Walk Softly

A Wake-Up Story, by Healthy Child Healthy World

2010-02-06T15:04:00.003-06:00

WOW!
It has been about a year since my last entry.
We now have 2 healthy kids stuck inside most of the time because of the huge piles of snow outside!Bronte almost 3 and Brendan is 7 months today(will have to add some pic's soon too). We cloth diaper Brendan from day 4 and Bronte will be graduating from her cloth diapers soon too.

So many wonderful memories and growth moments have happened over the last year. Bronte loves her brother and I think Brendan loves her too from the way he laughs with her through-out the day.

Here is a wonderful and short video of why I think before I buy,use, eat, clean or have my kids play with anything these days.

This video is from one of my favorite organizations that educates people and collects resources about making conscience living choices for our kids and the world called Healthy Child Healthy World. Last year I spoke at two events using their wonderful materials! In January, I spoke at a local moms group of about 30 moms on Healthy Home Resolutions and in April, a women's retreat of about 70 from different age ranges focusing on Spring Cleaning choices. I used HCHW's wonderful materials and a sample kit called a Healthy Home Party that includes a DVD with interactive printable resources, Mothering magazines, coupons to pass out and samples of healthy alternative items for food choices, baby clothes and bedding options, lotions, and cleaning products worth about $250- but you only have to donate a $20 tax deductible donation. I am thinking about doing a party again this spring. We will see!

Watch this and pass on!
A Wake-Up Story, by Healthy Child Healthy World

A Christmas letter for Valentine's Day

2009-02-11T14:49:00.012-06:00

We greet you this year remembering the many blessings we are ever grateful for.

Family We visited Gavin’s parents and sister in WA last January. Lisa’s parents came out for Bronte’s birthday in March, and we met them again in Minneapolis in Aug. We also had Gavin’s parents out in Sept. Gavin’s grandmother, Edith Ellis, and her friend, visited us over Memorial Day to meet Bronte for the first time. She is Bronte’s only surviving great-grandparent and enjoyed her so much that day! She sent us an antique kids table decorated with ABC’s and nursery rhymes that she had as a child and that Gavin’s dad, Jim, used growing up.

Friends We have had many opportunities to reconnect with friends during our travels this year for church meetings, retreats, and via technology. We’ve been a bit behind the times with some technological communications in the past, but recently we have found technology more of a help to reconnect with those who are dear to us that live around the country and the world. Life and time is so short.

Service This fall, we celebrated 5 years living in Iowa and Gavin serving at the Covenant Church here. Lisa spends most of her time with Bronte and various responsibilities with church and community activities. She is also very active in parenting issues like green cleaning options and handmade and safer toys for young children.

Among many highlights this year, all three of us went on a 5 day mission trip with a group from our church, a friend from Chicago, and led by a group called Youthworks. We served at a reservation in Rosebud, SD that is one of the most depressed in the country. As part of the church’s first mission trip, we led activities for a kids club and did work projects. With a one-year-old, we learned from God that if you don’t decide to listen and act when the opportunity arises, you may never get the chance. Sometimes you have to say no to your everyday routine and stop worrying in order to be open to new opportunities that will change your course. We were surprised and thankful by all that we learned on the trip as Christ’s humble servants and as new parents!

Marriage and Family We also celebrated 9 years of marriage this May and are still surprised by what we learn from each other each day and what is still to come in the years ahead.

Adorable Feline Taize, our cat, turned 5 this fall and is learning to share her favorite spaces more with Bronte. She is very helpful letting us know when Bronte is doing something she does not approve of.

Bronte’s New Discoveries She is now 21 months and her 2^nd birthday, March 29, is on winter’s back door. She enjoys so many new discoveries in life like singing parts of the ABC song and counting (most of the numbers) to around 13 as we walk up the stairs. Reading is always a fave with this “little girl.” Bronte’s been using her left hand a lot so we will see if she becomes a true lefty like her mom and mother-in-law, Monica. What she is not able to understand yet is that we look forward to her becoming a big sister around July 10^th this coming year!

ellis’ recommend

Bronte

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Ella Jenkins’ Multi-cultural

Children’s Songs

Snack Time by Barenake

d Ladies

Anything Elmo • Wall-E • Nick Jr’s. Curious Buddies

The Muppet Show • My Friends Tigger and Pooh

Gavin

Tempting Faith by David Kuo • Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren

Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright • Scarlet by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Dark Knight • Once • Buster Keaton’s The General

Lisa

thegreenguide.com from National Geographic

Healthy Child Healthy World at healthychild.org

Buy Handmade on Etsy.com

maryjanesfarm.org

What is "Plastic Soup"? and what is it doing in the ocean?

2008-12-05T14:00:00.001-06:00

The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" was discovered about 10 years ago by Charles Moore. Moore is the founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF).
ABC's Nightline aired a piece this past Christmas week featuring him called Disposable Island.

I heard about these massive long "garbage patches" of trash that move with the ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean a few years ago. This "soup" does wash up on shores all across the Pacific and leaves trails that can be miles long of plastic syringes, toothbrushes, Styrofoam coolers and everything else under the sun. I wanted to throw-up then as I did watching a recent PBS news program where I saw birds and marine life devastated by eating this stuff that they cannot get out of their system. PBS News Hour:with Jim Lehrer, reported Thursday, November 13, 2008, about this international human waste problem and the scientists who are finding out where it is coming from, how is it affecting marine life, and what can be done to clean it up.
CHARLES MOORE, Ocean Researcher says:

I think it's fair to say that the phenomena exists from just off the coast of China all the way to a few hundred miles from the coast of California. It's at least one-and-a-half times the size of the United States, approximately 5 million square miles . .

Another reason to cut back on ALL plastics and non-recycleables all around.
What do you think you know about plastic pollution? Take the Plastic recycling Quiz at PBS.

Try to say NO to new things and YES to old or used things.

2008-11-13T19:13:00.001-06:00

Toxic waste is still a problem with recycling computers and other technologies. View or read about the 60 Minutes report that aired Sunday, November 9, 2008. We will be thinking twice about getting any new technology items in the future or research computer recycling programs first because of the waste problem. Find safe and responsible resources to recycle your old techie stuff at the Basel Action Network (BAN) that was featured on 60 minutes as well. Unfortunately, there are currently no recyclers in Iowa on their list. Iowans would have to go to Illinois, Nebraska, or Minnesota to go to one of BAN'S approved technology recyclers. Maybe we can encourage recycling companies in Iowa that recycle technology to seek BAN approval.

We are in the minority of our 30-something peers who have all the gadgets. Many of them may still be paying for them on their credit cards. Even older people have these big flat screen TVs that we are not buying into.We never had Nintendo as kids, X box, MP3 players, i pods, or i phones. Some of these things look so neat but we do not need them.

Our claim to fame is our very used big TV(that works great) donated to Gavin in 1997 from an elderly person who lived in the retirement community next to the college we went to in Issaqua, WA. We got our first cellphones when our daughter was born in 2007. Although Gavin did have one for work in Chicago that was like a leash. We were on our second computer when Gavin was in Seminary in 2001. It was having problems a few years ago and could not keep up the pace.That is the problem with updating technology. The old has to go somewhere. We are still debating about how/where to recycle it safely. We do have a newer laptop from 2007. We did get a digital camera in 2003 just before we went on vacation sailing in the San Juan Islands, WA with my in laws. We purchased a used record/cassette player a few years ago from a garage sale when our town had their annual clean-up week. We are so thankful that we got it then so we can listen to our old kids records with our daughter. She loves The Muppet Show! We have mostly used clothes and many toddler items that are used. We can go on and on about this one another time. Maybe for holiday gift giving ideas sometime.

Barack Greets Bronte

2008-11-11T16:32:00.002-06:00

Whether you were in support of him or not, Barack Obama will be our 44th President and he now needs our whole countries support more than ever as he begins to lead our country to work on issues that can not be put aside any longer. We are in two wars oversees costing us billions each week with precious lives of service men and woman and innocent civilians, we are diving deeper into an economic crisis, we have the opportunities to build-up our relations internationally and to make an impact on the climate change crisis and other global health issues that affect us just as much as other countries around the world. Fewf!

The above picture can not describe in a million words what we were feeling that day, what millions of Americans felt on election night a week ago, what the world is thinking about the future of our country right now and so on.

So there we were at the Storm Lake High School Gym on Monday, December 17, 2007. In the face of who would be our 44th President. I look at this picture now and wonder, what was Bronte thinking as Barack Obama talked with us (I'm hungry, it is past time for lunch, do you have my favorite Earth's Best baby food?). I know our thoughts were racing as we were trying to think of what WE wanted to say to him.

My mother always says to my sister and I how she has very few pictures of her childhood and family memories. Just a few formal pictures here and there until she got ahold of her own camera. She took photography classes in college and now teaches it to her own art students. I think of my mother and her camera as I look back on the day we had the once in a lifetime chance to meet our future President and how much one photo can describe a million words.

Back to the history of Storm Lake in December. We began living in Iowa in 2003 and the election of 2004 had candidates coming and going until the election came and went. I did participate in the Democratic caucus 2003 and was picked to be a delegate to our county caucus/convention. Pastor stayed independent. We felt and knew soon after that election what Iowa was all about and what the "First in the Nation" primary nickname really meant. We did not want to pass it up again when the election of 2008 would come so quickly. We casually said in the primary year that we would try to see as many of the candidates in every party as possible. You never know who would be the one! We could not keep that promise even though they were in our back door each week at times. The dates and times seemed to never work out unless Gavin were to take a 1/2 day off of work here and there or if I were to stay home with Bronte.

Summer was over and when December came we had only seen Edwards in October I think. January was getting close and we already new who we where going to stand for at the caucus. We looked at the Obama calendar one day and saw that he would be in Storm Lake before lunch on a Monday, Gavin's day off ! This was a date to not pass up as Christmas was getting closer! We new this was going to be a big deal for us so we tried not to make it a big deal. We got into the high school very early so we would get good seats. Little did we know that we would be seated right where Obama would be greeting people first before his speech. We were also in perfect site of the TV and newspaper cameras. A few local reporters came right up to us to take pictures of Bronte with her blue sticker of support. I guess we were the perfect all American family showing support. She had a great time playing with the daughters of the BVU professor who introduced Obama.

So what did Barack say to us, you might ask?
After greeting and shaking hands, Barack asked Gavin what our daughters name was. We told him and he said to Gavin as I was taking the priceless shot "like the author Charlotte Bronte? you must be a literature teacher?"Gavin replied back,"Actually I am a pastor in the area". Obama responded, "Well, there you go." After meeting Bronte, Barack went to the podium and began his 45 minute stump speech, followed by about 20 minutes of questions and answers. After he was done, Barack came right back to greet us again. He smiled, Gavin thanked him for his speech, he said he was glad to be here, then turned to Bronte and said "Nice to meet you Bronte!"

Cloth Diapering 1 Year Anniversary

2008-11-09T17:00:00.001-06:00

The beginning of November marks our cloth diaper 1 year anniversary.

We began using cloth diapers exclusively just over a year ago when my daughter was 7 months old and before her first Halloween. I began looking at cloth options before she was born in March 2007, but did not commit to the investment until after months of reading and looking at different options on-line, sampling a few brands (which was a good choice before buying several dozen), and talking to other parents who use cloth. Summer went by too fast and when September came we decided that we could not waste another dollar on disposable diapers if we wanted to go cloth. We made the cloth switch to a WONDERFUL company Motherease.com. After seeing their add in Mothering Magazine, I purchased an introductory sample package of 1 One Size diaper and 1 Air Flow cover. My husband and I were completely sold on their diaper for so many reasons. We bought a few brands I wish I did not try, but again, it was good to compare the varieties before purchasing several dozen.

The biggest reasons we like these diapers are (some of these are taken directly from the mother-ease website):

1. One Size Bamboo Diaper-This is the same design as their One Size diaper but made from specially knit bamboo terry. This terry is knit with 100% bamboo yarns in contact with your baby’s skin and polyester knit into the base of the fabric for durability. The fibre content is 85% bamboo, 15% polyester. Bamboo fibre is considered a sustainable textile that has antibacterial properties and grows without the need of herbicides and pesticides. Size - One Size fits from 8-35 lbs. Absorbency - 13 oz.

2. All Mother-ease products are made in Ontario, Canada using 100% green power supplied by bullfrogpower.com. Mother-ease® Inc. has manufactured environmentally friendly, reusable cotton diapers (nappies) since 1991.

3. Guarantee – which helped me when I was able to return ALL of my diapers after 4 months when they recalled the first generation of bamboo diapers because of a weak seam problem other cloth users and I noticed and they changed.
We guarantee all our products against defects and will be happy to repair or replace the product should this occur.

4. Mother-ease® Inc. is a family-owned business located just outside of Niagara Falls. Twenty employees staff our 10,000 square foot factory which comprises offices, manufacturing facilities and a warehouse.

The woman I talked to on the phone to make my order was so helpful to customize my order. We bought a bulk package of mother-ease bamboo One Size diapers, a few bamboo Sandy’s in two sizes that are a little more fitted and Air Flow covers that come in several sizes and cute eco prints. All the diapers we ordered have adjustable snaps, not Velcro. We sampled one Velcro Rikki Wrap cover with our bulk package and decided that they would wear out more and clothes would get caught on them. Snaps are the best!

I can go on and on about how much I love mother-ease diapers. I did purchase about 5 one size adjustable pocket diapers called Haute pockets and Fuzzi Buns with various kinds of inserts, but I have not been as satisfied with them over the year. Problems with leaking and washing. We mostly use them when my daughter naps or when all the other diapers are in the wash process.

Diaper washing is nothing to be scared about

Speaking of diaper wash, it is not that bad after all. At first it can be a pain when your baby goes through more diapers when they are younger, you do wash more frequently and you are trying to figure out your routine for each step of the wash process. We now wash about three times a week or every 3^rd evening. Diaper wash has become part of our evening routine. I wash them at night mostly so I can hang them out on the laundry line outside and so I can keep a watch on the wash water cycles (Our washer is more complicated so my husband does not help with that part of diapering as much).

Drying diapers on the clothesline is not of the past

Many older women in my community mention to me how fond memories come back to them when they see my diapers drying on the clothesline.

I know I have saved a lot of money on energy this summer by hanging them out to dry. I think I began hanging them to dry around April and it is November 6. Of course there were several raining days and we were traveling for about a month throughout the summer. Hanging the diapers on the line became part of our late morning routine three days a week when the weather got nicer and my daughter began to walk. I would take my daughter outside to play in the backyard while I would hang the diapers on the line and continue playing with her. Sometimes we go outside for a little bit after her nap and bring the diapers in. Later in the summer she began to help me with the colored clips. She likes to clip them on her shirts!

Looking back at having a baby, cloth diapering is one of the most important life changing decisions I made that comes next to committing to breastfeeding exclusivly at least the first year. I look forward to sharing my cloth diapering experience with many new parents in the future. Send new parents my way to help them save hundreds of dollars, their childrens health and their future.

Go Cloth!

Sidewalk!

2008-11-06T19:51:00.001-06:00

It is about time to start updating all that is going on with our life in rural Iowa and how life changes with a 19 month old!

We walk on the street all the time in our low profile town because many streets do not have sidewalks. We look at this differently now when we are trying to walk to more places and make less car stops that are so close to each other. This should work well for living in small towns, you would think.

On a trip to the farmers market this summer at a local college town, I found out that you can't walk safely to and fro many new businesses even in a small town. Storm Lake is the biggest town within 30 minutes from my smaller town where we frequent for most day to day things. My town had a small store that burned down this summer:(

I took my 1½ year old daughter to Storm Lake to go to the farmers market and then planned to walk a few blocks to get lunch to go at the NEW Quiznos. We bought our cabbage, peppers, and basil and walked with the stroller a few blocks to go to the Quiznos. We got to the street where we saw the Quiznos and I realized that I would have to walk my daughter in the stroller half a block or so in a busy street to get to it because there are no sidewalks.

I noticed when we visited suburbs , lived in L.A. , Seattle and Chicago for 5 years, that this was also a problem with most newly constructed areas. For 2 years without a car in Chicago, I spent many trips to stores walking to the ‘El’ or bus stop in the snow without a sidewalk at times.

Good news for Storm Lake! I have been e-mailing someone that said they are waiting for grant money to put in sidewalks along one busy street that goes out to a walmart and other new stores that are away from the down town business district. Unfortunately, the person I talked to said there are no plans to put in sidewalks on the Quiznos street that is just two blocks away from the courthouse/county hall, fire department, police department, a large high school, community college, and numerous other businesses people walk to.

Walking (Softly) Away from Toxins

2008-01-22T22:00:00.000-06:00

Reading books is a luxury for me these days, at least books that are not related to the first years, parenting, authors related to my daughters name (the Bronte sisters) and the ones my little girl enjoys having us read to her over and over and over! But I have been enjoying a book that I received as a gift from my parents this Christmas. Everyone should read this book as it relates to toxic chemicals in everyday products and why America is so far behind in its regulatory standards than other countries, primarily those in the European Union. This book is called, Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and what’s at stake for American Power by Mark Schapiro who is the editorial director for the Center for Investigative Reporting. If you want to find out more about the book and author before reading this short read, you can listen to an interview I heard November 26, 2007, on NPR's Fresh Air program, or read his article on The Nation magazine website or read from Mark Schapiro’s blog on the Center for Investigative Reporting.

I have always known that we should not microwave food in plastic dishes because parts of the plastic break down, and I always wondered why many waterbottles have a plastic taste to them but since parenthood began for me almost a year ago, I have been researching many sources to find out what is safe or not for my child and family to use these days. I am sure you are sick of hearing about toy recalls from China but they got me to search for what is really going on with our manufacturing industry. It is not China's fault that we have lower standards than most other developed countries and we do not mandate tests or regulate the use of many highly toxic and cancer causing chemicals. Let alone their impact on the environment now and years down the road. Yes we do test for lead in toys but there are 100s more chemicals and metals that can do a lot of harm even in low doses. Many well-known health organizations and scientific groups have put out reports for years and have lobbied our government to make changes and use tougher regulations. After years of hard work, California will now be the first state to ban six types of toxic chemicals called Phthalates that are used to make soft plastic toys and many medical devices after the California Toxic Toys Bill (AB 1108) that was passed October 14th, 2007 signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I found that it is not easy to buy things now because the U.S. does not even have safety standards for many types of products and has very loose and in some cases very old standards for others. Exposed uncovers the health, global, economic, environmental and government issues that are at the root of why we have everyday products that expose us to 100+ very toxic chemicals. Here are some resources I have found so far that have helped me get through the consumer maze of buying safe products, finding out what is in different types of plastics, and how to help get companies to produce products that are safely made with safer materials that will not harm us or the environment. Walk Soflty!

About Toxins in Plastics

Smart Plastics Guide (a PDF file from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy)
Bisphenol-A Free Portal (Information about toxic chemicals)
Our Stolen Future (by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski & John Peterson Meyers)
Life Without Plastics
PVC: The Poison Plastic
SCORECARD:The pollution Information Site

Toy and Product Safety

Healthy Toys: The Consumer Action Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Toys
Healthy Car and Car Seats
The British Toy and Hobby Association safety standards

Look for the Lion Mark or EN 71 on things made for child use

More Resources

Healthy Child Healthy World

Why I Walk Softly

2007-12-13T20:15:00.000-06:00

Growing up in the coastal state of California, I spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors with my family through camping, hiking, whale watching and enjoying many of our countries national parks, forests, water areas and other beautiful natural places. “Walk Softly” is one of the first fundamental statements a park ranger or naturalists would tell us on guided hikes or talks about the local wildlife. This phrase is the basis of many outdoorsy conservation “rules of the road” when enjoying and exploring the natural order of things in the wild. The premise, in a nut shell, is to pack out what you packed in. Go into the forests, lakes, oceans and rivers in a way that does not disrupt the ecology and harmony of your surroundings. I remember many hikes where we would collect trash and various personal items other people before us left behind.

This philosophy is not always convenient and it is sometimes hard to enlist others (like my husband) to take things home to recycle instead of throwing them away at a restaurant. But other times people have taken notice of my efforts and began to walk softly in their own ways. While studying at college in Chicago, I took a plant and water ecology course where we went on a canoe trip down the North Branch River and made several stops along the way for samples of the water for analysis. During this daytrip, I was compelled to enlist other classmates to pick up trash along the way. Our trip took a little longer because we tried to pick up large items that we saw along the way too. Of course we were not able to salvage all the shopping carts that we passed by into our 4-6 canoes, but I did end up with three outdoor chairs that were in fairly good condition. After a good scrub I ended up using them for years.

“Walk Softly” is labeled on a pink long-sleeved organic cotton shirt with a little grey elephant my daughter wore at around 6 months. We got this for her on a trip to our local Wal-Mart store 25 minutes away that we dread and hardly ever go to. We were surprised that they were now selling organic clothes and other products that you can find out about on their environment section of their website that is oh so appealing and interesting.

Around the time of buying this shirt though, my husband and I were really starting to look at the way we live and the choices we make daily that impact our family and the world and decided that we want to dig deeper into how we can bring up our child and grow a family in a way that will leave less footprints behind. Basically, we’re trying to learn how to walk softly.