The baby and I were at Babies R’ Us at the Irvine Marketplace the other day and I noticed they’ve dedicated a small product stand for “green” products near the checkout registers. Like a mosquito to a flame, I automatically walked over to ooh and aah at the stuff. Most of the stuff was organic cotton things, with mottos like “Green is the new black” and “It’s easy being green” (with Kermit the Frog’s mug) were emblazoned on the front of bibs and onesies. Cute, I thought, and took one of the Kermit bibs for Ethan.

I took a couple of steps away and realized something … while he goes through them like there’s no tomorrow, my son already has a ton of bibs which have been graciously donated by his cousin in New York. The bib ended back up on the stand because after the hype, I remembered something important: the rules of living green is REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE.

REDUCE:
As consumers, we are SO trained to buy what we want, not what we need. Again, while it wouldn’t hurt to have more bibs, Ethan certainly did not need any more.

REUSE:
Nearly ALL of Ethan’s bibs (as well as most of his clothes) are hand-me-downs. OK, so my son doesn’t have the latest and greatest, but for goodness’ sake, all he does is barf on them anyway. He’s a baby, not a fashion model. Besides, he has some spiffy outfits — just because they’re used doesn’t mean they’re ugly.

RECYCLE:
Well, this doesn’t really apply now, but it’s a safe bet that if we have any other kids, Ethan’s things will be handed down to him. If we have a girl, a lot of things are gender-neutral so they can still be handed-down, but if we can’t use them again, there are still plenty of options to prevent old baby clothes from ending up in landfill. Donating to other parents who need them, Goodwill, or the Salvation Army are just a few. Things that are too worn-out to resell can be made into rags or shredded into fibers to make new products.

So while it’s nice to see more organic products being sold in big chains such as BRU, it’s a shame that they’re not also promoting the three rules of green living. Buying new things just because they’re organic or even recycled doesn’t necessarily mean you’re making the greenest choice. Yes, organic material — especially those that have been fairly produced — is better than non-organic, but the first question should always be: is this really needed?

Categories: ideas, baby, shopping, environment
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Have you seen those commercials from Dixie and Bounty lately? The ones that seem to tell you that you’re a “better” mom by using their disposable products? I was reading through this thread on DiaperSwappers and I’m glad I’m not the only one pissed off at the angle these companies are using.
Dixie says you’re a better mom for using paper plates because you’ll have more time for your kids. So on top of all the “mom guilt” we already have, now we’re supposed to add things like doing dishes to the pile? Give me a break! If you want guilt, instead of feeling guilty for using those 10 minutes to do dishes, let’s try feeling guilty about leaving MORE GARBAGE for the planet in which our kids will grow up.

Then there’s Bounty. I keep seeing the same commercial about how a mom lets her child eat messy spaghetti and use the big kid cup, and lets her husband do the dishes. Are they telling me that by using paper towels, I’m a more carefree mom because kids with food on their faces won’t bother me? Are they REALLY trying to tell me that if I used a cloth towel instead, that I’m more uptight?? And at the end they claim that the paper towel is now “softer” and “more like cloth.” Um, hello? Then why don’t you just USE CLOTH?!

I’ve worked in marketing for years and I generally love the topic. I love looking at reasons why ads may have been done the way they were. I’m just so disappointed that in this day and age, with environmentalism becoming more and more mainstream, that there is still such a big push for the disposable lifestyle.

Categories: rants, environment
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I just read an article on LATimes.com that just chafed my hide. I believe that everyone has a right to their opinion, even if I think they’re total crackpots (”opinions are like assholes…”). However, I fail to see the point or benefit of demonizing environmental activism.

In September 2007, Scholastic will release The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon. The book pages will be printed on paper that contains 100% post-consumer water fiber as well as use soy inks. Scholastic’s press release describes the book as:

Written for ages 8 and up, is the comprehensive resource young readers can look to for understanding why global warming happens and how we can work together to stop it. Irreverent and entertaining, and packed with essential facts and suggestions on how to effect change, Down-to-Earth offers a message of hope.

Then on the other side of the spectrum, there’s World Ahead Publishing, publishers of titles such as Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About the New Democratic Majority and Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!. Like Scholastic, they also plan to publish their own environment-themed book. Except instead of encouraging responsibility for our own impact on the Earth, World Ahead’s book will be “intended to debunk global warming and discourage environmental activism.”

They’ve got cojones, I’ll give them that, but it almost seems as if World Ahead delights in publishing their books for the sole purpose of sticking their tongues out at liberals. Can we grow up here? Being aware and taking care of where we live has nothing to do with the left or right, it’s simply about being responsible for our actions. It’s one thing if you don’t believe that global warming is taking place, or that humans are the main perpetrators. It’s another to paint “environmental activism” as a bad thing and to discourage it, putting faith, instead, in the doctrine that IF global warming becomes an issue, capitalism will be the answer.

I’m curious to see just exactly how they will go about telling kids that “it’s OK to chill about global warming” (which is actually part of the book’s title). I’m picturing a scene where a father and son are having a heart-to-heart conversation about how it’s OK for mom and dad to drive Hummers, because despite what those kooky environmentalists might say, ginormous vehicles have no negative impact on the environment. But even if they did (which is doubtful, of course), then it’s still no cause for worry because MegaCorp, Inc. will come up with something snazzy to fix everything!

Categories: books, environment
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I don’t travel a whole lot. Normally, “travel” to me means a 3,000 mile trip to see my family in New York for a few days once or twice a year. The last time I did this was in November 2006 for my nephew’s first birthday. (D and I didn’t even go to either of our families back east for Thanksgiving or Christmas last year.) We also normally take one to three road trips a year, usually to Vegas.

But now … well, I’m in dire need of a vacation. As I left the office yesterday, even our HR guy mentioned that I needed to take a vacation. (Apparently, I have more vacation days than I realized, which really shouldn’t be surprising since my last official day off was taken on said trip to New York last November.) So my vacation plan currently consists of a trip to Dublin and London in August. I’ve just booked the hotels, and I’ve got the flights saved in my itinerary. And yes, I’m feeling the guilt for all those miles I’ll be flying. That’s approximately 14,652 miles of air travel (or somewhere around 5,882 lbs of CO2 according to TerraPass’ calculators). I’ll most likely purchase a TerraPass for this trip to help ease the guilt, but beyond that, I think I just need to be more diligent about my carbon footprint, and reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as I can starting … uh, today.

Categories: travel, environment
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Well, not quite yet. Though talks about banning the use of Styrofoam in the city’s restaurants will begin next month (via the OC Register).

Laguna Beach is poised to become the first county city to extend such a ban to the private sector. Under a plan to be discussed next month, city restaurants would have to ditch takeout cups and containers made of Styrofoam. While cheap and effective, the plastic can take decades to biodegrade and can harm wildlife that mistake its crumbled pieces for food.

I say GOOD FOR THEM and I hope the plan to ban is successful. Then I hope all other OC cities follow suit.

The article mentions how “restaurant industry officials” aren’t so hot about the idea, namely because alternatives can cost three times as much as Styrofoam, and that the ban won’t solve the “true issue” of littering.

I know littering is a problem. Trust me, I’m very aware of it. I try not to snarl when I’m out and I see little rugrats mindlessly dropping crap on the ground while their parents do absolutely nothing about it. (What happened to the days of old, when parents would teach their kids about manners??) Anywhoo, I quite agree that even if you take away Styrofoam, people would still continue to litter, and in the long run, there’s got to be something done to (re)educate the masses. In the meantime, just because people will continue to litter doesn’t make it OK to keep using something that takes forever to biodegrade, harms wildlife, and is quite possibly very, very nasty for humans. Just this week I witnessed a kid at work throwing food in a Styrofoam container in the microwave. When another employee mentioned “you know that’s toxic,” the kid simply shrugged it off and replied, “it’s OK, my stomach’s made of steel.” (I’d like to know how much of our tax money ends up in health care to take care of people who make moronic decisions such as these.)

Categories: news, environment
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LifeHacker posted about two new online tools that are designed to help the population become more aware of their environmental footprint and ways in which to reduce it.

One is Zerofootprint, which I think is another carbon offset company, but I haven’t checked them out yet. The other is Yahoo! Green, which I did get a chance to play around in this morning. So far I’ve twiddled around My Green Plan, which lets you make pledges on ways to reduce your CO2. While I can’t quite pledge to buy a hybrid car this year (though one out of two cars in our household is already a hybrid), there’s other things I haven’t tried and am most certainly willing to, like drying my clothes outside in the summer months. (Note to self: ask the spouse on how to put up non-intrusive and non-fugly clothes lines in the back yard.)

Categories: internet, environment
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