Environment, Organics, Fair Trade & Recycling at Big Green Purse

Do Your Kids Think Saving Energy Is Important? Enter Contest by May 31.

Team ENERGY STAR, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's program to help kids and families understand why saving energy is important, has launched a contest to encourage kids to tell us in their own worlds why energy efficiency makes a difference.

To enter, all kids need to do is share their stories on the Team ENERGY STAR web page. The "story" can be told in words, pictures, video, slides, animation, drawings...the sky's (almost) the limit! The deadline for entering is May 31.

EPA and ENERGY STAR will recognize those who tell the best, most inspiring stories with a variety of energy-efficient electronic prizes from LG, including:

·      Smart phones

·      Feature phones

·      27 inch LED televisions

·      Computer monitors

·      MP3 Docking Stations

 PLUS: YOUR CHILD'S NAME IN LIGHTS

Winners’ names and photos will be broadcast on LG’s billboard in New York's Times Square in conjunction with a Twitter Party on June 7, #TeamENERGYSTAR.

Go to the Team ENERGY STAR website now to get more details and encourage your kids to share their story! (http://www.energystar.gov/team)

Saving Energy is Easy & Fun With the Help of Team ENERGY STAR

  What does it take to get kids to save energy? Even if it’s just a simple reminder to turn off the lights, that message can get old after awhile – which is why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is inviting kids and families to join Team ENERGY STAR. Team ENERGY STAR makes saving energy fun for kids while giving parents free resources they can use to explain why energy efficiency needs to be a priority at home. The program is particularly unique because it empowers kids to help protect the climate and our air through easy-to-implement, money-saving actions.

 It also provides them an outlet for sharing their passion for preserving our environment. This year ENERGY STAR has partnered with the parents group PTO Today and LG Electronics to share Team ENERGY STAR with kids across the country. PTO Today has even brought in the heroic characters from a new summer animated eco feature film, EPIC, which is sure to excite kids of all ages. The movie, voiced by Amanda Seyfried, Beyonce Knowles, Colin Ferrel, and other celebrities you'll recognize, features a young girl who finds herself transported to a beautiful natural world, a world she needs to protect. 

Is Glade Air Freshener Bad for Babies?

"Cleaning product companies aren’t required to disclose the ingredients they use in their products, and what they’re keeping secret from you could be hazardous to your health," reports Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE), the respected non-profit research group that investigates toxic chemicals in the common household cleansers we use.

  In their "Dirty Secrets" study, WVE commissioned an independent laboratory to test twenty popular cleaning products for hidden toxic chemicals from five top companies: Clorox, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, SC Johnson and Son, and Sunshine Makers (Simple Green). WVE found reproductive toxins, carcinogens, hormone disruptors, and allergens -- none of which were listed on the product label. 

"Consumers deserve to know what chemicals they are being exposed to, so that they can easily avoid products that may cause allergic reactions or serious long-term health impacts like cancer, birth defects, or pregnancy complications," WVE declares - and I agree. That's why I support WVE's effort to get Congress to pass new federal legislation that requires cleaning product manufacturers to disclose all the ingredients they use in their products directly on the product label.

I also support WVE's effort to persuade companies like Glade to list ALL ingredients in their product on their label. You may think Glade helps clear the air. According to WVE's research, here's actually what Glade is putting into the air:

Toxic Chemicals Found in Glade (according to WVE research)

#EarthDay Insights: 13 Ways to Make Your Food More Eco

Maybe you already eat organic produce. You've cut down on meat. You grow your own lettuce. That's  great! But Earth Day is nothing if not a time to consider...what else can we do, especially when it comes to the food we buy and eat?

 Danielle Nierenberg of The Food Tank suggests 13 important ways we can reduce the environmental impact of growing, processing, marketing, and disposing of our food. Take a look at the list. I hope you'll add your own recommendations!

1) Eat more colors
The colors of fruits and vegetables are signs of nutritional content. The American Cancer Society reports that richly colored veggies like tomatoes can help prevent cancer and heart disease. Eggs that have brightly orange-colored yolks are also high in cancer-fighting carotenoids, and are more likely to be produced by healthier chickens.
 
 2) Buy food with less packaging
Discarded packaging makes up around one-third of all waste in industrialized countries,  impacting the climate, and our air and water quality. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s analysis of different packaging for tomatoes found that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) clamshell packaging increases tomatoes’ associated carbon emissions by 10 percent. What's better? Choose foods you can buy in bulk, and bring your own bags - even to the produce aisle.
 
3) Choose seasonal produce
Many farmers markets, including the New York City Greenmarkets, offer guides about which products are in season. Locally sourced, seasonal products can also be found at major grocery stores. Or sign up for a weekly CSA, which provides a mix of fresh, seasonal produce throughout the year. Other programs, such as Siren Fish Co.’s SeaSA in San Francisco, offer seasonal meats and seafood.

Hate Throwaway Plastic or Paper Cups? KLEAN KANTEEN's Pint Cup Is the Perfect Reusable Alternative

 Throwaway drinking cups made from plastic, paper and polystyrene be gone! KLEAN KANTEEN's new reusable, stainless steel pint cup is now available to replace the trashy disposables you're used to seeing at convenience stores, fast-food restaurants, and keggers (college students, I'm talkin' to you!).

The durable and easy-to-clean cup is made of food-grade stainless steel, making it perfect for the juice you serve at your kids' party or the beer you serve at your own. It won't break, so you don't need to worry about throwing it into a backpack, cooler, or beach bag. And it's dishwasher safe; whenever you're finished with it, just pop it into the dishwasher and it will come out safe and sparkly.

KLEAN KANTEEN has been a pioneer in the world of reusable drink containers ever since it launched its reusable stainless steel water bottles more than ten years ago. KK recently became certified as a B Corp, meaning that the entire company operates to meet rigorous standards for social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.

 KLEAN KANTEEN is also a wonderful partner when it comes to promoting important causes. I recently  partnered with them to provide their cups to the attendees at the first ever US - China Greener Consumption Forum, which I organized at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Thanks, KLEAN KANTEEN, for doing so much to help the rest of us kick our throwaway habits!

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Natural Teething Toys, Fragrance-Free Baby Lotion Offer Moms & Babies, Safer, Healthier Options

Finding non-toxic baby products can be a real challenge for new moms. It's hard to know what to look for or where to find it, and with all the greenwashing that goes on, no mom could be blamed if she doubted a manufacturer's claims that its product was "natural" or safe. That may be the main reason why EcoCentric Mom's Baby Boxes are so valuable. Each month, they include a selection of safe and healthy products free of artificial fragrances and dangerous chemicals you don't need to hesitate putting on your baby or yourself, either, for that matter.

 Here's what came in this month's Baby Box:

Family Bedrock Siliconies Diamond Bangle - This phthalate-free silicone ring is big enough for baby to hold onto, yet narrow enough to get inside a tiny mouth. It seems perfect for teething or just playing around.

Ringley Natural Teething Toys - These toys comine untreated Maplewood and 100% organic cotton terrycloth, perfect when your tot needs to do a little gnawing to soothe the new teeth poking through her gums.

In Love with Bodycare Baby Love Soothing Salve - This salve may be for baby, but I have found it perfect for my dry winter skin. It contains yarrow, calendula, and cypress, and I can imagine it is pretty effective on minor diaper rashes as well as parched skin.

We Can Stop Climate Change. Yes, We Can!

Climate change may be happening, but we can stop it!

 That was the message loud and clear at the climate rally held yesterday in Washington, D.C., delivered by the 40,000 or more people who congregated around the Washington Monument before marching to the White House in the largest climate-focused rally in history.

Though the weather was absolutely frigid, the crowd could not have been more fired up. Parents and kids, students and seniors, people of all races and religions came together to demonstrate their love for the environment, their concern for their families and their communities, and their commitment to a cleaner, greener world.

The biggest focus was on President Obama, who made climate change a top priority in his recent State of the Union Address and who must decide whether or not to greenlight the controversial Keystone Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada, across the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. Former White House green jobs advisor Van Jones told the audience from the state, "This will define your legacy, Mr. President." Indeed, it will.

 I marched with the Alaska Wilderness League, a terrific organization that's been leading the fight to keep oil drilling out of America's Arctic Wildlife Refuge for more than 15 years. AWL staffers dressed like polar bears carried signs reading Save the Arctic as we chanted, "What do we want? Polar Bears! What do they need? Ice!"

Moms and dads brought their children to the rally to demonstrate the impact that climate change is having on our families. In many parts of the world, poison ivy has gotten much worse because hotter than normal temperatures have created such ideal growing conditions for this noxious plant. Moms Clean Air Force was there, too, reminding us that the same fossil fuels that cause climate change are polluting our air, a big reason why so many more kids are suffering from asthma these days.

 Speaking of kids, they were everywhere at the rally: on their dad's shoulders, getting their pictures taken with the polar bears, clapping their hands in time to the music. It was great to see so many college students, too. In fact, they're the ones who led the "Yes, We Can!" chant when one of the stage speakers asked, "Can we stop climate change?"

Thousands of people traveled from far and wide to lend their voices to the rally crowd. When I boarded my local subway to get down to the event, the car was brimming with folks from as far away as Texas and Oklahoma, two states that are directly in the path of the Keystone Pipeline. At the Washington Monument, a woman from my home state of Michigan sported a big cut-out poster to remind us that an oil leak into an important river in the northern part of that state still had not been cleaned up. Meanwhile, rallies were happening in many other cities in the U.S., too. Mary Clare Hunt was among the 2,000 or more who turned up in Los Angeles to say "not" to climate change. You can read her report here.

Protect Us and Our Kids from Toxic Chemicals Now!

Why are we still exposed to so many toxic chemicals?

We know they threaten our health and wreck the environment. Fifty years ago, in her revolutionary book Silent Spring, scientist Rachel Carson drew a bright red line between the use of pesticides like DDT and threats to our environment. As Leigh at Green4U writes, "She was the canary in the coal mine..." who sounded the alarm about chemicals in our environment and, sadly, died before DDT, the chemical she most studied, could be banned. 

The Environmental Protection Agency was founded a few years later, in part to protect people and the planet from dangerous chemicals like those Rachel Carson identified. Since then, dozens, if not hundreds of non-profit organizations and scientific institutes have documented the impact chemicals have on our ability to reproduce, bear healthy babies, raise thriving children, and live healthy lives. And yet, we're still exposed to dangerous chemicals that wreak havoc on our hormones, our brains, and our bodies.

In honor of Silent Spring, in observance of today's Blog Action Day, and to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many concerned women have weighed in, expressing their ongoing belief that we must be protected from exposure to toxic chemicals at all costs. Shane at Environmental Booty captured the hopeful sentiment we all share when she wrote, "There is no other choice than to stand in spirit with Rachel Carson to create a sustainable future.  We must work together to create a future full of the most uproarious Springs.  Springs filled with the beautiful sounds of children playing, birds singing and mothers and fathers breathing huge sighs of relief because they fought for our future that will be healthy and sustainable for our planet as well as their families."

Why Are We Still Threatened?

Earth Summit Delegates Refuse to Recognize Women's Reproductive Rights

At Rio+20, the "Earth Summit" taking place in Brazil, the slogan is "The Future We Want."

What "We" are they talking about?

Certainly not the more than 200 million women in the U.S. and many developing countries who lack access to voluntary family planning. That has become abundantly clear as the summit prepares to wrap up without including either family planning or a broader agenda for gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, and women’s empowerment in the primary summit agreements.

This refusal to acknowledge reproductive rights as a core tenet of sustainability is outrageous. It also flies in the face of previous UN conferences that supported family planning for a host of human and environmental rights. Indeed, the International Conference on Population and Development  (ICPD) in Cairo in 1994 was a watershed moment when women’s rights advocates, demographers and 179 governments came together to design a new model for development that made the empowerment and health of women and girls a  top priority. Cairo transformed a term that few people knew—reproductive rights—into a concept recognized around the world.  The ICPD not only affirmed the right of every girl and woman to quality sexual and reproductive health care and freedom from discrimination, it underscored its centrality towards achieving a harmonious and sustainable environment.   

Tired of Telling Your Kids to Turn Off The Lights? Let Team ENERGY STAR Do It!

Using energy efficiently can be as simple as turning off the lights or computer when they’re not being used. The challenge is getting people – especially kids – to pay heed.  Starting today, the Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program is going to make that task much easier, especially for us parents!

ENERGY STAR is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program that helps us save money and protect the environment and our health through energy-efficient products and practices.  In 2011 alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 41 million cars — all while saving $23 billion on their utility bills and reducing the pollution that contributes to heart disease, asthma and allergies.

 As impressive as that is, the job is far from done. Climate change is still rising, and our health and the health of our kids is still at stake.  We can make a difference by teaching our kids to save more energy at home. That’s where Team ENERGY STAR comes in.

 Team ENERGY STAR is EPA’s new initiative to engage and educate American youth and their families about saving energy at home. Team ENERGY STAR gives kids and families knowledge and tools they can use to preserve our environment, help protect the climate and create a healthier world.

 I’ve already joined the team myself. But one person a “team” does not make. We all need to join in and do our part. Here are three important reasons why I think it’s worth your while.

 
First, without question, energy efficiency makes life healthier for our children and family. Climatechange will likely increase the number of people suffering from illness and injury due to more pollution, extreme heat, floods, storms, droughts and fires as well as allergies and infectious disease. The elderly, the very young, the disabled, and the poor alone are especially vulnerable, as are people with heart disease or asthma. Climate change is also expected to cause more severe allergy symptoms because a warmer climate promotes the growth of molds, weeds, grasses and trees that cause allergic reactions. The more efficiently we all use energy, the less likely we are to get sick.

Second, Team ENERGY STAR will make your job explaining energy efficiency to your children easier. I know that sometimes my kids think I’m a broken record, the way I nag them to turn off the lights and their computers. But the activities Team ENERGY STAR has come up with offer a creative and fun way to motivate the whole family to feel like they’re doing their part together to save energy. With Dr. Seuss’ the Lorax as the engaging theme for Team ENERGY STAR, kids can learn and have fun at the same time. 

Finally, joining Team ENERGY STAR will help you save money. The typical household spends more than $2,100 per year on energy. With ENERGY STAR, you can save over one-third, or more than $700, on your household energy bills without sacrificing features, style or comfort. 

 Team ENERGY STAR has already lined up some important and influential partners, like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Do Something, one of the largest organizations in the U.S. for teens and social change. But it’s up to each and every one of us to reach our own kids and families.

Kids can join Team ENERGY STAR by visiting energystar.gov/team where they will get easy-to-download educational and interactive materials, such as a comprehensive Action Kit, the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up, a Lorax activity booklet and a Lorax mustache-making kit. Kids are also encouraged to come back and share their stories about protecting the environment by saving energy, which will be showcased on energystar.gov/changetheworld and throughout social media.

In fact, Team ENERGY STAR is part of a multi-year EPA campaign, Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR, developed to engage Americans of all ages in saving energy and money and protecting the environment with ENERGY STAR. Millions of people are getting involved, joining their neighbors in this grassroots movement to help protect the climate by saving energy. You can see how people and organizations all over are making a difference with ENERGY STAR by viewing EPA’s ENERGY STARs Across America map.

  You can also attend an event in your area to learn ways to take control of your energy bills while contributing to a cleaner environment. Plus, if you take the ENERGY STAR Pledge at energystar.gov/pledge, you’ll join 2.8 million other Americans who are taking action to protect the climate.

 If every American household took part in the Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR Pledge, we would: save more than 126 billion KWh/yr of electricity, save $18 billion in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 20 million cars.

 Get more information and join Team ENERGY STAR here.

Please leave a comment below when you join Team ENERGY STAR.

And please come back on June 12, when Big Green Purse will be hosting a carnival of posts from many bloggers who support energy efficiency and Team ENERGY STAR.

 

Full disclosure: I am a long-time independent advocate of energy-efficiency and the ENERGY STAR program. I am currently working as a paid consultant to introduce Team ENERGY STAR to parents and families.