Environmental Health: A Human Rights issue, not just a personal one

Sandra Steingraber, ecologist and professor at Ithaca College says it so much better, so check out her full article here. But if you don't have time, here is the basic gist:

Individual action to better the earth and our lives is important. But it's not enough. Environmental health issues are public health issues. We can not just insulate ourselves and believe we are living in a 'toxic-free' environment. Changes have to happen all around us. A goal of EM&P is to educate ourselves about changes we can make in our lives, but that is just the beginning. Change needs to spread into the community. Political action will be needed. Campaigns and citizen action will be needed.

I see this not as a discouragement but as a call to action.

Overview of the group

Eco-Mamas and Papas is a group that writes online and meets in person (if you live in or near Albany, NY). We will share ideas about how to parent sustainably and reduce our impact on the earth. We will work together to educate/raise awareness about the dangers of pesticides, toxic cleaners, run-off, etc. And we will incorporate our faith and the Catholic Church’s call to Care for Creation and translate that into relevant daily practice for family life.

Our group meets once a week and will discuss such topics as:

-Eating locally
-Cloth diapering
-Buying sustainable, fair trade products
-Household changes – compact fluorescent lights, recycling, composting, etc.
-Community supported agriculture (CSA)
-Local environmental justice issues and our response as families
-Eco-spirituality in everyday life
-Alternative energy use
-Environmental health Safe household cleaning products
-Consumerism and resource depletion
-The Catholic church’s response to current environmental issues
-Activism/campaigning around issues such as pesticides
-Our family’s ecological footprint
-Eco-prayers and prayer services to do with the family
-Learning from each other – tips and ideas for a greener home

Group members will contribute their ideas, musings and tips about green parenting on this blog. We hope to be a resource to you and to learn from you. So please feel free to leave comments and suggestions (or constructive criticism!)

If you do live in Albany (or nearby) and want to attend a group, please leave a comment. (Still gifureing out how to set-up a 'contact me' section!)

The ideas that fueled EM&P

How do I reduce my footprint on this earth? It's time I start living that way all the time rather than looking to others (though more and more I am finding that people are making the switch in part due to An Inconvenient Truth and other great Green organizations) Always seeking inspiration I decided maybe as parents, we need to be the inspiration.

Here's what our family does:

-Buy local
-Buy organic
-compost
-converting to CF lightbulbs
-grow some of our own veggies
-use cloth diaper and cloth wipes
-breastfeed and advocate for clearing the chemicals out of breastmilk
-involved in local, state and fed. politics to cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050
-converting to cloth tissues, cloth paper towels
-buy sustainable wooden toys
-cutting out plastic use as much as possible
-use cloth grocery bags -buy grains, nuts, etc. in bulk and bring my own containers to reduce packaging waste
-shop at our local food co-op -get veggies from a CSA (community supported agriculture)
-avoid big box store when possible and shop at local small businesses (though this is hard because choices are less and less)
-shop at thrift stores, buy second-hand
-walk/bike to get places when possible
-saving for a Hybrid!!
-recycle

Still need to work on:

-reducing water usage by taking shorter showers (that aren't as hot! But I love hot showers!)
-not flushing every time (when i was in college, I visited a place that had a sign in the bathroom that said each flush uses 3-6 gallons of water so 'if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down!'
-using grey water (left over water from washing dishes) to water plants
-taking the bus more for local trips to the store
-car pooling

All around me, industries, businesses, hospitals, schools, etc. are producing so much waste, using so much water, eating non-local, non-organic foods, consuming more and more and more stuff, and WE think we are making a difference? Oh, it can be so overwhelming and disappointing, but that's not why I am here. I am here to show what CAN be done and to be hopeful about the future while also being realistic about our impact on this earth. Maybe someone, somewhere will get inspired.

If moms and dads, grandparents and other people who love kids and care about the generations to come began to work together to live more sustainably and to demand that our communities do to, I believe we can change the tides of consumerism and waste and leave a planet worth inheriting.