I did an appearance on London’s A Channel this morning to talk about toy shopping for the upcoming holiday season. After last year’s staggering 25 million toys recalled for various hazards — lead in the paint or vinyl, the “date-rape drug”, batteries that were small enough to cause choking — the U.S. Congress passed a law on July 30, 2008 that promised to clean up the toy aisles of America…and Canada since most companies sell toys on both sides of the border. The catch?? The law doesn’t go into effect until February 10, 2009, leaving a potentially dangerous window of opportunity for any unscrupulous toy companies to unload their toxic toys. My advice? Make sure you’re on top of recalls so that you don’t fall prey to any auction sites or “second-hand” sites passing off dangerous toys (visit Health Canada’s site at hc-sc.g.ca/cps-spc/advisories-avis/child-enfant/index_e.html or go to www.notinmycart.org). Look for toys that are simple: unpainted wooden blocks, LEGO (which has a long history of being safe), puzzles and so on. If you’re unsure about a toy’s safety, check it out with www.healthytoys.org. Just key in the brand name and get a report card. If the site doesn’t have one on the brand you’re curious about, let them know.
With due diligence on the part of all of us parents, we can ensure that our kids’ toys are not only fun, but safe.

Another great idea out of the San Francisco Bay area! This time a 27-year-old game developer decided to offer incentives to stores in his area to boost their eco-friendliness. He promised the stores a “mob” of consumers to support their business. In exchange, the store had to promise a percentage of the mob’s spending would be used to “green” the store’s lighting, power supply, etc. The experiment proved to be more successful than anyone anticipated and the Carrotmob promises to strike again. Just goes to show yet again, the power we consumers can wield. Our wallets are our weapons!
Find out more by visiting http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/carrotmob-44052208?src=nl&mag=tdg&list=dgr&kw=ist

Just what you asked for – the bottom line on which companies walk the green talk…and which ones aren’t worthy of your green (as in money). Climate Counts has just released its latest scorecard, a pocket-sized list that you can print off and tuck into your wallet. Then…when faced with a purchase (do I buy the Adidas or the Nikes? the Big Mac or the Whopper?_, pull out your cheat-sheet and breathe easy.
Answers?? To the first: Nikes…according to Climate Counts. To the second: neither…according to me.

http://www.climatecounts.org/scorecard_overview.php

The impetus behind my book, The Virtuous Consumer, was to learn how to avoid sweatshops and child labor. At that time — as a new mom — I was less aware of environmental issues, but well-versed in social justice concerns. I wanted to ensure that I was not clothing and equipping my kids on the backs of other moms, dads or children. The info was hard to find…and still is.
Fortunately, as the green movement continues to gain steam, there’s an increasing concensus that environmental issues ARE civil rights issues. That lack of concern about harming the planet goes hand in hand with a cavalier attitude about the people we with whom we share it.
Whether those people live next door or on the other side of the globe doesn’t matter. Their problems are our problems; their struggles mirror our own.
Which is why I still agonize over how to avoid sweatshops and child labor. It’s a grey area, for sure. The argument that putting a kid out of work doesn’t mean he’s going to show up tomorrow, face scrubbed and eager, ready for school. Rather, it frequently means less income for his family and a more dangerous, lower-paying job for him. But we have to press onward and hold firm to our principles. A child without an education is sentenced to a life of poverty and exploitation. We all have a right to live with dignity and purpose.
A recent article is eye-opening. To read it, click here:
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/83767/?page=entire

No less an authority than Faith Popcorn, the pop-culture seer, has pegged “underconsumption” as the next big thing. She notes a shift toward more budget-conscious, environmentally-sensitive spending and declares an end to “the era of conspicuous consumption.” She calls this new wave Karma Capitalism and suggests that consumers are becoming aware of the impact of their purchasing choices.
She sounds suspiciously like me…except for that cool new phrase, Karma Capitalism. Wish I’d thought of that one!

Thanks to everyone who attended my presentations at this past week-end’s Cottage Life Show, held in Toronto. It was a pleasure talking with others who have a vested interest in treading lightly in cottage country. I’d like to include some links here to info I presented:
Seafood Watch (Monterey Bay Aquarium): http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp
David Suzuki Foundation’s Seafood Watch card: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/files/Oceans/seafoodwatchcard.pdf
Finding a local farmer or Community-supported Agriculture: www.localharvest.org or www.farmersmarketsontario.ca

Hope that helps and thanks again!

I recently contributed to a book, The Green Parent, written by Jenn Savedge, a mom herself and someone who strives to make the notion of living lightly on the planet an easier one for parents – saddled as we are with pint-sized consumers!
Jenn’s book is published through Kedzie Press, which is progressively offering to plant a tree for every book sold. What’s more, the company is offering a discount until March 31, 2008 if you order off their site (www.kedziepress.com). The coupon code is TGP2008. So go ahead – buy a green book, printed on recycled paper and processed chlorine free, and get a tree planted on your behalf!

In a twist that seems sadly typical, a group in the U.S. has revealed that, while bottled water is losing fans in the western world, it’s gaining ground in many communities around the world where water quality is increasingly a concern. (Check it out at http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/01/14/climate-change-good-for-sales-of-bottled-water/)
Citi reports that bottled water companies might actually stand to gain business from global warming as higher temperatures negatively affect water quality (and availability) in many developing countries. So while we curb our consumption of water out of petroleum-based plastic bottles, others are forced to increase their reliance on them. Sigh…

Kermit was right. It’s NOT easy being green. I don’t mean the actual greening of my lifestyle. Frankly, it is easier to take canvas totes to the grocery store (which hold a lot more stuff and can be carried on my shoulder thereby preserving my weak fingers), more fun to bike than drive, and cheaper to simply say ‘no’ to unnecessary purchases. Nope, I’m referring to the knowledge that comes with awareness of the eco-tragedy unfolding around us.

And with that knowledge — for me — came an omigod-we’re-all-gonna-die pervasive anxiety that threatened any sense I had that life was good.
Life is good…for now, anyway. But noted environmental scientist and creator of the Gaia hypothesis (read more at www.ecolo.org/lovelock/what_is_Gaia.html) James Lovelock’s prediction that, thanks to climate change, millions of us will undoubtedly die but the species as a whole will not be wiped out certainly gives one pause for thought…and dread.

And the unrelenting news reports of the melting polar ice caps, the idiotic approval of more and more coal-fired power plants, the petty tit-for-tat of world leaders refusing to curb their own greenhouse gas emissions until China does (consider this: the U.S. and Canada account for roughly 20 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per person; China for less than 3 tons per person) does little to boost my confidence that the world is coming to its senses.

So it was heartening, indeed life-affirming to hear the words of one of my eco-heroes Paul Hawken, brilliant and measured as always, telling us that this is a wonderful time to be alive. In his words: “What a great time to be born! What a great time to be alive! Because this generation gets to essentially completely change this world.”

Hawken advises us to completely reimagine our way of life. We can celebrate diversity of all things, which means put away that toxic weed killer and savour the sunshiney yellow of a dandelion. Give your heart a boost (and waistline a trim) by hopping on a bike for any trip less than 10 kilometres. Refuse to buy fruit that is better-traveled than you are. The list of life-changing, world-changing actions is long. And our time here is short. Let’s make it count…for good.

In the meantime, I’ll assuage my eco-anxiety by tattooing Hawken’s words on my forehead. In green…of course.

With a moniker like The Virtuous Consumer, I feel the pressure. I go through my day convinced that lurking about are those who want to expose me as less-than-virtuous, as someone whose pleas for a better, kinder, healthier world could — indeed should — be ignored. After all, I imagine them snorting with indignation, I saw her idle her car in the driveway this morning.
I confess I’m NOT the Virtuous Consumer. I use Zip-loc bags (though I do use them over and over and over and….). I drive my kids to school when it’s too cold to bike (or I don’t want to wreck my hair by donning a bike helmet). I’ve even been spotted in the drive-thru at McDonald’s after promising my six-year-old son whatever meal he wanted in exchange for allowing yet another ultrasound on his private parts during our most recent health scare (unfounded, it thankfully turns out). I drink Diet Pepsi, for goodness’ sake. I’m hardly a paragon of virtue.
So I use the word “virtuous” with tongue planted firmly in cheek.