Involve the kids... Ideas to share with your schools

Betty's trip out to Crozet Elementary School reminded me of just how much kids LOVE to learn and do the right thing. Their enthusiasm is contagious, so let's tap it this Earth Day.

Here are my top suggestions for kids to "go green":

1-Use reusable containers in your lunch. A typical American school kid generates 67 pounds of discarded school lunch packaging waste per school year. That’s more than 18,000 pounds yearly for the average-sized elementary school!

2-Eat one less meat meal each week. Most conventional meats are resource intensive, but feedlot beef is particularly wasteful. Producing one pound of feedlot beef in California, for example, requires five pounds of grain and over 2,400 gallons of water. It also results in the erosion of five pounds of topsoil

3-Take short showers, not baths. If your home was built before 1992, chances are your showerheads put out about five gallons of water per minute (gpm). Multiply this by the number of minutes you're in the shower, and the water adds up fast! An average bath requires 30-50 gallons of water. The average shower of four minutes with an old shower head uses 20 gallons of water. With a low-flow shower head, only 10 gallons of water is used. (communityenergycenter.org)


4-Avoid buying unnecessary things that will be thrown away in a short period of time. Also, pay attention to overpackaging and avoid buying those items.

5-Turn off the lights when you leave your room and the computer when you're not using it! Electricity used to run them comes from a non-renewable energy source: fossil fuels mined from the Earth.

6-Help your parents support local farmers and lower your carbon footprint by
shopping local at the store or farmers market. The average mileage your food takes to get to your plate: 1500 miles!

7-Start a carpool to sports practices. Taking an alternative to a 20 mile car trip each week will reduce your weekly carbon dioxide emissions by 18 pounds!

At my son's school this week, the kids are sharing these through the school announcements. Talk to your school principal - I'm sure he/she would appreciate these tips that help kids make a difference!

Best,
BWB

Day tripper...

Looking for something to do with the kids that is new and different? Here are some of our favorite day get-aways:

WEST:
Gypsy Hill park in Staunton. My all time favorite park to spend a spring (with the little ducks) or summer (when they're running the kiddie trains) or fall day (with the gorgeous Birch and Maple and Evergreens). I love visiting the pond and then playing in the park, complete with climbing wall and standing teeter/totter. I still don't know why Charlottesville doesn't have something similar. You can even take the train over there from May to October (but I haven't heard the official word yet this year)

SOUTH:
Scottsville. I believe Scoops went out of business. But I'm pretty sure you can get a scoop of ice-cream at one of the downtown shops!

SOUTH EAST:
Maymont Park in Richmond
This is an absolutely gorgeous destination for communing with century old trees or taking an extended walk or feeding the barn animals. ("Barn days" are happening each Sunday from March 30-April 20 and "Herbs Galore" happens at the end of April).

Richmond's Children's Museum (c-mor.org
Gotta love that bigger than life-size mouth and the digestive sounds in stereo!

Richmond's Science Museum
It was too young for our kids last time we went down, but we must return now that they're older.

Richmond's Brave baseball game
I'm partial to kicking back and watching this American pasttime with the kids on a lazy Sunday (just avoid all the plastic bottles and bring your own).

NORTH:
DC Zoo.
Say what you will about some zoos in the US, but this is an amazing resource for understanding and connecting with animals and their ecosystems. Personally, I am more inspired to examine my impact as a human after I spend a few hours in the presence of the newborn elephant, the mommy giraffe, or my new favorite: the large and lazy Hippo (we nicknamed Lumbegga).

Two years ago the national zoo took a leadership role in conservation by drafting the "Conservation Biology Plan." They believe that "the impact of our science can be greatly amplified through professional training in conservation biology and through public education and outreach to inspire others to care for the world’s biological diversity."

So take a car-full of curious to the furthest metro stop, park, and ride the metro in to the Woodley/Park stop, and enjoy. A nice a la carte item: the beautifully diverse, truly American crowd of young and old, every race and religion.

DC Smithsonian museums.
It's hard to take in just one on a day trip, but they are wonderful and FREE (unlike many other similar museums around the world)

SOUTH WEST:
Lynchburg's Amazement Square.
Dine in an old train station by the river after you play for a few hours at the four level at this play place geared for kids 6 and under.

Take a day trip and report back to Betty!
BWB

Local indoor activities with the kids

The weather today belies this post, but here are some fun indoor activities to do with kids at home and around.

HOME:

Grab a bunch of picture books, chapter books, old-school encyclopedias, old Ranger Rick magazines, climb into bed and READ together!

Bake cookies. Our tradition is to bake cookies the first snow fall (which in the 'ville usually means a snow day).

Make forts! This was a favorite of mine as a child. Now after they construct and find books, I dig out the flashlight and we read together

Playdough. Dig into sensation with this therapeutic and creative art. (As you know from a previous blog, my attempts to make homemade playdough have failed - I invite a fail-safe recipe)

Paint! Paint! Paint!

Tell Us a Tale - on the radio on Sundays (which station? good question - I'll get back to you)

Invite a friend over and PLAY.

Play Hide and Seek

If all else fails, pop popcorn and watch the most AMAZING nature video I've ever seen: Planet Earth(just saw it on planetgreen.com for 59$ - that's a steal!)

ELSEWHERE:
Any used bookstore (check under "B" in the Betty directory)
The library check the storytimes at
Barnes and Noble storytime()
An indoor pool - Crowe, UVA's aquatic fitness center (members), ACAC (members)
Albemarle Therapy, 1102 Rosehill Dr. (they used to do playtime for the under 3 set on T, Th 9:30-11)
Cville Coffee (or as my son calls it: the turtle place)
Playground at the Mall (must have patience, lots of patience for this one, and hand sanitizer)
The Discovery Museum (check the Toddler Times for some great activities)
The Village Playhouse (at Hollymead Town Center)
Charlottesville Ice Park (kids as young as 3 can push a bucket around the ice)
Rockclimbing wall (I believe it's on Allied Street - haven't done this one yet)
Summer movie series (use caution) behind Kmart and the Paramount
Watch UVA Wrestling matches (over for now) or Hockey games at Cville Ice Park

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, so please COMMENT and the list and ideas will grow (BTW: I'm working on getting an easier web platform/forum for sharing ideas and such, but it will take some patience)

PEACE,
BWB

Some of my favorite pre-K books encouraging environmental stewardship

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (love it)
Recycle! by Gail Gibbons (her non-fiction is always beautifully straight-forward)
Don't Pollute by Stan and Jan Berenstain (old school green effort)
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon (informative and reader-friendly)
Welcome to the Green House by Jane Yolen (beautiful celebration of the tropical rainforest)
Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long (nice re-invention of the familiar consumerist lullaby)
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers (Chief Seattle's words)
People by Peter Spier (great gift book - how we are all connected to the human family)

Bring the list the next time you visit your favorite library or used bookstore (for listings check better world betty).

I welcome more suggestions!

Peace,
BWB

take the greener parenting path...

The kids and I had the morning to ourselves so the plan was to let Mom enjoy some Nia exercise at ACAC and then we could head to the bookstore and the park.

In keeping with the no-buying pledge we head to Read It Again Sam on the downtown mall, my favorite used bookstore in town. I like the way it's laid out and the staff is always friendly and helpful.

My 7-yr old was looking for a football book and my 4-yr old wanted a Star Wars book. Unfortunately, they only had young adult and adult books dealing with those topics.

But they have a great kid section, so after my youngest finishes his tantrum, we begin to browse. Soon we are immersed in George's imaginary adventure among 76 dragons you have to find. And my oldest found a book about King Cobras that he's thrilled with. I even find a reprint of the 1915 edition of "The Betty Fairy Book."

So we make our final selections and head to Revolutionary Soup for lunch(love that place because they use lots of local and organic produce, just wish they would dish the plastic utensils). On the way to the park we buy our "Brownie for Barack" and head to the new McGuffey park. What a simple, beautiful, green day of fun.

On the way home I want to hit home the lesson of today's adventure: the hidden message being that it's fun and important to go green.

I ask my 7yr old how much his snake book was at the original price. $18.95. How much did we pay? $9.50. I said, Wow. Because we paid half the normal price, we were able to buy two extra (used) Ms. Frizzle chapter books about dinosaurs and whales! Cool. If we went to Barnes and Noble we would have had to spend more gas (more fossil fuels) and buy a new book (dead tree) and we could only buy one (the economics of this my boys really get!) That's why it's a better choice to go to a local used book store, son. We helped save a tree AND we helped support Dave and Barbara at Read It Again Sam (check the Betty directory for store hours). It's a total win-win.

And although we didn't find exactly what we were looking for in the first place, the alternative we chose was equally interesting and worthwhile and better for the planet. Maybe that's a big part of what "going green" means.

Peace,
BWB

Musings on the art of re-gifting...

For the sake of the planet (and my no-new-buying pledge), please, Betty, can you make the art of the re-gift not only socially acceptable, but hip?

Because the first stumbling block on the road of my "1 year of no-buying pledge" came just three weeks after my pledge was official (Jan 1).

I had neglected to consider gift-giving.

Am I actually going to find recycled items or re-gift items I already have at home for an entire 12 months for every birthday, holiday, special occasion, or baby shower?

The prospect is especially challenging when you gaze out at the landscape that is the raising of two young children. Look closely, you can see a lot of store-bought cakes (hello artificial sweeteners), balloons (the favorite choking material of the beloved brown pelican), toys and gifts (can you say large department store that enjoys bright plastic, over packaging and massive life-size posters of Hannah Montana?!), and cheap goody bags (with made in China written all over them). It looks dismal indeed for the parent who is trying to green even the most un-green of events: the birthday party. Luckily, we don't have to worry about giving one until next month. But this month we were invited to one. What to do?

I hark back to my own 30th birthday party, when my good friend gave me a full set of plastic summer tumblers that she had clearly regifted to me in perhaps a last-minute gift panic.

Did I keep those hideous tumblers for an obligatory amount of time thinking I would one day use them? YES.
Did I donate them to the local charity soon after realizing that day would never come? CERTAINLY.
Do I love her just the same, whether she buys me something for my birthday or not? YES.

Ah, there's the rub, my green friends!

Easy for me to say.

I have to admit -- I am a little gun-shy of the re-gift because I have experienced the awkward and embarasssing situation of being outed.

I'll tell you the tale. We were at my friend's son's birthday party having a grand time managing the chaos, when all came to a hush for the concluding activity: the opening of the presents. When Johnny (names have changed to protect the innocent) opened up our gift, my precocious three-year old yells, "We got that last Christmas, but we're giving it to you!" Ouch. I was speechless with my smile suddenly frozen. It hurt.

But you know what? Life went on. Will my friend likely donate or re-gift this present? Probably. And does my friend love me just the same? Certainly.

So Johnny's birthday arrives this year and I mentally eliminate re-gifting as an option given last year's outing and I ask her what Johnny wants for his birthday this year. Answer: a ten-dollar bionicle. Simple and it's what he wants. Great.

Then I remember my no-buying pledge. Hmm. Searching for a loophole... And here it is: this is one of those times I made a choice to take the path of lesser evil.

On the one hand: re-gift an item that I know he really doesn't want. On the other hand: choose something that he will at least appreciate and use. On the one hand: give in to the magnetic pull of Target or Toys R Us vs. smaller locally-owned toy store Shenanigans with familiar, friendly faces. On the one hand: gobs of overpackaged bright plastic testorone-laden toys. On the other hand: one bionicle wrapped in a reused party bag with our recycled paper gift tag.

Given the options, I do not regret sending my husband in (;-) to purchase of one uber tough-guy bionicle. Besides, I even managed to play clean-up crew and brought the bag back home from the party unnoticed.

Green report card: B for the effort.

Best,
BWB