Watered-down organic

Whenever possible, Matt and I try our very best to buy USDA-certified organic products. We recognize that it's more expensive, but for the sake of our health and for the good of the planet, we figured it was a justified expense. But after reading this Washington Post article over the weekend, I'm not so sure. The increasingly lax standards as they apply to baby food were especially shocking.

I read that story, and I felt like I'd been duped. How can something be labeled as "organic," yet still contain all sorts of chemicals, pesticides and additives? If the ultimate focus of the organic label at the USDA is to grow the brand instead of enforce strict environmental and health standards, is buying organic products even worth the expense? I'm not sure anymore.

Going dark on Earth Day

Matt and I, along with thousands of other people around the world, observed Earth Hour last month. We enjoyed the gesture (not to mention the peace and quiet) so much, that we've decided to make our home an electricity-free zone for all of Earth Day: no lights, to television or radio, no computers and--to the degree possible--no appliances. We're unplugging (not just turning off, since that still sucks electricity) nearly everything in the house that requires energy. We're going to grill dinner outside and eat lots of ready-to-eat, locally grown fruits and vegetables. We're going to play cards by candlelight instead of zoning out in front of the TV.

It's this last part of our Earth Day celebration that I'm especially looking forward to. Focusing on something bigger than ourselves always seems to bring Matt and me closer together as a family. It seems especially appropriate that we do this on Earth Day, as we work to preserve the Earth for our children and their children and ten generations of children.

"Liquid soap on tap"

Matt and I are gearing up for Earth Day next week (more about our big plans later), and in the process we've discovered this wonderful company that takes environmentalism to a new level. They take old pop bottles and transform them into containers for hand soap, household cleaners and other products. Since the "Three R's" are listed in order of benefit to the environment (first reduce, then reuse, then recycle), I love the idea of reuse on a grand scale. Of course, if I find out that the company ships these bottles 10,000 miles for cleaning and processing, I hereby renege the company's aforementioned environmental wonderfulness.

Be sure to visit the company's website and sign the petition to bring their products to a Target or grocery store near you.

Think Globally, Buy Locally

I've read several articles lately about how buying locally grown foods is better for the environment than buying organically grown ones (unless, of course, you're lucky enough to find foods that are both).

This site is a great resource from the Natural Resources Defense Council to help determine which foods are grown locally in your area. That doesn't mean that all the apples sold in Maryland in late-October were grown here, but at least it ups the odds.

Bye, bye, tree

There used to be a beautiful old oak tree in our back yard. It was home to several squirrels and other critters; it provided shade in the summer and was a blanket in winter. Then, with hardly any notice, two men came and cut it down one day last week.

Granted, it was fascinating to watch the guys remove it, and Barley was captivated:
But it was so sad to see the stump they left behind:
It reminded me of The Giving Tree, and I felt so sorry for the tree. If you watch this video with the sound on, you can hear not only how upset Barley is, but also how angry the squirrels are that they have to find a new home.



"Once there was a tree... and she loved a little dog."

2009: International Year of Natural Fibers

2009 has been declared the "International Year of Natural Fibers." To celebrate and prepare, here are a few of my favorites, as well as a brief description of each, thanks in part to the folks at the Washington Post:

Hemp (My sister-in-law's personal favorite)
Did you know that the Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp? Come to D.C., and Matt and I will show you the real thing. The Founding Fathers (probably) weren't smoking anything; they were making use of one of the sturdiest materials around. That same sturdiness applies to hemp textiles. Hemp requires no pesticides to grow and yields three times more fiber per acre than cotton, making it a favorite among hippies and wannabe hippies (like my sister-in-law), as well as hipsters.

Bamboo
According to Eagle Scout Matt, bamboo is perhaps nature's most sustainable resource. He says it grows and grows and grows, all without the help of pesticides. Some bamboo even grows up to four feet per day! I've seen bamboo flooring and furniture, but I'm a bit leery of this next frontier.

Organic Cotton
Cotton ranks second only to corn as the world's most polluting agricultural product (Read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food for more on the evils of corn). It takes about 1/3 of a pound of chemicals to make just one cotton t-shirt! A lot of people must be equally horrified, because organic cotton sales are projected to skyrocket around the world, from $583 million in 2005 to $2.6 billion by the end of 2008.

Tencel
This one sounds a bit backwards, but tencel is actually a human-made natural fiber. It's created from the cellulose in wood pulp, which is harvested from tree-farmed trees. Just like it's less-environmentally-friendly ancestor, polyester, tencel resists wrinkles and is mainly used to make dresses, pants, coats and some jeans. If this means that a polyester-style pant suit will make a comeback, I'm not sure about tencel.

Best of the Rest
Some of the world's best fabrics have always been natural:
Silk (Thank you, Mr. Silkworm)
Wool (Thank you, Mr. Sheep and Ms. Goat, as well as your distant cousins Mr. Alpaca and Ms. Llama)
Linen (Courtesy of flax)
Ramie (Courtesy of an eponymously named flowering plant)

The Dichotomy of our Neighborhood

On most days, I love our neighborhood. It's a wonderful ethnic and social mix of people; Matt and I are definitely minorities on our block. And I love all the kids and (most of) the dogs. Yesterday, as I was walking to our house, one of my favorite little kids said, "Do you live in the house with the brick on the front?" I told her I did, and she stopped short and said with a hushed amazement in her voice, "So...you live in...Barley's house?" Again, I told her I did, and she asked if Barley could come out and play.

A few weeks ago, that same girl came to our door with her little sister. I thought they were selling something for school, and I was more than ready to buy some popcorn, wrapping paper, magazines...whatever they were selling, really. Instead, she handed me this piece of paper:

As I was reading it, she said, "Will you do your part to help save the polar bears?" As a person who tried to start my own recycling campaign in our neighborhood when I was her age, I enthusiastically agreed. Since that day, I've kept her note on our fridge, and I've seen her picking up trash throughout the neighborhood. Kids like her give me hope that all will not be lost in future generations.

On other days, I don't love our neighborhood so much. For the last week, two perfectly good couches sat on the curb. They were in such good shape, in fact, that another neighbor poked her head out when Matt and I were walking by to ask if we would help her carry them inside. She acted like she was joking, but, in retrospect, I think she may have been serious. Yesterday morning, our garbage collectors loaded those two perfectly good couches into the back of their truck and crushed them down. Why our neighbors didn't offer the couches for free on Craig's List instead of sending them to a landfill is beyond me.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that a perfectly good piece of furniture has been left on the curb. We also see litter and food scraps strewn about, both of which were most likely dragged out of garbage bags by the stray cats that other neighbors feed with plates of take-out food. Matt's Buick had a dirty diaper under it for far longer than I care to remember.

I suppose it often takes a great need for change to inspire those with a conscience to take action. Maybe our young neighbor will win accolades for her environmental activism one day. She'll only have her wasteful neighbors to thank.