On the line

I received an e-newsletter from e-mail from Project Laundry List today. I was surprised the impact of laundry, which uses a huge amount of our resources, wasn't being tracked as closely as other things, like transportation.

But it seems there will be a meeting to take a closer look at these issues. This is from the newsletter:

The statistics that our government keeps, which are used by hundreds
of businesses, utilities, and nonprofits, are often dismal. When it comes to laundry,
the numbers are terrible.

* There are no stats on commercial laundry done at Laundromats, hospitals, hotels,
restaurants, universities, fish piers, etc.
* There is terrible data about gas dryers, which about 17% of American households
have.
* They have this "5.8% of residential electricity use goes toward the electric dryer"
figure upon which we have built our organization's mission; however, they have no
footnote or any knowledge of how the number was derived.

I guess there will be a meeting to take a closer look energy consumption in general. I wonder if laundry will make the list?

The REAL reason SAHMs go green

Hi and Lois
Sept. 25, 2008

You might think that children are our future, and all that crap, but really, it comes down to cash. Or lack of cash. And if the newspaper comics are talking about it, rest assured, it's old news.

Why the bus?

I was chatting the other day with a single friend of mine, who happens to live in the sprawling land of Phoenix, Ariz., when she told me she's been commuting via the bus?

Why? It's less stressful, she said.

That is something all transit companies should really start pounding into the public. Reading the paper, listening to an iPod or daydreaming is about a billion times less stressful than driving.

Gas prices means this might be a viable option for many more people. Check out this stat:

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that Americans drove 3.6 percent fewer miles last year than the year before — a total of 3.003 trillion miles in 2007 compared to 3.014 trillion miles in 2006, according to preliminary measurements.

That would make 2007 one of the few years — if not the only year — in U.S. history during which total traffic volume decreased.

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

Technically, I'm not including a recipe. But this is definitely food related.

The New York Times just wrote a really interesting article about the mistakes parents make when feeding the kids. I was a little shocked that "Letting your child live exclusively on Fruit Loops" didn't make the list, but hey, I guess that's sort of implied.

I have to say, I'm only guilty of one to two of the six sins. The article suggests you shouldn't force kids to take at least one bite of everything. I'm definitely in that camp. My argument is, I'll give you an alternative if you don't like what I made, but you've got to at least try it.

Anyhow, I thought it was a great list unlike any I'd seen before. Most say things like, don't let kids fill up on carbs. Well, duh. But this actually offered some useful advice.

1. Don't send kids out of the kitchen. Let them hang around for preparations. BTW, I'm super good at this one.
2. Pressuring them to take a bite. I think I've mentioned, not so much.
3. Keeping good food out of reach. "Good food" was a misnomer. It actually means stuff kids think is good, like candy. The argument is, don't have it in the house if you don't want your kids to have it. I hope wine doesn't apply.
4. Dieting in front of your kids.
5. Serving boring veggies. For Pete's sake, but some butter on those green beans.
6. Giving up too soon. It can take kids up to 15 tries before they accept they like something.

This is how we roll

I vowed not to be one of those mothers who enroll their children is countless organized activities, only to become just that sort of mother.

The only criteria I have is that the activity must be very close to our house, or on a bus route. But my town's park and rec department's community center is about a block away, which houses my daughter's preschool and (soon) her dance class. Her swimming class is just a mere half block further, so you can see I have a surprising amount of options.

And I know that some parents think I'm cuckoo by dragging my kids around on a bike, sometimes in pretty crappy weather. The other day, we walked home in torrential downpours with just some rain boots and umbrellas. My neighbor didn't just think I was crazy, he told me so.

But on a bike, I can get in/get out much quicker than in a car. A round trip might take just three or four minutes. And getting outside, even in bad weather, expends a lot of kid energy that keeps the girls from re-carpeting the house with plastic toys.

With gas prices jumping about 15 cents in two days, it might be cuckoo. But feels pretty sane to me.

Now I realize not everybody has the option of living two blocks from activity central, but our central location coupled with non-car transportation means some days when my husband takes the bus, which is becoming more and more frequent, we don't even move the car from the driveway.

Another way to think about it is to contemplate a commute. If I worked in Peoria, I'd spend close to $2,000 a year just driving to and from work, without any pit stops. Did I mention cuckoo?

Friday recipes; or Fricipes

For my birthday, my aunt gave me this great cookbook all about cooking with the seasons. Since she's also quite the gardener, I also came home from a recent visit with a paper bag full of tomatoes.

"Simply In Season," commissioned by Mennonites, has fantastic recipes for all kinds of veggies. From springtime asparagus to winter squash, almost anything growing in your garden is covered. Since I was the lucky recipient of all these tomatoes, and because I don't can, I made a simple tomato sauce, which I froze. The following recipe is pretty much straight from the book, with a few of my own tweaks.

1 chopped onion sautéed in 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium head until soft.
2 garlic cloves, minced. Cook for about 30 seconds.

Add two shredded carrots, 1 chopped green (or red) pepper, 2 bay leaves, 1/4 cup fresh parsley, 2 Tbsp fresh basil, 1 Tbsp fresh oregano and/or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme.

Stir well

6 cups peeled and chopped tomatoes. Puree about half in food processor or blender.
6 ounces tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste.

Sauté about 15 minutes. Have a lovely bowl of pasta and freeze the rest in plastic bags.

Fake plastic nappies — Big fat flaw week/month

It seems my biggest flaw is procrastination. But since that's not really a green sin, I think I'll let it pass.

But diapers. Oh diapers. These have been my eco-downfall.

I didn't use cloth diapers, heralded by attachment-parenting types and most environmentally friendly moms-and-pops. It's an issue that ranks right up there with breast feeding and baby-wearing.

To start, I would like to point out that at least three studies concluded there is virtually no environmental difference between cloth and disposable diapers. There are been critics to these studies, although they did take many factors into consideration.

It seems logical that cloth diapers are better, in that there's no polluting of the landfills although there's no disputing that both types of diapers use up natural resources. But doesn't the soft cloth against baby's bottom, later line-dried in the heat of nature's sunshine, seem like a better alternative?

It didn't for me for a few reasons. First off, I didn't start thinking of myself as a green parenting until six months into my second child's birth. By the time I contemplated changing, I'd have spent several hundred dollars in start-up nappies. The cost and work precludes lower-level income earners and working moms from truly considering cloth as an alternative.

And to be truly green, I firmly believe it should be accessible to everybody, regardless of income. How else are we supposed to make significant changes for everybody?

Grist's Umbra, of Ask Umbra fame, wrote she was relieved to find out there was little difference in diapering baby. After all, 99 percent of parents use disposables at one time or another and it should be considered good that disposables aren't 50 times worse than a diaper very few people are using.

And the biggest item to note from Umbra's column:

"For one child, over two and a half years, these impacts are roughly comparable with driving a car between 1,300 and 2,200 miles." Now we know exactly how much mileage to shave off our car to compensate for diapering each kid.

Since my children are both out of diapers (actually, it's almost for my youngest, but I am not enough of a stickler and too much of an optimist to count one diaper a day as "still in diapers") I'm effectively out of the debate. But for anybody still considering how to cover baby's bum, try some eco-friendly varieties like gDiapers or Seventh Generation. By all means, if you're able and willing, use cloth, wash in cold and line dry. Or maybe, try diaper-free babies, which is really a thing and has apparently worked for some brave parents.

Or just try to compensate in other areas. Stop using central air, or turn it down. Cut shower time down to three minutes. Eat more vegetables. Drive less. And, perhaps the most important aspect of eco-parenting, encourage children to do the same.

Photo by A Fresh Perspective | Zak Metz's photostream on Flickr