Going Green for You and Your Family
Raising awareness and making lifestyle changes are two ways to begin a greener tomorrow today. In The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green (2008, St. Martin’s Press, $16.95), author Terra Wellington demonstrates how saving the earth begins at home. The book gives handy green how-tos for inside and outside your home, including putting lids on pots on the stove to heat contents more quickly, and wrapping your hot-water heater in a blanket to save on water heating costs. Wellington touts buying organic, eating less meat and looking for the “leaping bunny” logo to indicate cruelty-free cosmetics as ways to eat, dress and spend green.
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Toxic chemical exposure is everywhere, so author Jennifer Taggart provides a guide to room-by-room reduction and elimination of these materials in Smart Mama’s Green Guide (2009, Center Street Publishers, $14.99). Chemicals such as trisclosan, lead and mercury are toxic to the brain and may cause cancer; however, these dangerous substances can be reduced and nullified through conscious efforts. Allowing water to run from the tap may be considered wasteful, but it takes 15 to 30 seconds to flush standing water from pipes, which can contain harmful lead levels. Capture the water and use it on plants. Additionally use cold, rather than hot, water for cooking, drinking and preparing baby formula because hot water dissolves metals faster, including lead. If you need hot water, heat it with the stove or the microwave. Visit www.thesmartmama.com for more ideas.
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Childcare expert Claire Gillman provides a plethora of child-conscious ideas for providing a healthy family environment in A Green Guide to Bringing up Your Baby (2009, CICO Books, $24.95). Included in this comprehensive book are topics ranging from natural clothing and therapies, healthy first foods and nursery ecology. For example, a soothing teething remedy is weak chamomile tea in a bottle or cup given throughout the day. In the chapter about Natural Learning, subjects such as homeschooling and playgroups are tackled, as well as parenting tips that include never punishing mistakes or being too busy to play with your children.
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Wearing Smaller Shoes: Living Light on the Big Blue Marble (2009, New Society Publishers, $16.95) gives practical meaning to reduce, recycle and reuse, and adds the word refuse to the trilogy. By just saying “no” to the plastic grocery store bags and using canvas recyclable/reusable bags, you can refuse something you don’t need to use. In your home, simply turning off lights and unplugging unused electronics are cost-saving, energy-friendly tips. Another practical idea, and one that works for me, is using a clothesline instead of a clothes dryer. Give that gas-guzzling beast in your garage a rest by investing in a bus pass, riding your bike or walking to your destination.
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Head to the park, the beach or the desert with 52 activities suggested in Let’s Go Outside (2009, Trumpeter Publishing, $14). Written to bring your preteen children closer to nature, this book brings back the basics of your childhood with games like Kick the Can, Frisbee and Capture the Flag. In the section called “Making the Ordinary Extraordinary,” author Jennifer Ward suggests immersing your child in the outdoors by allowing him “to learn about the mood of nature by sitting, listening, and experiencing the space in quiet thoughtfulness.” Afterward, encourage him to write a Haiku poem about it (first line with five syllables, second line with seven syllables and final line with five syllables). Education masked as an outdoor activity is a combination any parent should welcome.
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Finally, a three-CD set designed for children ages 3 to 8 combines all aspects of health—physical, mental and social well being. Best of Broadway and Beyond: Health Series ($94.95 for the 140-minute, 31-track set) is geared toward classroom instruction and comes with a detailed 60-plus page standards-based teacher’s guide covering 23 activities. In the first music CD, “Fun Time Relax Time: Focus on Health,” children learn that being healthy is more than not being sick, and learn how to deal with emotions like anger and happiness. Subsequent CDs focus on happiness and relationships. Visit www.healthierhappierlife.com to order.
Freelance writer Eileen Cornish lives in Santee with her husband Steve and her three sons: Ben, 16; Brad, 15; and Andy, 10.
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