Puddle Jumping in DC

Green Your Cycle in 2012 with Reusable Feminine Hygiene Products

For this month's Green Moms Carnival, "Resolutions to Fight Climate Change" hosted by Strocel.com, I'm getting personal, really personal. 

But let's start with the big picture:

• E-Magazine reports that, in 1998, 6.5 billion tampons were thrown in the garbage or flushed into our already overburdened sewer systems and 13 billion disposable menstrual pads were thrown away. 
• The Center for Marine Conservation reported that more than 170,000 plastic tampon applicators polluting our oceans were collected during beach cleanups in 1998 and 1999. 
• Most disposable menstrual products are virgin paper products and deforestation in the tropics accounts for nearly 20 percent of human-generated, climate-changing carbon emissions.

Add the global warming and trash concerns to worries about dioxin, a cancer-causing bi-product of bleaching paper and cotton, and many women are choosing reusable menstrual cups instead of disposable tampons (brands and resources outlined below the jump).

While feminine hygiene products may not be the biggest environmental threat or the most effective way to personally address global climate change, if you've already tackled things like your home energy efficiency, shifted to renewable energy, and reduced the carbon footprint of your personal transportation, then you might shift your attention to some of the other ways you can make a difference. Shifting away from disposable feminine hygiene products is an easy lifestyle change to that still makes a difference.

Feminine Care Products Are A Big Industry
We've all seen the ridiculous commercials of women wearing clingy white outfits and dancing on the beach because of the freedom delivered by whatever disposable product they've chosen. In fact, several brands of hygiene product go right to the root word for freedom in naming their products: Libra and Libresse are brands of tampons.

There's money in menstrual products, a lot of it. One market analysis predicts that the industry will gross $14.5 billion dollars a year by 2015. (That's a lot of freedom!) But that same analysis warns that "Reduced acceptance of throwaway convenience and increased emphasis on resource optimization, environmental benefits . . ." are among the challenges facing the industry.

Among the other challenges for the industry, an aging market share as baby boomer no longer need them. Kotex, a brand I definitely grew up thinking was for old people, is trying to capture the teens and tween audience by mocking the marketing  previously used by Kotex and other brands.

Their "Get Real" campaign offers tampons and pads in bright colors and encourages girls to "take a stand against bland" by ordering custom designs on their pads. No, seriously.

Are Reusable Menstrual Products Going Too Far?

The decision between cloth and disposable diapers, something a baby will wear for about 3 years, gets a lot of press and is an expected eco-decision facing a new parent. Yet the decision between reusable and disposable menstrual products, something a woman will use nearly three months a year for most of their lives, is not even one many women consciously made.

I'm not really that nostalgic for the technology of my grandmother's era, it wasn't that long ago that reusable products were the norm. Today though, shifting from disposable tampons and maxis to a menstrual cup or reusable pads requires you to reject the notion that manufacturers are trying to sell you that your entire life can be neat, tidy, convenient, and, if you want, sweet smelling.

But if you're found this Green Moms Carnival blog because you are a mom, you've already been disabused of that notion and know that life is messy. By the time you've lived through the exploding diapers phase of infancy and survived potty training and the recurring stomach viruses of the preschool years, your entire perception of what's messy and gross may have shifted.

The Holidays Without the Hoopla

photo © 2009 Simon 'Kelp' Keeping | more info (via: Wylio)

My husband and I don't give each other presents: not birthday presents, not anniversary presents, not Christmas presents. <Gasp!>

The appropriate cultural response: How do you show the other how much you love them without buying them gifts?

Um, wow. Did you hear what you just said? (Ok, i typed it, but whatever.)

Why We Don't Buy Gifts

My husband and I don't buy each other stuff. We do stuff for each other and with each other. And we do it all year long.

It's a pattern we sort of naturally fell into over a decade of marriage. With limited time and money, we found we'd much rather spend both on building or doing something the other wanted than shopping.

The conscious decision not to buy presents adds even more meaning to the everyday gifts we give each other –– preparing meals, looking after household tasks, listening to the others hopes and dreams, or covering childcare so the other can pursue an interest -- and to the occasional gifts like building something around the house. For example, the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that line nearly every free wall we've got are more than essential storage in a tiny urban row-house; the memories of afternoons we spent building them have been incorporated into the glue that holds our marriage together.

Greening the after-life

Is it ghoulish to talk about death at Halloween? Well, Crunchy Chicken of Green Moms Carnival is asking carnival bloggers to consider the environmental impact of the after-life. If your end-of-life plans don't involve becoming one of the undead, one option to consider is donating your body to science.

When I was a teenager, a budding environmentalist learning about ecological science at a suburban high school across the street from an enormous cemetery, I decided that I wanted to be buried in a burlap bag under a tree. Two decades ago, that probably wasn't possible. The proliferation of green burial providers in the last few of years though, means it probably is now.

I've since become less sentimental about what actually happens to my body when I'm done with it, but I would still like to reduce the environmental impact on the planet and the financial impact on my family of dealing with my remains.

When writing their wills last year, my parents chose to have their bodies donated to science. Not giving that much thought to it, I assumed that meant medical school anatomy class or something similar, complete with formaldehyde or other embalming fluids to enable a months-long class to study their bodies. What research for this carnival taught me is that the term is actually much broader than that.

Without getting too graphic, whole body donations allow medical schools and research institutions to teach anatomy and surgery and perform experiments that would be impossible with synthetic or animal alternatives. Importantly, many tissue banks serve researchers who don't actually need whole bodies (despite the term for the donation) and can easily accommodate lifesaving organ donations prior to accepting the rest of the body.

The ecological impacts of body donation are unclear because of the diverse possible uses of the cadaver, some of which involve preservation fluids, and final disposal of the remains, which will depend on state regulations and the requirements of individual tissue banks.

Whole body donation certainly avoid several environmental hazards of the traditional funeral industry:

• According to Green Burials Association, cemeteries have gobbled up 2.2 million acres of land in the United States. To increase their customer base, those grassy expanses of mostly treeless lawns peppered with headstones must expand.
• Planet Green reports that 1.6 tons of reinforced concrete, with its associated energy use and carbon emissions, is buried in the United States each year in the construction of cemetery vaults.
• According to the Green Casket Company, the traditional funeral industry buries 30 million board feet of hardwoods, 90,272 tons of steel and 2,700 tons of copper and bronze annually in the form of caskets.

The real benefit of whole body donation, though, is its service to people. Science Care, the first non-transplant accredited U.S. tissue bank, reports contributing to medical research and training in cochlear implants, coronary artery disease, spinal injuries, osteoporosis, paramedic training, and many other medical specialties.

When we went to China a few years back, we started our trip with a couple days in New York. One of the things we did was visit Bodies: The Exhibit. My husband, the self-described anatomy geek, was in heaven.

We wandered multiple rooms of silicone-placticized cadavers dissected to display various anatomical features and often arranged in life-like poses. The effect was mesmerizing. The dissections illustrated the amazing complexity of the human body. The posed cadavers, with their skin and racially identifying features removed, clearly sent the message: these were people, beautiful people, people just like you.

If he so desires and is done with his own body, Mac could decide to join the exhibit.

For more details on anatomical or whole body donation, see my article
Donate your Body to Science: Burial Alternative Saves Lives.

Human Powered Transportation

Photo: Oil continues to gush into the gulf at a rate of
5,000 barrels a day. See more from the Washington Post.

With the nation watching in horror as an offshore oil disaster the U.S. Department of the Interior thought was so unlikely that it didn't even require the drilling company to file a full environmental impact statement threatens to contaminate wildlife sanctuaries, oyster reefs, shrimp beds, and more along the gulf coast, the Green Moms Carnival turns to the topic of transportation.

The United States consumed not quite 3 gallons of oil per person per day in 2007 with about 70% of that fueling transportation.  In that same time period, Japan consumed 1.6 gallons per person per day and Great Britain consumed 1.2.  Our lifestyle choices, including how we plan our communities have a huge effect on our energy consumption.

When Mac and I lived in Massachusetts for college, we were a two car household.  After college, living in Newark, NJ near bus lines, the Path train into the city, and NJ Transit, Mac decided the insurance and maintenance on his car wasn't worth the cost, so we were quickly down to one.  Just after we were married in 1998, my car threw a rod (long story involving the water pump, timing belts, and finally the oil pump) and we were thrust into car-free living in New Brunswick.

We quickly learned to do grocery and laundry mat trips with a bike trailer or push cart, but generally found it hard to do other errands in a very urbanized but very car-centric community.  There were no bike lanes and shopping was centralized in malls off very busy roads not terribly close to housing.  Still, we biked to the transit station every morning and hopped trains and buses to our various destinations.

Moving to Washington, DC the following summer was a revelation: subway trains and buses galore, shopping on public transit lines, and grocery stores within an easy walk from our house!

Eleven years later, we do own a car specifically so Mac can commute twice a week from our home to Towson University north of Baltimore, MD, where he did his graduate assistantship and now teaches as adjunct faculty. 

The trip of 59 miles takes about 3 hours by public transportation (one way), mostly because the public transit options for getting to Towson from Penn Station in downtown Baltimore are limited.

Still, we use human powered transportation an awful lot and our health is so much better for it.  I bike to work, we run errands on foot, and we combine foot and public transportation for most other trips.

One of the things I have found incredibly useful is our double stroller (yep, we've only got one kid).  I use it for play dates so I can take the kids to the park (walking two toddlers 1/2 mile to a park is a truly ridiculous proposition), but I also use it for errands. Maya sits in one seat and I pile stuff in the other.  Yesterday, we used it to buy a wading pool. 

While hybrids and electric vehicles offer a lot of promise in reducing our transportation-sector oil use, reconsidering how we plan our communities in a way that gets us out of our cars is going to need to play a big role as well.  That's going to take some time, unfortunately, and there may be more gulf-like spills in the interim. 

While we wait, use this Google Earth application to superimpose the gulf oil slick over your hometown and don't miss the other Green Mom Carnival posts on the topic of transportation.

Saving money through green means: Enjoy the ride

According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2.3 percent of commuter trips in Washington DC are by bicycle.  This whoops a truly pathetic national average of 0.55 percent, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

According to Bay Area Bikes bike to work calculator, I

• saved $8.28 by not driving and
  
• saved the earth 19.4 lbs of toxic emissions

over the course of my 20 mile round trip ride from the home to work and back.

Now, I wouldn't have driven if I hadn't biked because both my home and office are very Metro-accessible, but I definitely saved $5.70 in Metro fare.

One of the nice things about my new job is that it is very bike friendly with a secure bicycle room and a locker room with showers. I love that I get a good workout on the way to work and it's a very pretty commute, actually.

There are tons of resources full of ideas and tips on becoming a bike commuter: books, blogs, bulletin boards, and more blogs. Here are a few more tips:

Get your gear in working order. Riding a hand-me-down beater is fine (and smart if you park in unsecured places) but no it's good if the brake pads are worn, the chain is rusted, and the fit is going to leave you sore and uncomfortable.  A functional bike that fits you properly is key. 

Be comfortable.  Figure out a way to get as much stuff off your back as possible: buy bike racks, leave your shower gear at work, heck leave your dress shoes at work. If your shower solution is a gym near the office, see if they can rent you a locker. If you aren't commuting by bike every day, you could even leave spare clothes at work.

Dress for the weather. I've blogged many times about how I enjoy being out in the weather ... if I'm don't get cold and wet.  In the winter, that means a windproof layer over every bit of exposed skin and, if you are going to ride in the rain, a waterproof one as well.

Be visible. Light colored or reflective clothing is good. Lights are required. Lights are first and foremost about making you visible to others. If you are riding on trails or through dark neighborhoods, you will also want to be sure your headlight effectively lights up the pavement in front of you.

Plan ahead. Trying out your commute route on a weekend is an excellent idea.  If the weather turns ugly mid-day or you don't feel up to the return trip for any reason, know your backup plan. Is there a bus or subway route? Can you carpool with a co-worker? 

Enjoy the ride.  

This post is part of the November Green Moms Carnival on saving money through green means.

Waste not, want not: conserving resources across time in time to save the planet

"Wow, and I thought my life was complicated," lamented Mac as we followed Maya off to see the rabbit hutches at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm one afternoon this past August. We had just sat through a little presentation by one of the farm staff on conserving resources in a late colonial kitchen. While the word recycle was not part of the lexicon, the colonial era farmer put today's environmentalist to shame; nothing was wasted. Whether making cutlery out of a ram's horn, a footstool from deer antlers, or kitchen lamps from the boiled down fat of a possum or other farm pest, the colonial farmer maximized every last bit of resources at her disposal.

SUV love - a symbol of our
ease and waste? by Studiojmm.

Comparatively, we live a life of ease and convenience. We also create a great deal more waste.

This month's Green Moms Carnival on conserving resources will be full of great ideas for reducing our waste stream and its drain on our pocketbooks. Hopefully, we'll also raise some questions and inspire some activism on systemic ways to reduce waste. We certainly could be wasting a lot less energy.

One of our biggest sources of pollution is energy. The New York Times this week covered the water polluting implications of our energy use — pollution from coal mines and coal plants threatens drinking water in hundreds of Appalachian towns. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, coal is responsible for nearly half of electricity generation in the United States. Because electricity demand is expected to grow, even if more renewable energy comes online in the next few years, so will more coal.

Green Moms Carnival assembles impressive eco-schools resource

My Green Moms Carnival: Back to School Edition post on energy and water saving school buildings in the area was one of thirty-one (31!) posts by moms on the interwebs about how to have a more environmentally friendly back to school season. 

Whether you want to negotiate with your daycare provider to use cloth diapers, work with your school board to put solar panels on the school roof, or find truly non-toxic school supplies, you will find resources in this month's Green Moms Carnival.

About the Green Moms Carnival - We are a group of green women bloggers, united by our desire to protect and preserve Mother Earth. Once a month or so, we share our thoughts on a common theme, so that together our environmental messages are heard by more people than we could possibly ever reach on our own. You can read more about us here and you can subscribe to all our blog posts automatically through Twitter at @GreenMoms.

Green Moms Carnival: Back to School Edition

Approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population spends 6 hours of every day in a school building.  As the summer rapidly comes to a close, millions of students are preparing to go back to school.  Some of those students will attend schools with environmentally-friendly features that reduce energy costs to the school district, reduce the pollution and carbon footprint of the schools, and improve learning environments for the kids.

Greg Edmundson, the principle at Maryland’s first certified green school in Germantown, wrote that there is a “powerful culture and social climate that can be built in such a school. Human beings thrive on enthusiasm, motivation and a naturally stimulating physical space in which to work.”

In this video, Lily, a 5th grader at that school, Great Seneca Creek Elementary, talks about what it’s like to learn in a green school.