Natural Papa » environment

Manly Skill: Protecting Our Kids from Harmful Chemicals

Derek Markham — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:55:04 +0000

I think we might be able to agree that one of the stereotypical roles of the man in a family is protection. We don’t have to physically protect our families so much these days (I don’t have to beat up the bad guys very often, all of the cave bears are extinct, I believe, and we’ve managed to pretty much wipe out the wolves and mountain lions).

So unless you can count those instances when things go bump in the night and we’re called upon to investigate, it may be just a symbolic role.

But what about protecting our families from things in the environment, such as toxic chemicals in our food, water, personal care and household cleaners? That’s pretty manly.

I think keeping the family safe in that way qualifies as defending the family. It’s strange to me how few men are concerned with keeping their kids safe from substances that could affect their health for the rest of their lives, when so many moms are adamant about it. Perhaps it’s the stereotype of men being tougher than women, or the (mistaken) idea that the woman (the mom) should be solely responsible for the health of the children. Whatever the reason, I rarely see any dads blogging about or talking to others about the issue.

So when I was asked if I would become a Parent Ambassador for Healthy Child Healthy World, I felt that I really ought to ‘man up’ and be involved. Because it isn’t only up to the moms. Fathers are also role models and defenders of kids, and we ought to know about the things that may affect our children and do what we can to keep them safe.

If you don’t already know about Healthy Child Healthy World, it’s a non-profit which inspires parents to protect their young children from harmful chemicals, both outside and inside the home.

“We are leading a movement that educates parents, supports protective policies, and engages communities to make responsible decisions, simple everyday choices, and well-informed lifestyle improvements to create healthy environments where children and families can flourish.

Healthy Child Healthy World exists because more than 125 million Americans, especially children, now face an historically unprecedented rise in chronic disease and illness such as cancer, autism, asthma, birth defects, ADD / ADHD, and learning and developmental disabilities. Credible scientific evidence increasingly points to environmental hazards and household chemicals as causing and contributing to many of these diseases.”

The original request to be a Parent Ambassador said that they wanted input from us to guide their programs and outreach to better serve parents and engage them online. My first thought was that it’s not my place as a dad blogger (or papa blogger, to be more accurate) to enter the world of (mostly) mama bloggers in these efforts. But my second thought was that yes, it is well within my role as defender of my family, and that I might just possibly have something to add from a father’s point of view.

So what can you do to get involved and learn more?

Follow @Healthy_Child on Twitter
Participate in the Thursday #HealthyChild Twitter chats (and possibly win some free goodies!)
Become a Fan on Facebook
Read (and subscribe to) the Healthy Child Healthy World blog.
Check out the 5 Easy Steps you can take in your home
Read the Healthy Child Healthy World book
Download the free Pocket Guides to refer to when shopping
Take steps from Erin Brockovich’s Action Kit

I’m proud to be a defender of the children, a Parent Ambassador, and I’ll keep sharing the great information I learn from Healthy Child with you here on Natural Papa.

Radical Changes to Make Every Day Earth Day

Derek Markham — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:49:42 +0000

I might as well come clean here by stating that I am not an environmentalist.

Many people have referred to me as one, and perhaps I might be considered an environmental activist for some of the work I do, but… I do not think of myself in those terms.

It’s too constricting for me. And because of the dogmatic attitude prevalent in many groups (‘you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem’), I get really turned off by most ‘-isms’.

So I’m not an environmentalist, but I am:

A man who is tired of seeing so many ‘green’ bandaids attempting to deal with the consequences of our actions, instead of addressing the root of the issues. More ‘green’ stuff we don’t need is just more stuff.
A father who wants to leave his children a healthy world, not one in which toxic chemicals are labeled as safe, and unpronounceable substances are considered food ingredients.
A naturalist who wants to see wilderness preserved for my grandchildren, not sold to the highest bidder.
A person of integrity who wants to see corporations and the people who run them or invest in them held accountable for the results of their operations, just as we as individuals are held accountable for our actions.
An independent thinker who wants to see people question everything in their lives. Everything.
A skeptic who thinks partisan politics and blind patriotism help people to to get away with thievery and murder, from our genocide of Native Americans, up to our present day military industrial complex which is awash in greed and violence.
A logical person who is sickened by the wasteful attitudes in our world. Waste not, want not.
A Westerner who thinks that the rape of our natural resources is a travesty, from grazing animals on public lands, to selling timber, water, and mineral rights to companies so they can turn a profit.

I’m a bit cynical when it comes to events such as Earth Day, as it has become an event used to sell more so-called ‘green’ products. I understand why people like to celebrate Earth Day, but I don’t see the correlation between people attending it and radical change being made. Sure, it’s fun to go and listen to free music, drink beer, and pick up a bunch of free swag from the booths, but does that translate to people taking action when they get home, or the next day?

After years of being involved with organizations that show up for Earth Day events to try to educate people, I’ve found that unless it’s easy and free, nobody’s really committing to changing their life for something as vague as ‘saving the Earth’ (I say vague, because how do we know when it’s saved, and how do we measure our efforts?) We may donate some money to a non-profit, but for the most part, we aren’t willing to donate our time or our energy to something without immediate personal benefit. Is that pessimistic? Perhaps. Is it realistic? I think so.

With that in mind, I came up with my list of truly radical things we can do to make every day Earth Day. They aren’t necessarily easy, and they aren’t for most people (or ‘mostpeople’, as e.e. cummings puts it), but they are definitely achievable with some work, and will also translate into saving money.

Radical Changes to Make Every Day Earth Day:

Build and use a humanure toilet, composting all your bodily wastes and returning it to the soil. You can leave your current stool in place and just not use it, or reserve it for guests only. Think of how much water is wasted with every flush of the toilet, and add in all of the energy and chemical inputs to treat and clean that water again once it’s used.
Turn off the hot water to your washing machine. Use cold water water only, and choose a biodegradable laundry soap. Your clothes will get just as clean without having to burn coal or gas to heat the water.
Run your washer drain hose into a section of your yard, creating a mini-wetland and treating the graywater at the same time. Note: don’t do this if you’re using conventional laundry soap, as you’ll probably do more harm than good.
Unplug your clothes dryer and install a clothesline. Yes, your neighbors might have a cow because they will see your clothes (and see you saving money and energy), but think of it as an educational opportunity. Clothes feel better and last longer when they don’t get spun around at high heat with a fragrance-infused dryer sheet.
Purchase a plastic spray bottle, such as is used as a plant sprayer or household cleaner sprayer. Fill it with water and add some drops of lavender or rosemary (or both) essential oils. Instead of turning on the tap to wash your face or hands, simply spray on and wipe off – you’ll be able to wash up with about a tablespoon of water.
Don’t take a shower every single day. There are probably some occupations where this might seem necessary, but for most of us, it’s just overkill. If we stink after one day, it may be that we need to look more at our diet and lifestyle instead of showering more. The same thing goes for washing hair. If you use a lot of hair products like gel or hair spray that need to be washed out every day, consider changing your hairdo.
Build or buy a solar hot water heater. The easiest method for personal use is to purchase a camping solar shower (3 to 5 gallon capacity) and use that for your showers. Fill it with water, place in the sun for several hours (depends on the weather), and then hang up in your shower when ready to use. We used one of these for about 6 years, and a 5 gallon shower would last for two adults and one or two children.
Refuse to buy products that are over-packaged. Buy in bulk when possible, and always keep a shopping bag with you so you don’t need a disposable plastic bag.
Build a tiny house out of scrounged and scavenged materials. Consider living in an alternative manner, such as in a camper, a tipi, or a tent. Alternatively, close off or rent out part of your house, living as simply as possible and saving money on utilities at the same time.
Park your car, unhook the battery and hang up the keys. Buy or rebuild a used bicycle and use that for your transportation needs. This may mean changing your habits or where you live, but it will save money and resources while keeping you fit at the same time.
Purchase as much of your food as possible from local growers. Supplement that by growing as much of your own food as possible, whether it’s just sprouts or greens or a full-blown garden.
Don’t buy shit you don’t need. Period. Instead of purchasing cheaply made items, and lots of them, buy quality items made with pride by craftsmen or artisans. Shop at thrift stores, yard sales, or make your own.
Forget ‘Free Tibet’. Leave the bumper stickers alone and actually work for change in your community instead. Free your mind, meet your neighbors, and be the change you want to see.

Please don’t leave here thinking that I believe I’m better or greener, or more ‘anything’ than anyone else. I’m just tired of seeing half-assed solutions to problems we’ve created, and I think it’s high time we changed our ways.

Image: AndYaDontStop at Flickr

The PB&J Campaign: Saving the Planet, One Meal at a Time

Derek Markham — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000

I’ve got a thing about peanut butter. I love it, almost to a fault.

So what better way to start off the new year than with a post about peanut butter? And not just about peanut butter, but about reducing the environmental destruction that comes as a result of our dietary choices.

Regular readers of Natural Papa have probably figured out by now that I’m a vegetarian (11+ years) and except for the use of honey, a vegan. But I don’t preach it to others, as I think people need to figure out what works for them and follow that diet (however, I am amazed at how many people don’t consider changing their diet when it is negatively affecting their health or their energy levels).

Here’s a cool campaign about simply reducing the amount of animal products you consume – not necessarily becoming a vegetarian or a vegan: the PB&J Campaign.

“Everything we eat comes from plants, whether we eat the plants directly or through an animal intermediary. The basic problem is that animals are inefficient at converting plants into meat, milk, and eggs. Relatively little of what they eat ends up in what you eat because animals use most of their food to keep them alive – to fuel their muscles so they can stand up and walk around, to keep their hearts beating, to keep their brains working.

That cow, pig, or chicken has to eat a lot more protein, carbohydrates, and other nutrients than it yields in meat, eggs, or milk. The result is that it takes several pounds of corn and soy to produce one pound of beef, or one pound of eggs, one pound of milk, etc. This holds true even if we’re measuring calories or protein; it takes several times the calories or protein in livestock feed to produce the calories or protein we get from the meat, eggs, or milk”

At the heart of the campaign is a pledge to replace one or more animal-based meals each week with a plant-based meal. There’s no hard-sell on the vegetarian diet, just a simple calculation of water savings, CO2 emissions reduction, and land spared from from deforestation, over-grazing, and pesticide and fertilizer pollution.

And despite the name, you don’t have to eat a PB&J sandwich (although they are one of the tastiest creations around). Just pick something to eat that has less impact on the planet than an animal-based meal – even if it’s only once a day or several times a week.

Check out the PB&J Campaign and take the pledge.

Mmm… peanut butter.

Image: certified su at Flickr

Hank D and the Bee: Protecting our Trees

Joe Mohr — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:13:04 +0000

Visit Joe’s cartoon archive.

Toxic Soup: Chemistry’s Dirty Little Secret

Derek Markham — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:43:02 +0000

Our health, and that of our families and friends, may be affected every single day by elements out of our control, such as chemical contamination of our water supply, the soil, the air, and all of the unpronounceable ingredients in our food.

But so far, the only people taking notice of this are those working in environmental health and advocacy, so I’ve got to give kudos to Man Bites Dog Films for producing the documentary “Toxic Soup” and helping to push the message into the mainstream.

“Every day in America a total of 42 billion pounds of chemicals are produced or imported for commercial and industrial uses. Of that, over 62,000 chemicals were ‘grandfathered’ into commerce as part of theToxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) without testing their impact on public health or the environment. As a result, in 2005, the CDC found over 148 chemicals in the blood stream and breast milk of sampled Americans.”

“‘Toxic Soup’ connects the current spikes in childhood cancer, autism, and other serious illnesses with the business practices of Fortune 500 companies: DuPont, Bayer, Ashland Oil, and Massey Energy. In Parkersburg, West Virginia, PE teacher Joe Kiger uncovers PFOA (also known as C8) in his community’s drinking water, an unregulated chemical that turns out to have contaminated 96 percent of Americans’ blood.”

“It’s David versus Goliath as this eco-doc follows the lives of everyday Americans fighting to protect their air, water and blood from chemical contamination. Along the way we march with Jim Carrey, pull a political prank on Hillary Clinton, and talk shop with filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and former president Bill Clinton.”

“”Toxic Soup” was filmed on location in over eight different states: California, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Indiana, & Washington DC.”

For more about Toxic Soup and Man Bites Dog Films, head over to Toxic Soup Movie, follow them on Twitter, or see their Facebook Fan Page.

Image: MBD Films

Learn More about Derek at Grass Stain Guru

Derek Markham — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:43:47 +0000

I feel very fortunate to be able to share some of my story with others, and Bethe from Grass Stain Guru was kind enough to feature an interview with me on her site. Bethe is an award-winning author, web producer, and eLearning designer, and believes “nature is the best therapist and teacher any of us will ever have.”

She asked some great questions of me, so if you’re interested in learning a bit more about me and my take on simple living, kids and nature, and my favorite things to do on my day off, please head over there and check out the full interview. Here’s a short excerpt:

“What type of kid were you? And how do you think that impacted your path to become a writer and environmental advocate?

I was a very curious kid, interested in science and finding out how things worked, and I read a lot. I was never satisfied with a single source of information, so I learned to research what I was interested in. I think this made me a little more skeptical of the things I was taught in school – I wanted to learn from ‘first sources’, not some regurgitated revisionist history (like Columbus ‘discovering’ America, or the romantic version of cowboys ‘winning’ the west).

As I got older, I started finding out that some of what we’re taught in school was not accurate, but rather reflected the ’shiny happy’ version of the modern consumer. This made me hungry to find out what the dissenters thought, and in turn, to try to express myself through writing.”

Read the full interview: Chatting With Natural Papa, Derek Markham

Green Living Ideas and Twilight Earth Form New Major Environmental Network, Simple Earth Media

Derek Markham — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:25:20 +0000

Sean Daily, CEO of Green Living Ideas, Inc. and Adam Shake, founder of Twilight Earth, have teamed up to create online environmental media company Simple Earth Media.

A group of the Web’s leading environmental blogs, podcasts, and social media outposts today announced that they have combined to form a single environmental publishing and social media powerhouse. The resulting new entity, named Simple Earth Media, includes top environmental media and publishing entities such as Green Living Ideas, Blue Living Ideas, Twilight Earth, GreenTalk Radio, EcoTech Daily, and Natural Papa.

Simple Earth Media’s brand mission is to create a compelling, organic, educational network of environmental online venues that engage an ever-growing audience concerned with sustainable lifestyle habits and business practices.

What makes Simple Earth Media different from other environmental blog networks is that each one of the channels are fully established and have their own social media followers.

“Bringing the Green Living Ideas and Twilight Earth site networks together was a natural fit all around,” said Sean Daily, Simple Earth Media’s CEO and President. Daily continued, “Adam and I share a very similar outlook and perspective, not only on the type of editorial content that is necessary and relevant for the future of humanity and the planet, but also in regards to the types of companies we want to work with as sponsors and advertisers supporting our network. We are also really fortunate to have a combined staff of the best writers in the business.”

In addition to the sizeable daily web traffic and newsletter subscribers of the constituent sites, the combined social media audience and following of the Simple Earth Media network is unprecedented, totaling over 50,000 Twitter followers in addition to tens of thousands more friends and subscribers on FaceBook, LinkedIn and other social media platforms — making it one of the largest online environmental social media communities in the world.

The Simple Earth Media family of websites and audio/video podcasts (Including the popular GreenTalk Radio Show, which is syndicated on numerous sites including Apple iTunes, PersonalLifeMedia.com and Sustainablog.org), cover the topics that conscious consumers are most concerned with, including sustainable living tips and ideas, alternative energy and alternative fuel vehicles, water, ocean, and marine life conservation, clean tech, environmental news, and natural health and parenting topics.

“Our success is measured on the change that we make in helping to protect and nurture our environment, our families and our health,” says Adam Shake, founder of Twilight Earth. “It’s not about saving the environment, it’s about saving ourselves. Clean air, water and soil are basic human rights. We’ve got to continue to fight for those rights.”

Simple Earth Media employs some of the Web’s best-known and most highly-regarded environmental writers, including Derek Markham, Jennifer Lance, Ariel Schwartz, Susan Kraemer, Scott James, Wendy Gabriel and numerous others. The company’s tagline is “New Media Making a Difference.”

Coming up, Green Talk Radio will be interviewing top environmentalists and sustainability experts such as Fabien Cousteau, Celine Cousteau and Ed Begley Jr. In addition, we will have reporters and journalists on the ground in Copenhagen to bring you the most up to date and original content in reference to these historical talks.

As a family of environmental websites, Simple Earth Media can better assist you in finding the information you’re looking for, to help educate you on the changing world you live in. As always, we continue to offer our support to you, our readers, as we continue to grow.

Here’s to working together in a much bigger way, and to making positive change to our planet and its inhabitants!

Green Living Ideas provides ideas, tips, and information to help you improve the environmental sustainability of every aspect of your life: home energy, green building and remodeling, cars, food, waste recycling—and everything in between.

Twilight Earth is the place to go for in depth Environmental news, advocacy and activism with a deep Green editorial twist. We realize that environmentalism is less about saving the planet than it is about saving ourselves and it’s through the protection of our environment that we ultimately protect each other. Twilight Earth is about clean Air, Water and Soil, three basic human rights that are essential to our survival.

Blue Living Ideas is the most comprehensive water-focused site ever assembled and is the ultimate Web resource for information, tips, news, and events related to Earth’s most precious resource — Water. Planet Earth and human beings alike are comprised of over 70% water, and issues such as the availability of adequate supplies of drinking water for Earth’s inhabitants, water pollution, droughts, and marine life protection are among today’s most critical environmental and humanitarian concerns.

EcoTech Daily is the continuing journal of a green revolution. We’re here to help you make sense of change. We’ll keep you in touch with the latest green technology, gadgets, and news. Track the hottest CleanTech startups. Learn about alternative energy technologies that can power your community’s future. Discover cool and useful green gadgets designed to make your life simpler and more eco-friendly.

GreenTalk Radio is a Internet radio show/podcast that helps listeners in their efforts to lead more eco-friendly lifestyles. Navigate the explosion of green and ecology-oriented products and services with host Sean Daily. Sean entertains and educates you with smart choices on products and services in the green world through interviews with innovative and caring companies, authors and experts from around the world. Green Talk Radio series is also distributed on iTunes.

Natural Papa focuses on natural parenting and fatherhood, home remedies for common children’s ailments, homeschooling, green and simple living for families, and natural foods. We hope to be a valuable reference for parents and parents to be, and to engage in a conversation with our readers about issues in raising a family in an environmentally friendly way.

Treehuggers, Dirt Worshipers, and… Nature Nerds?

Derek Markham — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:20 +0000

In the green movement, like they say, it takes all types. And whatever the flavor of environmentalist you are, there’s a name for it. I used to hear treehugger a lot, as well as people being referred to as crunchy, and I like to say I’m a dirt worshiper. But I heard the term nature nerd for the first time yesterday, in a post on The Nature Lady blog:

Protecting the planet and all of its creepy crawly inhabitants is not only sociably responsible AND socially acceptable but it is also suddenly cool.

Sure, there are many different shades of ‘green’, and environmental responsibility takes many forms. Every day citizens and celebrities alike are proud to proclaim their passion for solar energy and hybrid automobiles. But how many of them are ready to come out of the closet when it comes to the more nerdish pastimes such as bird watching and butterfly gardening? How many of them are ready to admit that they not only hug trees, but they also fondle flowers and even caress critters from time to time? – You May Already be a Nature Nerd

So add flower fondler to the list… I’m definitely prone to that as well.

What’s your favorite term for a ‘green’ person?

Image: johntrainorat Flickr

Please Give Just $1 For The Charities That You Help To Choose

Derek Markham — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:00:13 +0000

As writers, we know that part of good stewardship is sharing information, but even the most intelligent among us can not make change without DOING something.

So The Good Human & Twilight Earth, along with The Grass Stain Guru, Lighter Footstep, My Green Side, The Smart Mama, A Little Greener Every Day, Fake Plastic Fish, Allies Answers, and Natural Papa have teamed up to carry our message with one united strong voice. The message is that there are great organizations out there which are suffering in this economic downturn through decreased donations…and they need our help! So we have decided to give you, our readers, a voice and a choice. We have decided to take on a very simple fundraising mission, and we are asking you to donate just $1.00.

A single dollar; that’s all.

Who cannot afford a buck even in these times? We know you can spare a dollar to help out our fellow humans!

But how do we all decide which charities to give 100% of all monies raised to?

Well, we are going to put it to a vote and let you guys decide. The 10 websites participating have chosen 5 charities for all donors to vote for, and we are going to let you guys choose which two of them will receive the all monies donated.

Our purpose in doing this is three-fold

It gives YOU a voice. As loyal readers and stewards of our environment, we want to offer you the opportunity to make a difference without breaking the bank.
It gives the two charities with the most votes some much appreciated funds to continue their mission
It allows all of us an opportunity to connect as a community of like-minded people working for the common good of ourselves, our families and our planet.

If the community of folks who care about our planet cannot come together to rise up to a challenge, who will? That is why we are asking you for a $1 donation. While $1 may seem insignificant all by itself, by pooling our resources together we really can make a difference in these tough economic times. $1 is less than the price of a candy bar and can usually be found under the seat cushions of your couch. Won’t you help 2 of these charities with your $1 donation? (Now, if you want to give more, please – feel free. We won’t stop you! And by all means, send this to everyone you know so we can raise even more!)

Below you will find a poll and a Paypal donation link asking you to choose which of the 5 charities your favorite is. We ask that you please donate a dollar to the charity pool if you are going to vote, and know that even if your absolute favorite does not finish first or second, all the money donated will be going to worthwhile causes. If everyone we know who reads our sites, our Twitter feeds, our Facebook sites, etc. donates just $1, imagine the impact we can have as a group. And please, spread the word!

[Poll and donation link removed - Fundraiser is over - Thanks for participating!]

Please take a moment to vote for your favorite and to donate just a single dollar to these charities. Times are tough and our collective might can really help them out. The results will be tallied two weeks from today, and we will write another article detailing the amounts and the two charities who garnered the most votes and will be receiving the money collected.

It’s only $1, so please donate!

Image:iChaz at Flickr under CC license

My Entry in the Eco Champion Campaign Could Win $15,000 for a Green Cause – Please Vote and Share!

Derek Markham — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:00:40 +0000

The winner of the Eco Champion Challenge will get to pick the recipient of a $15,000 donation, and voting takes place through March 25th.

Elect an Eco Champion – Round 1 Brickfish

I sure would like to be able to give that to a deserving organization, so please help me out by voting for my entry and sharing it with others in your network via Facebook, Twitter, and email. I won’t forget all of the little people, I promise.

Of course, if I’m picked as one of the winners, I might get a way-cool North Face jacket out of it also… which is nice.

Natural Papa » environment

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