Celebrate National Trails Day

Next Saturday, June 6th is National Trails Day, an event sponsored by the American Hiking Society. A portion of this event is focused on trail restoration, but it's primarily just a chance to celebrate the 200,000 miles of trails that cover our country. From a family perspective, I think trails are great - they make hiking accessible, no matter what your age. Writing this made me nostalgic so I dug up some of our own family's pics from way back when we had a backpack for our littlest one!

While June 6th is the official day and there will over 1000 events to celebrate it, there's nothing magical about that date. Good weather is always a great excuse to find something new to explore! This got me thinking about past hiking efforts of our family. Sometimes things work out well, sometimes not so well...

Life is good in the backpack!

Sometimes, the paved family-friendly trail doesn't make everyone in a friendly move. I believe this was accompanied by an "I will not walk another step" comment.

I like this picture because it highlights how many cool things you can discover along the way. This tree looked like it had fallen across the trail and then was cut up - great for counting rings!

This last picture was taken in Arizona last December - sometimes you encounter the unexpected - like snow-capped cactus!

The Mystery of Blog Comments

As promised, here is my quick primer on how to comment on my blog. I use Google's Blogger so I'll tailor my comments to that service. There are others out there, but they are all quite simple once you get the hang of it.

Step One - Find a post that makes you want to comment! You don't have to comment on things you aren't interested in, but if reading a post makes you think either a)that is complete nonsense - I totally disagree or b)I have an even better idea, then please join the discussion. This forum is all about sharing ideas!

Step Two - Look for and click on the word "comment" at the bottom of the post. It will likely say "0 Comments" - or more if this primer actually does its job. If you subscribe in email, you'll need to first click on the title of the post in the body of the email to get to the blog.

Step Three - Write your comment in the popup box.

Step Four - Fill out the "Comment as" box. I think the easiest way is to get a Google account and then use that to comment. It's quick, free, and easy. When you are on the blog, you will see a "Sign In" button in the upper right if you aren't already signed in. You can also post as Anonymous (feel free to put your name in the comment box mentioned above if you don't want to be anonymous) or as Name/URL (you can leave the URL box blank if you don't have a website). There are other choices too, but if you understand all those, you don't need this primer!

Alternatives to Juice Pouches?

My last blog post seems to have generated a lot of interest so I'm doing a second on the same topic. Of course, most of my blog readers are still emailing and calling me with their comments so you can't see them here. I would love for you to comment on the blog so others can see your thoughts so my next blog will be a quick primer on how to post.

In the last two days, I've heard from parents, teachers, and doctors about the juice pouch controversy. It seems to be one of those topics that you can't stop thinking about once you realize the magnitude of the problem. According to Terracycle, who is working with the manufacturers, over a BILLION juice pouches are used every year! No matter how many purses and pencil cases come out of that through upcycling, that is still a ton of waste. So, what are the alternatives? I'll give you my thoughts, but would love to hear yours...

Green - First of all, when you're home, why use the single-use containers at all? Kids are fine drinking out of cups, right? When you're away from home, use drinks that come in recyclable containers. Treetop apple juice cans are one low-cost alternative. Crayons is a new entry in the kids' beverage market with all-natural drinks in easy-to-recycle cans. They are still a bit on the pricey side, but I have heard the company is working to find a more affordable price point. You can find them in the natural foods aisle of your grocery store.

Greener - Eliminate single-use containers altogether. Use those aluminum water bottles and fill from bigger containers stored in the fridge. Of course, many of those containers are also plastic so make sure you recycle those.

Greenest - Juice machine, anyone? I'm not claiming to be this good, but maybe some of you are. Or, what about the simplest and cheapest option - TAP WATER! Each of my boys has a SIGG water bottle which I would normally show here, but the water bottles are at school right now so I can't snap a quick pic!

How do you eliminate the waste from kids' beverages?

Upcycling Juice Pouches

Normally, I am not a big consumer of juice pouches. They come in small containers that can't be recycled so I try to avoid them altogether. My kids, on the other hand, love them like all kids and can't resist whenever they are around.

We spent this weekend at our church's family camp on Whidbey Island (great weather, great fellowship, and great fun for all!) Juice pouches were readily available to keep the children hydrated while they gallavanted from the lake to the pickleball court to the BMX track to the archery course. I was happy to hear that some of the church members would be carting back all of the recyclables since Whidbey Island doesn't seem to have recycling pick-up (although I did see a number of drop-off stations on the island). I have never recycled juice pouches, but offered to bring those back since a parent from my sons' school had recently let me know that she is "upcycling" them through Terracycle. This company turns the pouches (and lots of other products) into backpacks, pencil bags, lunchboxes, etc.

Terracyle is an interesting company - they started as a couple of college kids who entered an entrepreneur contest and ended up with a business that used worms to recycle college dorm food waste into plant food. Without enough money for packaging they decided to reuse soda bottles. Today, the company is trying to drive what they call an eco-capitalism revolution. What if companies could make money while be socially and environmentally responsible?

What do you think? Is this a good way to get companies on the eco bandwagon - or are we just bowing to the companies and helping them advertise their not-so-eco-friendly products on our kids' backs? I don't think I'll be buying a Capri Sun backpack anytime soon, but I do like the idea of getting another use out of the materials.

Gardening, Wine & Chocolate

Image by beatbull via Flickr

What do gardening, wine, and chocolate have in common? Apparently, they are all recession-proof products. According to a study by Envirosell, the economic downturn has us turning inwards towards our families and homes. Perhaps that's why condoms are on the list of recession-proof products as well... cheap entertainment without the expensive consequences?!? Hmmm... on to the other items on the list...

Home vegetable gardens are supposed to go up more than 40% this year according to the National Gardening Association. That makes sense since it's a great way to get organic vegetables for very little money. The added benefit is there is no fossil fuel expenditure for transportation either.

Everyone knows chocolate can make you happy. Want some really good fair-trade organic chocolate? Check out Theo Chocolate for a list of stores that carry it across the country. I'm hoping my boys and I can go for a tour this summer since they are located in Seattle.

The wine seems to go right along with the chocolate. I can envision it now - sipping my glass of wine and nibbling on chocolate while admiring my garden. Lucky for me, Washington state has some great options for local wine. I haven't tried any organic wines, but maybe I'll check one out this summer and report back.

Spam was on the list too, but I think I'll stick with the wine, chocolate, and gardening!

Is the SUV Dead?

It's official - all cars sold in America will have to meet a new emissions standard by 2016 that is

Image via Wikipedia

30% higher than it is today. That is a huge jump - particularly given that car companies have been saying for years that it was impossible. It's amazing what a few billion dollars in bailout money can do to change your mind!

Thirty percent less emissions is a great thing (equivalent to taking 177 million cars off the road), but what will the change actually look like? Well, for starters, the average MPG for an auto fleet will need to be 35.5. That leads to a lot of questions...

Will cars cost more? Yes - about $1300

Will gas cost less? No one can predict that, but we'll definitely be buying less of it which should offset the higher price of cars over time.

Now, for the big question... What will the soccer moms (and dads) of the world do without their minivans and SUVs? I'm sensitive to this question because I drive a 4WD 8-seater Honda Pilot. I consider it on the smaller side, but maybe that's just because I'm comparing it to the Suburban or the Escalade. In truth, the mileage is pretty horrible - I think 15 in the city and 20 on the freeway.

Image via Wikipedia

Are we all going to be driving Minis by 2016? I love the car - and have a friend in San Francisco that drives one with 3 kids so I know it can be done - but I'm wondering about the other options...

Electric? Hybrid? Something brand new that we've never heard of yet? I'm open-minded and committed to doing my part to reduce my own car's emissions when it comes time to replace my car. I do remember thinking 15/20 MPG was actually pretty good back when I bought it in 2004.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for a good family car available today that already meets the higher emissions standards.

The Big Read: Bluefields Basic School | ONE

The Big Read: Bluefields Basic School ONE

One Big Earth

Today's topic, the right for all children to receive a basic education, deviates a bit from our previous discussions, but as a parent, I feel the responsibility to also look beyond my own family to the children of the world. It's a big planet, but we all share it and our actions absolutely affect one another - whether that be pollution or the fight against global poverty.

I recently entered The Big Read writing contest, sponsored by the ONE campaign, for an essay on this topic to be included in a book which will be delivered to President Obama. I didn't win the contest, but my essay, Bluefields Basic School, is currently being featured on their blog.

It shared the story of a visit with my then five-year-old son to a basic school in Jamaica. Read more to learn about our experiences and his perspective on them now. From that link, you can also add your signature for The Big Read book which will be delivered to President Obama on June 16th.

Backyard Discoveries

Spring is a great time for kids to explore outdoors. The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, the insects are crawling, the seeds are sprouting - so much for a child to discover.

Last evening, my children were outside watering the newly planted vegetable garden (yeah! MY seeds are sprouting!) and discovered all kinds of things along the way. A bumblebee with a damaged wing, a roly-poly exoskeleton and a robin's egg were the special finds that made it back into the house. I even made my own discoveries... Last night, I learned that a roly-poly is not an insect (I now know that its 14 legs means it doesn't qualify for insect status - it is an arthropod). This morning, I learned that the injured/dead bumblebee was still injured, but apparently not dead! He went to school anyway to join a bunch of eager 1st graders just completing their insect segment in science. Hopefully, he's still in his container!

What special wonders do you have in your backyard? My advice to kids for finding cool stuff - don't forget to crane your neck up high and crouch down low to find all the creatures living in your backyard.

Biking with the Brakes On...

OK, we made it through the Bike-To-School Day adventure - despite the fact that I rode uphill with 40-pound Stephen (see below) on the back trailer with my front brake dragging on the wheel. Thankfully, Ryan was happy on his own as long as I had his backpack (which felt like it was full of rocks - note to self: clean backpack before next ride).

As soon as I hopped on the bike, I remembered that my brakes got out of alignment on my last bike ride and are desperately need of someone with more bike maintenance knowledge than me.

Ah well... the helmets were on, the kids were excited so off we went. Along the way, my friend Angela called to say she was walking to work (yeah!) and I met a nice woman who works for the Parks Department who said she had wanted to ride in today, but realized she needed a new helmet and tires.

So here's my advice - go get those bikes tuned up before summer! Either find a local shop or a class where you can learn how to do the basic stuff yourself. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, one to check out would be REI's free Bike Maintenance 101.

From the picture, you would think Stephen must have done all the pedaling, but that's not what it felt like to my legs! Anyone else out there want to share a Bike-to-Work or Bike-to-School Day story??

Friday is Bike to Work/School Day

Tomorrow is National Bike to Work Day and my family is going to participate in our own way - Bike to the Bus Stop Day! My children attend a school that is 10 miles away - which is a bit far for training wheels - but we can still contribute by biking the mile to the bus stop and leaving the car in the garage.

After much encouragement from the parents, our school decided to run a small bus to our neighborhood this year to take the 10 kids, rather than having all of us driving. We tried carpooling last year, but I thought I might lose my mind after driving six boys to and from school so the bus is a welcome change!

Most mornings, getting out the house by 7:30 to bike/walk to the bus stop is a bit more than we can manage. I've found sleepy legs don't move very fast, but we're planning in advance and I'll get them out of bed early if I need to tomorrow.

What about you? Can you bike (or walk) to work and/or school tomorrow? How about more often now that the weather is getting nice? OK, I live in Seattle and it isn't nice yet, but I'm trying to remain hopeful. I'm committed to walking and biking more, but would really like some sunshine to go with it!

Even if you don't participate, remember to keep an eye out for those extra cyclists on the road.

Seven Words Kids Should Know

Image by Adventures in Librarianship via Flickr

The Oxford Junior Dictionary raised some eyebrows recently when they swapped some words in the new edition of the dictionary - chatroom, voicemail, and blog were added to the dictionary. Of course, they can't make the book heavier so those words came at the expense of words like dandelion, fern, porpoise, spinach, and brook. Apparently, words related to nature (everything from weeds to flowers to vegetables) didn't fair well in the update. They did add a few new words that I like - biodegradable, drought, and endangered.

That got me thinking about what words we should be teaching our children as they grow up. They hear the word "green" all the time in the media, but what about words that more accurately describe the issues our planet is facing? My choice for words to talk to my kids about are listed below. To see kid-friendly defintions, as well as many other words, click the link for each word which will take you to an Ecology Dictionary on PlanetPals.

• sustainability

  Image via Wikipedia

• climate change
• greenhouse gas
• conservation
• carbon footprint
• deforestation
• fossil fuel

My kids know just a few of these words - carbon footprint because we measured ours recently and climate change because they know about the challenge the polar bears are having - so we definitely have some room to grow our minds this summer. What words do you want your children to know?

Kids Grow Like Weeds!

I'm just returning home from working at our church's semi-annual Kids Clothing Exchange. This is one of those events that can make you feel good about people and the Earth all at once. My friend Sarah came up with the idea a few years ago and it's been a huge success. Most parents have a few bags or boxes of clothes laying around since kids seem to grow like weeds. At the exchange, all those outgrown clothes find a new home and parents are saved the expense of repurchasing an entire wardrobe every 6 months when their child jumps another size.

Twice a year Sarah asks the community for clothing donations and for several people to spend a few hours sorting, setting up, working, and closing down the two-day event. The exchange is timed to coincide with the local food bank which operates out of our church, but it is open to anyone. There are no limits, no qualifications, no paperwork - everything is free. We encourage, but don't require, our shoppers to donate their own outgrown clothes. They arrive with a pile of 9-12 month baby outfits and leave with a bag full of 2T pants and shirts. There are also books, toys, maternity clothes, and some baby items. It's great to see a child curled up on the steps reading a book and eating a cookie while his mom shops and sips a warm cup of coffee. Even better, he gets to take the book with him when he leaves!
At the end of the day, we pack up the leftover items (not many this time - definitely a sign of the times) and donate them to a local charity that provides clothes to schoolchildren.

The clothing industry has such a dramatic effect on our Earth so it's great to see clothes get another use - in this case, right in our own local community. In my house, the clothes pass from my oldest to my youngest and then on down to friends with younger boys. Of course, as my boys get older, those jeans are starting to get more holes in the knees and getting harder to reuse! I'm sure that's how cutoff jeans came into style long ago...

I've been known to shop at the local used kids' clothes store and even picked up a few pairs of size 8 pants (without holes in the knees) today at the exchange. What about you? Do your kids' clothes get passed on? How do you (or they) feel about wearing hand-me-downs? For my boys, it really comes down to the style of the item - if they like it, they don't really care where it came from.

Where Does Our Power Come From?

Kids are filled with endless questions... Does the tooth fairy leave money if you swallow the tooth? How do the peas get inside the peapod? How old do I have to be to go to Antarctica by myself? I've managed through these questions for nine years, but how about this one: Where does our power come from? Um... the power company? But, how does it get there?

Our local newspaper, The Everett Herald, had an interesting story on Washington state power sources yesterday that answered many of those questions. As I had suspected, the vast majority (81%) of our power comes from hydroelectric sources. Want to know where your power comes from? The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has a chart that shows the primary source and relative expense state by state. EIA also has a cool map that shows where all the power comes from.

State by state, the primary power source varies greatly from nuclear (Vermont) to petroleum (Hawaii) to gas (Alaska) to coal (Kentucky). No one produces more hydroelectric power than Washington, but that leads to more questions. Is hydroelectric power green? Some say yes - it is a renewable source and it doesn't generate many greenhouse gases - and some say no - the dams that it requires are wrecking the natural flow of water which can have devastating effects on the ecosystem.

The next time you flip the lightswitch, think about where the energy is coming from. Is it a coalmine, a windfarm, an oil refinery, or a dam? As states begin to talk about moving to more renewable sources of energy, its important to know the source of today's energy.

When To Replace Appliances

Fortunately, many of the energy-sapping products manufactured for our households are getting to be more energy efficient, but when is the right time to replace them? Does it make sense to send a refrigerator to a landfill when it's keeping the milk chilled just fine? Here are some guidelines provided by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE) for when it makes economic sense to replace an appliance.

1) Lightbulbs - The answer here is simple - REPLACE THEM NOW! Even if you spend $4 to buy a new CFL bulb and use it only 2 hours a day, you will save an estimated 21 cents in the first year. If it is a high-use light - let's say it's on 8 hrs/day - you save $30 in the first two years on that single lightbulb!

There has been some recent concern about mercury in the CFLs. Here is what the ACEEE says: "CFLs save 2-10 times more mercury from the environment than they contain by avoiding pollution from coal-fired power plants. The amount in each bulb is not significant enough to pose a health risk in your home, but they should be disposed of properly, like batteries, to minimize their impact on landfills."

2) Refrigerator - New refrigerators use half the energy of those created in the 1990s. The ACEEE recommendation is to replace when it needs repairs or when it is more than 15 years old.

3) Dryer - If your dryer works well, keep it. Just make sure to maintain it.

4) Washing machine - The new high efficiency models use much less water which means less water that gets heated for hot water cycles. They also spin better so the clothes take less time to dry. The ACEEE recommends replacing a washing machine more than 10 years old.

5) Heating/Cooling Systems - Similar to dryers, these should just be replaced when they are old or worn out.

If it is time to replace something in your house, make sure you recycle the old applicance (there are often free programs offered by your power company) and replace it with an energy-efficient one. You can research all the options on the Energy Star website. Also, learn enough about the new appliance to take advantage of the energy saving features.

Chemical-Free Cleaning

We know that chemical cleaning products aren't good for the Earth - for starters, all those chemicals eventually wash away into our oceans - but are there actually good alternatives?
I started thinking about this while pressure-washing my lawn furniture last week. The chairs had been left out for an entire rainy winter season and the formerly white metal now blended with the green seat cushions. Here are four suggestions for alternatives to chemical cleaners starting with the one I used on the chairs...

1) The Right Equipment - The pressure washer is my new favorite tool because it was actually fun spraying off all that gunk. I have tried the cleaning product route in the past and it was much more difficult and time-consuming. I'm not suggesting you go buy a pressure washer just to use it once a year, but it may be a good choice for renting or borrowing (mine was a hand-me-down from my in-laws). Other chemical-reducing cleaning tools that come to mind include steamers and high-efficiency appliances (e.g. washing machines) that can minimize the amount of detergent you need to use.

2) Natural Cleaning Products - lemon juice, baking soda, club soda, corn starch, salt - many everyday products are great cleaning products. One of my favorite magazines, Real Simple, has a good article this month on 66 All Natural Cleaning Solutions. They'll give you ideas for everything from vinegar for your windows to baking soda for removing crayon marks from the walls.

3) "Green" Cleaning Products - these new products are everywhere in the stores today. Just make sure you read the labels to see what makes them "green" since those labels aren't always meaningful. I'm not sold on all the cleaning products, but I do like the Seventh Generation laundry and dishwasher detergents.

4) Elbow Grease - Sometimes good old-fashioned elbow grease does the trick with little or no cleaning products. I put this one last because it's my least favorite, but maybe I'll enlist the kids this summer and make them earn those allowances! After all, aren't they the ones tracking in all the dirt??