly in canada wrote in with this tip:

I keep a stash of Christmas fabrics with our decorations, mostly fat quarters but there are a few bigger pieces. Every year we wrap all of our family presents with the fabric and tie them up with ribbons or bits of scrap yarn. They look great under the tree and after Christmas everything gets packed up again to use next year.

here's shelly's stash waiting to be used and....


here's a sweet little package

leah from michigan [leah - you didn't give us a link to you] provides us with a link to a pdf which shows you how to wrap things the japanese way in fabric!



here's the link to the pdf {it's from the japanese ministry of the environment!!}

finally - gretchen sent links to posts she's written about recycling and wrapping.... one on general wrapping ideas and one on how she used ikea instructions as wrapping.

thanks you guys!
keep your ideas coming! and have a wonderful thanksgiving if you live in the united states!

we want to hear from you!

hello there sew green readers. sorry for our lack of posting of late. seems like all of us ladies have been swept up in flurries of activities.

but we have a request/hope.

the holidays are quickly descending upon us. i don't know about you, but i want to think small and local and a bit greener this year. many have already taken the buy handmade pledge - which is GREAT. but what else is there to do?

this is where you come in.

we'd love for you to send us your holiday ideas.

any tips, tricks, tutorials are wholeheartedly welcome. please send your posts with WEB SIZE [read 72 dpi and under 1000x1000 pixels] pictures to :: sewgreenblog AT gmail DOT com

we'll filter through them and post as many as we can.
please be sure to include any credits and links to your own blog or website or whatever. if you already posted something on your blog - we can cross post it!

we look forward to hearing from you!!

book for kids?

brought to you by Laurie David [a producer of an inconvenient truth ] and Cambria Gordon, this book might be what you use to talk to your children about global warming.

i haven't actually seen a copy, but i heard the two authors speak about it and how their children are reacting to climate change. they felt there was a void of information for children that was honest, and suggested ways to help.... and not too scary or frightening.

would love to know if anyone has seen/read the book with their kids and what they thought.

amazon link to book

amazing textiles

i somehow stumbled on the website for del cerro textiles . i really really love the orust collection. i think their philosophies about land and animals are also refreshing and heartwarming.

hope you enjoy looking at their stuff as much as i did.

green home projects

i'd like to welcome another guest poster to sew green!

kyra . she commented on a post a while back and we began chatting - once i found out what she did for a living i asked if she'd want to write a guest post for us. and lucky for us she said YES. she's also an amazing photographer - as her flickr stream will attest. with out further ado - here's kyra's post ::

With the long weekend coming up and summer swimming by ever so quickly, the time is ripe to tackle a few of those household projects. While you’re making plans, here are a few ways to ensure a healthy and conscious home.

o Visit an architectural salvage yard. Not only are you reducing demand on the myriad resources required for harvesting, manufacturing, packaging and transportation, these treasures are often a huge bargain and offer unique character to your space. *Don’t forget your tape measure and a thorough list of needs, or you will likely be so overwhelmed with the assortment of pretty elements that you will forget what you came for {like me}.

o Think local. For all the same reasons that you try to eat locally grown food, you should look for locally harvested and manufactured materials. Consider what types of resources have a local industry and make sure that your products actually come from there. Great candidates to look for include concrete, brick, stone, wood, tile, and even carpet if you’re in the Southeast United States. This does get tricky with a few materials known particularly for their sustainability, such as bamboo and cork. While bamboo has a great green reputation, remember that it is traveling a very long distance to arrive in the US.

o Ask yourself how long it will take for a product to regenerate. This is partially where the aforementioned bamboo and cork get their fine reputations. They can grow a new product in ten years or less. Other great examples are sisal, wool, cotton, and agriboards. Agriboard are composite wood-like products made form agricultural byproducts such as wheatboard, sunflower board, Dakota burl and Kirei {so lovely}! In addition to their rapid renewability, these each add a soft natural elegance to any atmosphere.

o Seek products containing recycled materials . Do you sort your recyclables at home? Take advantage of the next link in the chain! Decking, cotton and cellulose insulation, ‘pop-bottle’ carpet, and glass tile are common products, and don’t forget about structural steel, concrete, brick, roofing and even drywall that likely utilize post-consumer waste as well.

o Don’t forget to insulate. Among the many, many measures to take for conserving energy {see the tip of the iceberg below}, proper insulation is key. Any opportunity you get to stuff some extra buffer in any wall space, take it. Look for cracks around windows and doors and pay attention to drafts and seal them with caulking to reduce air leakage. Cotton and cellulose insulation are two great non-toxic, sustainable insulations that won’t leave you itchy, coughing, and are made of rapidly renewable and recycled materials. If you are adding new exterior walls, structurally insulated panels (SIPS) and insulated concrete forms (ICFs) offer a preferable alternative to wood studs and insulation. SIPS are a core of foam insulation sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board and ICFs are a combination of polystyrene foam and concrete. Both offer more uniform coverage and go up in a jiffy (pick your pro wisely).

o High Performance in a nutshell. Essentially this means utilizing efficiency to the max. It’s important to incorporate these concepts early in your design. If you truly are starting fresh from the ground, orient your home to take advantage of the sun’s energy (also known as passive solar). Use high performance windows, solar panels, energy efficient lighting (fixtures and bulbs), appliances, and choose low-flow faucets and toilets . Opt for light colors when replacing a roof, walkway, driveway, or other solid groundcover to lessen heat absorption.

o Clean air inside and out: did you know that despite strict air quality regulations for the outside atmosphere, there are none for interior air quality?! Adhesives, sealants, paints, plastics, and composite materials among others can off-gas at room temperature, releasing harmful toxins into the air. These off gases are commonly referred to as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Thanks to industry improvements, a plethora of alternatives exist which are considerably healthier. Some labels volunteer the VOC content of their products right on the packaging but many do not. For complete information, ask for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or research the product online. The lower the VOC content the better; solvent-free, water-based and formaldehyde free are good catch phrases indicating some reduction in chemical content (but always read the rest of the label!). If a manufacturer will not disclose the information, there is probably a reason. , Greenseal is a great website listing many products who have earned their approval for acceptable components. Watch closely for urea-formaldehyde in composite wood and other agriboard products. Phenol formaldehyde is less likely to off-gas at room temperature but if you can avoid it, do.

Overall, it’s about making decisions that work well with your project. Planning is essential, and it’s good to know that some products may not be readily available at your local hardware store and they may need to order it for you (and you should hound them until they do). Two favorite reference books of mine are Prescriptions for a Healthy House by Paula Baker Laporte , Erica Elliott, and John Banta and Green Remodeling by David Johnston and Kim Master. Now sit back and enjoy your new space with a smile!


-- Kyra is a sustainability consultant living and working in the beautiful Front Range of Colorado. When not assisting design teams with creating environmentally sound structures, she is either making things or playing outside.

thanks kyra!!

write your congress{wo}man

Hi everyone - this is actually a guest post from my DAD :). he's definitely one of the reasons why i was excited to join sew green. he has continually been interested in environmentalism. he also has roots in activism - and asked if he could write something for us. i was thrilled. thanks dad!

««««««««««««««««

I am sure that this is no surprise to the readers of this blog but recent reports have found that the estimates of changes due to global warming have been seriously understated. For example:

Science magazine reported in March that Antarctica and Greenland are both losing ice overall, about 125 billion metric tons a year between the two of them — and the amount has accelerated over the last decade. To put that in context, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (the most unstable part of the frosty cloak over the southernmost continent) and Greenland together hold enough ice to raise global sea levels by 40 feet or so, although they would take hundreds of years to melt. We hope.

In January, Science reported that actual rises in sea level in recent years followed the uppermost limit of the range predicted by computer models of climate change — meaning that past studies had understated the rise. As a result, the study found that the sea is likely to rise higher than most previous forecasts — to between 50 centimeters and 1.4 meters by the year 2100 (and then continuing from there).

Science Express , the online edition of Science, reported last month that the world’s several hundred thousand glaciers and small ice caps are thinning more quickly than people realized. “At the very least, our projections indicate that future sea-level rise maybe larger than anticipated,” the article declared.

This blog’s attempt at encouraging people to change their daily habits in various ways is an important way to try to help reduce global warming.

But so is writing one’s representatives in government. You can find these people in the United States at the following sites:
write your house representative
write your senator

{ed. note: if anyone knows of how to reach representatives in canada, the UK, austrailia, etc. leave links in the comments. also tell us if you've ever received a response or what your experience has been}

Feel free to copy and paste the three pieces of info noted above into a letter to your Representative and Senators.

While they may have done some work on improving fuel standards for vehicles, tell him/her that they need to do MUCH, MUCH more. Talk about the need to develop alternative fuels, to stop oil companies from ripping us off by not paying the royalties they owe the government, to do more about encouraging the development and the use of public transportation, to not support the development of nuclear energy because of the danger of the waste, etc.

Additionally, keep writing them. A letter once every few weeks asking them about what they are going to do about some environmentally related issue will make them notice that the voters want action. With the convenience of computers one can copy, cut and paste, and send pieces of newspaper or magazine articles with relative ease.

You’ll get a reply. Usually, it will be a canned response extolling what he/she has done about issue x, y, or z. Write him/her back thanking him/her for the reply and then asking him/her what he/she is going to do about issue a, b, or c that he/she did not address in the letter. Politely, but clearly, remind him/her that you expect him/her to keep working on these issues.

Is it worth a few minutes of your time occasionally? I think it is!