Activistas

Eco-Party: Some Change Will Do You Good

It's Earth Month, and like any good Portlander I'm doing my share to learn and try to put into practice the earth-friendly mantra of reducing, reusing and recycling.  I got an Energy Trust home review and attended an Eco-Party in an effort to become more environmentally aware.  I patted myself on the back smugly and thought, what a good steward of the earth I am. 

And then I got the Home Eco-Party Checklist with about 50 questions covering habits ranging from waste reduction and recycling, toxics reduction, and energy/water conservation.  As I filled out the checklist that smugness that I felt earlier lifted quickly and I wondered if I would leave the party wearing a scarlet letter.  That letter would be a reminder that every time I use a disposable diaper I was knowingly destroying the earth; and that everyone would know that my family doesn't buy all organic produce.  Who knew that those individual little boxes of raisins that my littlest one (see picture) loves so much would be now a guilt-inducing purchase?

Buy Nothing Month: Round V

I am still at it.  But by now, I actually like it.  No struggle.  Low, low credit card bill.  Time for other things.  Pretty much a win-win.  Plus, it's earth month so I can feel pretty smug.  OK, not entirely.  Given the weather I am still using the dryer too much and I drove downtown today because it was raining and I was running late (both no surprise).  But rather than go on and on about our in-home buy nothing effort, since I've likely said all I've got to say on that one (another surprise), I can share some other woman's take on consumerism.  Didn't we agree awhile back to broaden the lens 'round here?? 

Enter Annie Leonard, who stars in The Story of Stuff.  It's just 20 minutes, and for those of who simply can't imagine that amount of time used straight on one single activity (me!), you can skip around and browse the action info while watching the video.  Perfect for a died-in-the-wool multi-tasker like this mama.

Watch and Discuss: King Corn

Growing up in the Midwest, I have very fond memories of corn.  Sweet corn was something I looked forward to every year in late summer.  I do still love corn even though nowadays, it seems that corn is getting a fairly bad rap. OPB will be airing King Corn on Tuesday, April 15 at 10 pm.  Here's the overview:

"Almost everything Americans eat contains corn - high-fructose corn  syrup, corn-fed meat and corn-based processed foods are staples of the fast-food nation. Record harvests of corn are supported by a government subsidy program that promotes production well beyond market demand.

Filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis decided to grow an acre of corn in rural Iowa and then document its path from farm to consumption. In America's industrial kitchens, they confront the realities of corn's uses: sweetening the sodas of a diabetes-plagued neighborhood in Brooklyn, fattening cattle in Colorado, making fast food cheap and consumers unhealthy, and driving animals into confinement and farmers off the land. Check OPB Independent Lens for additional scheduling."

Have you seen it?  What do you think? Are you a compulsive label reader and generally steer clear of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?

Buy Nothing Month: Round IV

Yes, I'm still at it!  And only this month, the fourth buy nothing month at our house, did it finally hit me, that this is not just about a low(er) credit card bill or avoiding a few purchases that I won't get back to.  Though those are worthy goals, in my mind!  It's about how I spend my time.  Continually seeking stuff (my 2-year old daughter can very clearly enunciate the word "errands") or doing great things? 

It really hit me last Friday when I was running (OK, jogging) along waterfront park with my daughter: my plan to hit NW 23rd for living room lamps after my run was not OK.  I had somehow wormed my way into thinking it might be because I had relocated the existing living room lamps to our bedroom and so we had none!  The living room was dark!  Good reason for new lamps, right?  I had convinced myself that I could just go ahead and buy them now 'cause why gloat over what's really just a delayed purchase? 

Just in time for the holidays... a healthy toys database!

Toys are the last place a parent wants to look for potentially harmful toxics, but after a record year of recalls, it is an increasingly necessary chore. Fortunately there is a new tool helps parents navigate this increasingly confusing world. Check out the 1,200 children products  tested for lead and other harmful chemicals by the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, MI.  This is a fantastic database when picking out toys for your children this holiday season and very easy to use.  Hope this is useful!

Consumer Fast 2007: Will your Friday be black?

It's true I haven't hit the new downtown Macy's yet - despite the fact that it's a mere two blocks from my desk.  Heroic?  No, buy nothing month at our house - again!  But that was October, and this, mamas, is November.  NOT a buy nothing month on the quarterly system of denial at our house.  But this is a special month.  For not only does November bring my birthday, it brings us Black Friday.  A uniquely American kind of (non)event.

Now this might sound surreal, but there are services that will e-mail your mobile phone with the latest sale news.  No joke.  If this makes you even a little queasy, you might just be up for a consumer fast.  A what?  Yup.  A 24-hour buy-nothing day.  If I can survive four months a year, I know you can swing a day, I just know it.  Check out the Adbusters info on Buy Nothing Day.  They've been at it for years - 15, to be exact.  As one Adbuster founder describes it:

Buy Nothing Day isn't just about changing your routine for one day. It’s about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment. With over six billion people on the planet, it is the responsibility of the most affluent – the upper 20% that consumes 80% of the world’s resources – to set out on a new path.

So what about you?  Gonna shop till you drop?  Or set out a new path?  What'll it be, mamas, what'll it be? 

And Then Some.  If you're really into it, Adbusters has an online forum where activists can find each other & coordinate.  Sound familiar?!?  I took a quick look and there's nothing yet for Portland (now's your chance). I was impressed with Bellingham's tagline: Consume This.  Like that.  A lot.

Go forth and buy nothing, mamas.  Staying home and eating leftovers sounds way better, anyway. 

Got unloved stuffed animals?

A good friend of mine is a magazine-a-holic, and I'm the lucky recipient of many a cast-off, usually the parenting ones.  One of my faves is Wondertime  - mostly because Catherine Newman is a regular contributor.  I truly have never laughed harder than when reading 'Waiting for Birdie,' her hilarious and right-on tale of being pregnant with a toddler in the house (a stage I'm thankfully past).  She perfectly combines the real heart of the matter with a serious east coast style sarcasm - right up my alley. 

Anyway.  I was thumbing through a recent issue the other night after the kids were (miraculously) both asleep while I was still awake, and I came across a little blurb on all those extra stuffed animals.  You know the ones.  They're everywhere.  Totally unloved and ignored until the younger sibling lays a hand on them, or until, heaven forbid, I try to pack 'em up and move them along to another barn/jungle/forest where they might get a little more care.