Green your way to school on National Walk to School Day!

Posted on by December 10, 2018

How many of you still have grandparents, or great-grandparents, that talk about how far they had to walk to school? In the snow. Uphill both ways.

Sunset School built in 1890

Sunset School built in 1890

The school that my boys go to was originally built in a general store in 1892. The area was growing, but the primary reason was because the families were tired of sending their children up the hill (and this is really up the hill!) for the 45 minute walk it took to get to the original town schoolhouse, Sunset School. Can you imagine if our primary school students were expected to walk that distance every day today?

National Walk to School Day is coming up on October 5. In years past, my own kids have not been able to take part on this particular day, but I love that we live close enough to walk to their primary school; supervised by mama for now, but as they get older I know we can figure out a safe route for them. Green living and green parenting mean taking the small and the big steps in lots of aspects of our lives.

National Walk To School Dayphoto credit: Ed L on flickr

In 1969, nearly 50 percent of students in grades K through eight walked or bicycled to school. The distance at that time was often shorter than in the late 1800s, but the number getting to school using their own power was still significant compared to now. By 2009, less than 13 percent walked or biked to school. That is a huge difference and a serious opportunity lost to get kids outside, get a little exercise, and teach children some independence and responsibility – but safely.

I understand that times have certainly changed since 1892, and since the late 60s, but the fact remains that fewer and fewer children are getting to school by braving the elements and making their own way to school and home. My own typically brave the elements to make their way to the school bus stop, which is the highlight of my kindergartener’s day now, but on nice days it is good for all of us to walk that mile. We get fresh air, a little vitamin D, a little nature, and time to talk and play.

Don’t have the time to walk your kids to or from school? Get involved with other parents in the neighborhood and start a walking school bus, advocate for better safety resources for children walking to school, or work with the school, city, parents, children, and local law enforcement to develop a safety education program to make it possible.

The benefits of walking are clear providing physical activity, reduction of air pollution, as well as greater exposure to nature which can reduce stress, relief of ADHD symptoms in children and increased cognitive and motor functioning. National Walk to School Day is one simple way you can green your school, green your life, even if for one day. Who knows? Maybe it will spark more interest!

Will you be walking on October 5th?

Urgent action needed to protect the right to clean air!

Posted on by December 10, 2018

Update on Sept. 23 – “The House today showed they have bought the false argument that we need to choose between protecting lives and creating jobs. Now we need the Senate and the President to protect our right to breathe.” From the Natural Resources Defense Council to the League of Women Voters to the American Lung Association, organizations that care about clean air are urging the Senate to reject ” the Single Greatest Roll-Back of Clean Air Protections in U.S. History.”  Help them. Contact your Senator today.

There is a train. Next week this runaway train is on a collision course with the landmark legislation designed to keep our air clean and our children healthy. That train is, literally, the TRAIN Act of 2011, and next week, the House will vote on a bill (HR 2401) that was designed to cripple Clean Air Act regulations and intimidate the Environmental Protection Agency.

We need more voices to stand up for clean air today! Tell your representative to oppose the TRAIN Act today!

The TRAIN Act is a delay tactic created to protect polluters’ right to pollute. This is about Big Coal buying the right to poison our children’s hearts, lungs, and brains.

Coal Power Plant

Coal Power Plant

photo credit: Bruno & Lígia Rodrigues

If you can believe it, there are politicians whose stated goal is to block any and all environmental protections-at the cost of our children’s health. Mercury, lead, arsenic, acid gases-these are the poisons spewing from coal plants that EPA-in any administration-is required by law under the Clean Air Act to regulate. Clean air regulations save hundreds of thousands of lives, and cut health care costs by trillions of dollars.

In a state that has the highest adult asthma rate and the asthma rates continue to rise. In some parts of my state, up to 14% of all children have asthma. Oregon ranks high in breast and skin cancers, strokes and suicides, autism and Alzheimer’s – reasons for why we rank so high are unknown, but new research indicates coal power plants may play a part. We can’t stand to see any more air pollution coming our way.

Don’t let politicians further pollute our air – tell your representative that the TRAIN Act is dangerous and inexcusable. Our children need everyone to take action to stop this legislation now.

A Few Facts:

  • The TRAIN Act is the centerpiece of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s recently announced legislative agenda, which is stacked with measures to weaken public health and clean air standards.
  • The TRAIN act (H.R. 2401) would prevent EPA from going forward with two crucial steps for cleaner air – the Mercury and Air Toxics standards for power plants, and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule to cut smog and soot pollution from power plants.
  • The TRAIN Act would indefinitely delay these standards. That means indefinitely delaying the clean-up of dangerous pollution including mercury, soot, cancer-causing dioxins and acid gases.
  • This legislation would sacrifice tens of thousands of lives, pollute the air we breathe, and expose our children, families, and communities to toxic air pollutants that cause illness and developmental disorders, particularly in small children and the unborn.
  • The TRAIN act allows 23,500 avoidable premature deaths every year
  • The bill also creates additional red-tape delays that tie the hands of EPA health and science professionals.
  • Supporters of the bill claim it will save jobs, but they are wrong. Putting more pollution in our air does not create jobs – but it does put millions of American families at risk.
  • In fact, EPA estimates that the two standards the TRAIN Act stops would have a net impact creating over 9,000 jobs, with health benefits that will save Americans hundreds of billions of dollars each year once fully implemented.
  • Blocking these standards for just one additional year would result in:
  • up to 25,300 lives lost due to smog, soot, and toxic air pollution;
  • more than 11,000 heart attacks;
  • more than 120,000 asthma attacks;
  • over 12,200 more hospital and emergency room visits; and
  • many hundreds of thousands more days of missed work or school.

The question now is, what are you willing to do about it? Will you take action to stop the TRAIN Act before it’s too late?

Clean out the fridge to save energy and money!

Posted on by December 10, 2018

Refrigerators use an enormous amount of energy in a household. They never get turned off (on purpose) and use more electricity than any other single appliance consuming about a sixth of the electricity used in an average home and up to 60% of the total electricity bill. They are also not upgraded as often, or maintained as well, as other household appliances.

I wouldn’t want people to run out and buy a new refrigerator just because theirs isn’t the latest and greatest. However if you do need an upgrade, looking for the Energy Star label will not only reduce energy usage, but save you money.

I just did the Refrigerator Retirement Savings Calculator on the Energy Star website and was amazed to see that I could save half of my yearly cost of running the refrigerator by upgrading to a more energy efficient model. Not to mention the tax credits you receive when you file with TurboTax. That certainly makes me think about other ways to just maintain our refrigerator to ensure it is as efficient as can be.

Refrigerator

My Refrigerator. Can you tell I have kids? ;)

 

It’s Change The World Wednesday where we explore what kind of positive impact we can make on the environment if a whole lot of people did the same “green” activity during the same time period. The challenge this week as given over at Change The World Wednesday is to minimize refrigerator’s impact by making sure they operate efficiently.

Here is what I am going to do to get my refrigerator in tip-top efficient shape!

  • Clean it. Keeping your refrigerator clean underneath, inside, the bottom front grill, and the coils can improve efficiency by as much as 30 percent.
  • Check the seal. There is some controversy whether you can test the seal by putting a piece of paper in the closed door and how easily it can be pulled out, however if the door’s seal is damaged or dirty or if the refrigerator itself isn’t level, the doors won’t seal properly.
  • Allow air to circulate. When the refrigerator gets put back into place after being cleaned from all sides, make sure that it is a few inches from the wall or cabinet so that air can circulate around the condenser coils.
  • Check the temperature. The ideal temperature for a refrigerator is between 37 and 40 degrees F and 0 to 5 degrees F for a freezer.
  • Check the contents. A full refrigerator stays cool better than an empty one. If it is too empty, you can keep water-filled containers inside. On the other side, you also don’t want it too full. Buying the right amount of food for your family will ensure food doesn’t go to waste or take up extra space in the refrigerator.
  • Keep it closed. Only opening the refrigerator when necessary and for only the time necessary to get what you need will prevent a lot of lost cold air and energy use. Those darn kids are the worst at this, so this will be a big goal for us this week!

When was the last time you did any cleaning or maintenance on your refrigerator? Who is willing to give it a try this week?

New research on the adverse health impacts of BPA and methylparaben on breast cancer and its treatment

Posted on by December 10, 2018

News broke today that new research shows a pretty harsh reality for the consequences of our exposure to two toxic chemicals that we already knew were harmful to our health: bisphenol A (BPA) and methylparaben. Now we know it is worse than we thought.

The body of scientific evidence has already shown that both can cause significant adverse health impacts that encompass many reproductive health issues, including breast cancer. Now this new research that was conducted by doctors from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco indicates that not only does exposure to BPA and methylparaben increase your risk of cancer, it has now been shown to have a “triggering effect when it comes to cancer.”

B0006421 Breast cancer cells

A cluster of breast cancer cells showing visual evidence of programmed cell death (apoptosis).

Then, if that weren’t enough, Dr. William Goodson, senior clinical research scientist at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute and lead author of the study says:

Since most breast cancers are driven by the hormone estrogen, the bulk of the drugs used to treat breast cancer are designed to knock down estrogen. BPA and methylparaben not only mimic estrogen’s ability to drive cancer, but appear to be even better than the natural hormone in bypassing the ability of drugs to treat it.

Source: Study: BPA, methylparaben block breast cancer drugs by Victoria Colliver from the San Francisco Chronicle.

These two chemicals, which are so pervasive in our daily lives increase our risk of breast cancer, drive cancer growth, and then interfere with the drugs that are supposed to help treat the cancer.

Wow.

So, now that we have this information, what are we supposed to do with it?

Breast Cancer Awareness

1. Read and Share. I am a big believer in educating yourself further so that you can decide what the proper steps to take will be for you and your family. Learn more about BPA and methylparaben and share what you find with others. Here are a few links to give you a start.

3. Find Safer Products. These shops are places where they do the hard work for you of finding the safest products for you, your family and your home. It is often helpful to check any new products, ingredients, or companies with the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Database too.

2. Take Action. You read, you absorbed, and then you made some small with changes as an individual and as a family. Now you are ready to go big and demand safer chemicals for all.

  • The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 for chemical safety reform – Learn more about this crucial piece of legislation and Contact your U.S. Senator and let them know that you support the “Safe Chemicals Act of 2011″ and chemical safety reform.
  • Support the Safe Cosmetics Act – Parabens are found in so many aspects of the beauty industry. Our legislative representatives need to hear a demand to eliminate toxic chemicals from the products we all use every day.
  • Find an Action – The Breast Cancer Fund has several opportunities to make your voice heard about BPA and other toxic chemicals that contribute to breast cancer risk.

4. Keep Perspective.

Will this new information cause you to think differently about these two chemicals? I know everyone can try at least one of the above steps, which will it be?

Photo Credit: 1. B0006421 Breast cancer cells by Annie Cavanagh. Wellcome Images 2. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month by webandthecity