As someone who has devoted much of the past half-decade delivering my message of green living (it’s fun! it’s easy! it’s cheap!), I frequently get resistence in various versions of “I don’t have time” or “I like my conveniences.” Which makes me wonder at what point living lighter on the earth became inconvenient. You wanna talk inconvenience, let’s talk about a lack of fresh water… However, I digress.
There is a price we pay for “convenience” and it doesn’t always show up at the cash register.
Consider the disposable dusting cloths and Swiffer-esque cleaning products that conveniently clean our homes…more than 83,000 of them annually, enough to fill 9,000 18-wheelers, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.

Consider the additional greenhouse gas emissions from using a gas-powered leaf blower rather than an old-fashioned rake. One hour’s of use produces as much emissions as a car travelling close to 150 – 500 km (depending on who you ask. Either way, they’re worse than driving a car…). You get the idea, I’m sure.

I’m not pushing for a return to the days of washboards and churning our own butter. What I am encouraging is an understanding of exactly what convenience costs. If we add it up, we just might find that inconveniencing ourselves in the short run will pay off for future generations.

It’s Thursday morning – “yard” day around my neighborhood. The day when trucks arrive, pulling trailers loaded up with lawn mowers, leaf blowers and weed wackers. For most of the day, there’s a constant buzz of machines as the workers busily tidy
my neighbors’ lawns.
We, too, have a lawn mower that gets pulled out when the grass is high enough that our pet rabbit gets lost in it. We, too, have a leaf blower that languishes in our shed. My husband knows he uses it under threat of divorce or dismemberment, depending on my mood. We have no weed wacker, except for me.
The message seems to be MIA. Ya know, the one about how the planet is heating up, rendering polar bears homeless, islanders looking for scuba equipment and the rest of us shooing away malaria-carrying mosquitoes. While we’re all gripped by flu fears, economic woes and So You Think You Can Dance, environmentalists (by which I mean those determined to save us from ourselves) carry on their thankless work of convincing us – and those we’ve voted for – that we really do need to do something. Like now. And it’s not as hard as we might think.

Like, for example, give up the gas-powered lawn mowers. Put aside the leaf blowers. Let the grass grow a little longer. Mulch the leaves and let them nourish your lawn.

While you’re at it: hang-dry your clothes. Cold-wash your clothes. Air dry your dishes. Walk. For more simple ideas, click here.

And let me know what else we can do…

I’ve watched incredulously as the world prepares for a swine flu “pandemic”. The press, the debate, the money – all to fight a vague threat.
Yet, as we count down the days to Copenhagen and the Climate Conference that might well determine this planet’s – and our children’s future – I’m met with a deafening silence.
Thanks to the best science available and a now global acknowledgement by leaders that the data is valid, we know that climate change will alter the geographical landscape, rendering some places uninhabitable. We are aware that thousands if not millions will be displaced, environmental refugees in numbers we’ve never seen.
We have been warned of the increase in disease.
We understand the impact – thank-you Nicholas Stern – climate change will have on economies worldwide.
Sure climate deniers still exist. But, as evidence of human-caused global warming piles up and even the naysayers are being forced to admit that global cooling theories are not backed by science, what – exactly – are we waiting for?

We know that our planet’s atmosphere must stay below 350 ppm greenhouse gases if we wish to avert catastrophic climate change. Yet instead we’re lining up to be vaccinated for H1N1, which, incidentally, I had last week. Yes, I felt lousy. No, it wasn’t as bad as watching glaciers melt and hurricanes wreak havoc.

I’m left with this one thought: If only climate change could be pinned on a pig. Then maybe the world would rally its forces to keep it at bay.

(This is my September 2009 Virtuous Consumer column, which runs in a number of regional parenting publications in the U.S. and Canada, including About Families, Charlotte Parent and Carolina Parent)

Kids’ rooms are often their sanctuary – to escape a tough day at preschool, retreat from an annoying sibling or retire after a tiring day of learning to use their words instead of their fists.
It’s up to us to make that place as safe and healthy as possible…

1. No vinyl, and that’s final
Many blinds are made of PVC, polyvinyl chloride, which frequently contains lead and hormone-disrupting phthalates. Instead, opt for window coverings made of natural materials – wood, cotton, linen…

2. Remove old carpet
Sure, carpeting is warm and cozy, but carpet fibers harbor dust mites, pesticides, animal dander, bacteria, lead dust, and cleaning product chemicals, all of which children disturb, churn, and inhale as they crawl and play. Synthetic carpeting is the worst offender, adding adhesives, glues, and stain-proofing chemical vapors into the air. If finances allow, remove carpeting and stick with bare floors — add an area rug made of wool, sisal or other natural fibers, if desired. If that’s not feasible, clean the existing carpet with eco-friendly cleaners and vacuum often.

3. Paint it healthy
Finding zero-VOC paints is easier than ever. If you’re still not convinced they’re worth the extra cost, consider this: volatile organic compounds in paints include benzene, formaldehyde, kerosene, ammonia, toluene, and xylene, all known carcinogens and neurotoxins. Exposure can worsen asthma symptoms and cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and in some cases liver and kidney disease.

4. Non-toxic furnishings
Sure they’re cheap, but pressboard laminated wood and particle wood generally contain formaldehyde. Seek out unfinished solid hardwood painted with zero-VOC paints or finishes. Mennonite or Amish furniture makers often create eco-friendly baby and kids’ furniture, including cribs, high chairs, and playpens. If you must choose particleboard or pressboard (or if it’s a hand-me-down), the Children’s Health and Environmental Coalition recommends that you seal it with a water-based sealant to prevent off-gassing.

5. Add a plant
A two-year NASA study in the late 80s revealed that common houseplants can significantly reduce indoor pollutants, such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. Consider Gerbera daisies, peace lily, bamboo palm and spider plant.

Leslie Garrett is author of The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World (and one our kids will thank us for!). Visit her at www.virtuousconsumer.com

My kitchen has been besieged by fruit flies. I’ve never experienced such a fruit-fly invasion. Loathe to implement any toxic remedies, I’ve been seeking out a cheap, green method of evicting/murdering them. Turns out it’s as simple as pouring them a glass of wine (they seem partial to white zinfandel…which makes them, perhaps, not the most sophisticated of bugs). Put the wine in a glass, along with a few drops of your favorite eco-friendly dish detergent. Within minutes, they’ll abandon swarming for swimming – in alcohol. Simple, effective…and, what the heck, pour yourself a glass while you’re at it! (A glass before dinner might soften the whine of out-of-school children. Or at least make you less likely to care…)

More than six years ago, we moved into our current home. And for almost the entire time, we’ve talked of removing the 40-year-old broadloom and replacing it with wood floors. What’s taking us so long? Trying to find a flooring option that satisfies our sustainability requirements, our bank account, our lifestyle requirements (large dogs with large claws) and our taste.
What’s currently under consideration is:
Strand-woven bamboo: Looks good (though I don’t love it!), durable. On the downside, it’s generally from China (hardly local) and reputedly uses formaldehyde-based adhesives.
Forest Stewardship Council certified hardwoods: Specifically, we’re looking at tigerwood or hickory. Again, many of the hardwoods come from far-flung locales, though the FSC certification assures us the wood is from sustainably managed forests. It’s gorgeous. And not cheap.
Reclaimed flooring: I love the look, husband doesn’t. Also the wood is generally softer (pine, for the most part) so our dogs could do some serious damage.
Sigh… Like many “green” choices, there’s isn’t always a clear winner. It tends to be a lot of “one the one hand…but on the other…”
In the meantime, we’ll continue to research, discuss and, hopefully, install. At least before the carpet is completely condemned.

I love the Organic Consumers Association. Not only is founder Ronnie Cummins is funny and charming and smart, but he and his staff routinely serve up info that even many of the eco sites are too PC to publish. Consider this little nugget: 1,4-dioxane, which appears in not only conventional personal care and cleaning products but in plenty of “green” brands, too, is even more toxic than originally thought. Seventeen times more, in fact. Thankfully, the OCA has published a handy little shopping guide so you can get get your dishes/scalp/etc. clean, you can do it without boosting your likelihood of getting cancer.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/ShoppersSafetyGuide.pdf

I was aghast to hear – this morning on Earth Day 2009 – a lively “debate” about my city’s ban on chemical lawn treatments. Like many progressive cities, my own resolved to declare a by-law to ensure that homeowners stopped using pesticides and fertilizers that were dangerous for the health of themselves, their neighbors, our watershed, our soil, our air, the animals and bugs that make their homes near us and so on down the line.
Makes sense, right? The average suburban home uses six times the hazardous chemicals per acre as conventional farming. Pesticides have been implicated in cancers, lowered fertility, and other reproductive issues in people and wildlife.
That should be the end of the debate, no? You would assume that most homeowners would be delighted to be informed of the dangers of these chemical pesticides and waste no time in detoxing their lawns and gardens.
But that would be too…optimistic. Too…common sensical. And, far too often in the name of civil liberties, we want the freedom to continue to poison ourselves and those around us.
It’s insane. Just how important is it to have a dandelion-free lawn? How crucial to have a yard that allows for nothing out of place? It’s akin to our worship of youth and sculpted faces and bodies. Frankly, I lean toward unkempt and healthy, myself.
So…a local gardening store owner – Springbank Garden Centre, to be exact – called in to the radio show to incite listeners to “cheat”. He thinks it unreasonable to expect homeowners to stop using these pesticides when golf courses and farms are entitled under the bylaw to continue their use.
Huh?? Sure it’s nuts that golf courses and farms are given the green light on something that is recognized as unhealthy for people and our planet. But does that make it any less critical that homeowners do their part? It’s like refusing to quit smoking because other people continue to puff with inpunity.
It’s such a ludicrous argument that I’m rendered incredulous. This same guy recommended homeowners go over the border to Port Huron to continue to purchase these chemicals.
I can only hope that other listeners were as indignant as I. And that they’ll make the smart, healthy choice – if they haven’t already.