#1527: Farm to School

According the the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents within the past 30 years. Enter the National Farm to School Network, which is working to bring local, fresh foods to school across the U.S., in an effort to reduce obesity, and bring healthy food choices to cafeteria menus. My guest this week is Jaime Lockwood, Development Director at the Farm to School Network, which helps connect local farmers with schools, chefs to cafeterias, and students to gardens. We talk about the importance of the Farm to School Act of 2015, and discuss how chefs inspire healthy eating, environmental awareness, and fitness via wellnessintheschools.org. Jaime is also a board member of Urban Tree Connection, an organization based in Philadelphia, that works to educate and develop community driven greening and gardening projects on vacant land. For more information visit farmtoschool.org. and urbantreeconnection.org

#1527: Farm to School by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

5 Fun Videos (and More) on Teaching Kids about Environment

By Susan Lutz

My son kisses flowers and hugs trees. His love of the environment is a natural, raw, yet untouched force within him. Keeping children in touch with that reverie and joy is a challenge in the button-pushing-we-can-get-anything-we-want society.

Most homes have recycling bins somewhere in the house, and most know we need to turn off the lights when leaving a room. One way to expand the understanding of the environment for children is to meet-up with them on their own turf, the video. Immediate and satisfying, video shorts are quick loads of messages that can be watched in less than a minute or two yet pack a powerful punch.

One of my favorites is from Animal Planet. They have some wonderful shorts between programming that my kids and I have truly laughed and learned with. We don’t mind watching them over and over.

The task of teaching children about environmental responsibility requires creating a culture of learning from schools to games to how we eat to discussions about visual media from photography to film. Clicking on any one of these videos opens a dialogue. Watching a kangaroo decline the use of plastic bags is cute. A farting cow always gets laughs and the message across. Kids will love the animation. The themes are clever and catchy. Even if they are brief, kids take note.

When the kids of today run tomorrow, we hope they still have the power to stand beneath a tree and feel awe for all it represents in our world. Without the trees, without the power of our kids to change things, we are nothing. So, pass that tablet of phone to your kids and take a few minutes to share these simple, delightful, meaningful videos. Then, search for more or go out and make your own, passing on the message to others.

1. Animals Save the Planet: A montage of funny, poignant, cute shorts teaching little life lessons on we can make small changes to help the planet.

2. What It Means to Be Green: A video story book on ideas to go green.

3. Sesame Street: Water Conservation: Less than a minute, just the right length to get a quick point across about turning off the water faucets.

4. Save Our World: A three-minute look at our planet and our responsability.

5. Explaining Carbon: What is carbon anyway? An animation helps kids, and adults, understand the basics of carbon in our environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jp1D1dzxj8

#1526: What is the Clean Air Act anyway?

Why are environmental regulations important in helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The Clean Air Act and the Clean Power Standard Rule have been put into place to keep the air, land and water safe, in order to reduce the negative health effects of pollutants. Join me and my special guest, Elon D. Rubin, Esq., Environmental lawyer, entrepreneur, techie, musician and most importantly my awesome son, as we talk about the environmental regulatory process, and how citizens can participate in the process. The climate is changing, and we must be proactive in being resilient and adaptive to current and future climate challenges. For more information visit Edrlaw.com and epa.gov.

#1526: What is the Clean Air Act anyway? by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

#1525: 2015 Clearwater Music Festival

Neither rain, nor fog, nor soggy dew could dampen the spirit of the Clearwater 2015 Festival. We spoke to many environmental activists and green entrepreneurs who are creating ideas, and spreading the message about the need to be proactive stewards of Mother Earth. Music echoed throughout the festival, with many performers motivating the populace to take a stand and raise their voices on environmental and social justice issues. Music icon David Crosby, sang new songs with lyrics that commented on the nation’s current state of affairs, and implored people to email, call or show up at the offices of their elected officials and make some noise. Pete Seeger would have been proud to see his vision perpetuated. For more info go to clearwater.org.

#1525: 2015 Clearwater Music Festival by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

#1523: Mamapalooza, Eco RV’ing & More

This week’s show takes us to the Mamapalooza Festival in NYC, which celebrates moms via education and entertainment. We spoke to “super mom” Joy Rose, founder of Mamapalooza and the Mom Rock Movement. She started the band “Housewives on Prozac” to not only rock out, but take us through the trials and tribulations of Motherhood. We also talked to Pierce Delahunt, a masters student at the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), to get some insight into education and how IHE is working to grow a more just, humane and healthy world. In addition, we chat with Brian Horowitz, host of the Rock and Roll History Show, about the greening of RVs and hitting the road in his solarized Air Stream. For more information go to mommuseum.org, humaneeducation.org and glacier-entertainment.com

1523: 2015 Mamapalooza, Eco RV’ing & More by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

#1522: Mobile Entrepreneurs

Portable entrepreneurship has become popular in the new “food truck” era, but mobile vending has been around for a very long time and taken on new forms. A box on wheels can contain businesses, libraries, gardens, roving studios and museum exhibits. My guest this week, Lauren Cannon, who runs the Institute for Mobile Research, gives us the background and current status of world of mobile vending. The popularity in movable businesses has risen with gourmet food trucks, but the term “mobile” is not just directed at carts and trucks, as new ideas are turning boxy wheeled vehicles into project spaces and community hubs. For more information go to upended.net

#1522: Mobile Entrepreneurs by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

End the Use of the Tiny, Terrible Microbead

By Susan Lutz

Scrub some natural face cleanser on at the end of the day. Feels wonderful. A shea butter body cream can only be good, right? Read the ingredients. Many of the cosmetics on the shelf today contain microbeads. What’s a microbead? I hadn’t heard of them either. Yet, they are now so proliferate in many of the products we use, approximately 69 NGOs from 33 countries are supporting the campaign to end the use of the microbead, according to beatthemicrobead.org.

What exactly is a microbead? Imagine a teeny, tiny bead of plastic. Now, image something smaller. Microbeads replace more natural ingredients, especially in health and body care products like scrubs, creams, and toothpaste. The tiny beads, less then 1mm, are composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, polymethyl methacrylate, or nylon, in short, plastic. Use a microbead for seconds, rinse, and it goes down the drain to stay in the environment forever. The cycle of water pulls the plastic fibers all the way to the oceans. They don’t break down. Instead, they mush into plastic-like goo; floating, unnoticed by a fish that eats a smaller fish – tasty, yet environmentally deadly. Catch the bigger fish and the contaminant ends up back on our table, in our mouths. See anyone pick up a tiny piece of plastic on the ground and eat it? That’s exactly what’s happening.

How did this happen? And, right under our nose? All of these ingredients are approved and “safe” to use. Safe bet companies are making money on the short-term benefit of making a product cheaper, getting it on the shelf quicker, and selling more than we really need. Natural ingredients take more time, most likely more investment – in the short run. (And, I’m not even talking about organic ingredients yet, just “natural” like putting in more real shea butter instead of cutting the real product with these tiny plastic beads.)

Step in a movement to end those tiny, terrible microbeads. Like so many other products we discover for the quick, availability and cheaper price, we buy it: plastic bags, the k-cup, or processed food. The ramifications of our choices always, not sometimes, but always come back to bite us in the bags and beads. Without seeing the long-term effect before we eat too much sugar or throw all or allow GMO modification of our food, we suffer the consequences of our choices and have to work to not only end the use of the danger, but also find ways to reinvent how to educate, make healthy choices, and show our children things like tiny microbeads just are a bad decision.

A movement has started to ban the microbead. Annie Leonard, founder of The Story of Stuff, began an idea to look at our prolific use of stuff. Her animated movies are short, great for anyone – I’ve showed them to my kids – and poignant. She’s always working on a solution. Pointing out the problem is one thing, doing something about yet another. Learn what products carry microbeads and stop using them. Check out sites that offer more information on microbeads and how to join a campaign to ban the bead.

So, let’s get started, below is a list of companies and products as posted from beatthemicrobead.org that contain microbeads. You can get the full list, for many countries, on their site.

A few examples of products with microbeads as listed by beathemicrobead.org:

Ahava: Dead Sea Essentials-Relaxing Almond Exfoliating Body Cleanser – Polyethylene (PE)

CVS Pharmacy: Oil Free Scrub – Polyethylene (PE)

Neutrogena/Johnson & Johnson: Deep clean gentle Scrub (oil free) – Polyethylene (PE)

Note the brands; be familiar with the all the chemical names of the microbead. Changing brands, really going natural or organic is a choice not just for better skin or whiter teeth, but a choice that makes a difference for our children and our planet.

#1518: To Life! Eco-Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet

What is Eco-art and how does it differ from conventional western art and mediums? For the answer, tune in to this week’s program, as Eco-artist, educator, author and curator, Linda Weintraub and I discuss how eco-artists connect to the natural earth via photography, performance and public art, and much more. These cutting edge artists help transform our way of life, through their unique approaches and unconventional methods, which set out to transform our environmental consciousness. From the use of microbes, which ebb and flow into divergent patterns of life forms, to a sunflower which is equipped to photograph the sun as it follows it in the sky, this burgeoning art field helps raise awareness of the environmental impact, both positive and negative, that we humans are having on the planet. For more information about Linda’s work and her book: To Life! Eco-Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet, go to lindaweintraub.com.

#1518: To Life! Eco-Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

A Place of Peace with Daily Food Choices

At times, I pile the bags of food in my car after spending a boatload of money and feel lost. With all my research and knowledge of the world of organics, I should radiate confidence. Instead, I doubt my choices and wonder if I even make a difference in what I feed my family.

Back in the store, I gazed upon the simple choice of cookies. With food allergies and touchy digestive issues for my kids, I can spend time laboring over even the simple choice of which animal cracker I should choose. Do I buy the kind without sugar? If so, what other kind of sweetener does it have? Is it organic? Gluten-free? Loaded with food dyes? Preservatives? GMOs? Is it local? The days of walking out to the barn to get the milk is gone for most of us. Now, we rely on a chain of people, machines, and often corporations to bring us our food. Instead of a place to nourish my family, stores feel like science labs – the joy of life squeezed right out of it.

Avoiding one toxic choice feels like bowing down to another. I’d like to always buy organic and planet-friendly for my kids and not stumble over ingredients I often cannot pronounce. The word organic gives me hope that there are fruits and vegetables still glistening with nutrition. Then, I look at the prices: a single cucumber is $2.29. $2.29? Each? The other cucumbers are $.79 each. Yet I remember (from all my research) that cucumbers are one of the most chemically sprayed crops. When I go back to the bin of organic cucumbers, I wonder about the plastic each cucumber is wrapped in: Isn’t that bad for the environment? The conventional cucumbers feel waxy. But just one cucumber for $2.29?! One won’t last the whole week! It’s my kids’ favorite vegetable. And it’s so nutritious! Which one should I buy? After only being in the store for five minutes, I was exhausted. This shouldn’t be how we have to buy food.

We’ve polluted our planet and can’t eat our foods without loads of labels warning us what the food does and does not have. We can’t drink the water unless it is filtered or eat the fish unless it is found in the right waters.

Whether organic or not; whole grain or gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian, we’ve got to eat. I have to find a place where food is happy again. I’ve put down my food-battle sword and written a seal of peace on my shopping list. I eat organic whenever I can. I eat as little sugar as I can. I eat greens more than anything else. I stay within budget without beating myself up. I let it go when eating with others so as not to be a know-it-all or worrywart about the food contents.

Most of all, I relax and give thanks for every bite I take and am able to give my children. No food is any good unless it is served with joy.

#1517: 2015 NYC Vegetarian Food Festival

Be Kind to Animals, Don’t Be Cruel, Eat Your Veggies. All these phrases come together on this week’s program, as we celebrate vegetarian cuisine and cruelty free living at the New York City Vegetarian Food Festival. We spoke with Zoe Weil, Co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education, Nora Kramer, Founder and Executive Director of YEA (Youth Empowerment Action) Camp, Annie Hauck Lawson, Founder of Brooklyn Mompost, Susan Hargreaves, Founder of Animal Hero Kids, and Isis Phillips, Executive Director of Indy Kids. It was a pleasure speaking with all this dynamic and amazing women, who do so much to make the world a better place. For more information on these organizations go to humaneeducation.org, solutionaryschoolnyc.org, yeacamp.org, brooklynmompost.org, animalherokids.org, indykids.org and nycvegfoodfest.com

#1517: 2015 NYC Vegetarian Food Festival by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud

Whole. Green. Simple. Life.

Meditating on a mountaintop never did it for me. I’ve been there. Climbed high; stretched my arms out; and reached for the sun on the horizon. Then, I’d turn around and realized I’d have to go down. The search for the ideal, whole, simple life would have to continue after the vacation ended. Life called me back into the hectic fold.

The whole life, the green life, the simple life truly is one. Each aspect circles into the other. Without contentment from within, a green, organic lifestyle will only do so much good. Without simple choices in how to live, a whole life hangs far in the distance.

With the universe at our fingertips, we can find the answer to anything. An internet search for “organic food” offers 97,000,000 results. And tomorrow will yield more. What do we do with all this information?

The planet is being torn apart; people dismissed, marginalized, and compromised. Toxins infiltrate the air and water; global warming destroys our foundation of life; food has been reduced to profits and slick marketing campaigns, and gadgets are replacing face-to-face interactions. These examples are only a few of what we face as a global community. Climbing back up to that mountain and settling in for a lifetime of meditation at times does sound appealing at times. But, it’s with the people, in society, and at the farms and grocery stores we need to be. Together is where we will find our solutions.

As a writer in the field of organic and natural lifestyle, I’ve discovered that these are confusing and complicated subjects. Driven by my own real-life traumas, I decided to find alternative approaches to health, education, and life. The Many Shades of Green offers a platform to extend into all areas of “greening” our lives, including our own backyards. I intend to add to the commitment of this site by finding the information and tools to live at a greener, less chaotic, and simpler level.

After my own health traumas, I faced more with my children. That’s when the search engine becomes a steam machine: caring for the life of another. I research, assimilate, and try to practice a lifestyle with as much awareness and consciousness about how my choices impact my family, the planet, and myself. I am not a model organic eater. When I try to meditate, I fidget and start thinking about chocolate or if my library book is overdue. Sometimes I fail. But I go on and never give up on the green path. By making my phone last another year, by eating a few more organic salads a week, by walking instead of driving, I find ways to simplify the moments and let the natural whole life burst through.

I lived in Central America for 15 years. By understanding a different culture, I’ve been able to raise my level of understanding, compassion, and pragmatism to the day-to-day struggles we face in raising our children and maintaining our planet. We can all find our own formula to succeed. A day is a jubilant success if my family has eaten an apple over a candy bar or a glass of water over a sugary drink. Success on a national and global level will follow with the same steps.

Life is whole when it is simple and surrounded by the healing powers of green.

#1515: Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot

Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot – Tom Butler’s new large format coffee table book, tells the story of how population increase, and the rise of the industrial complex, has led to social, economic and environmental problems world wide. The phrase ” a picture’s worth a thousand words” is most evident in the photos taken during this three year journey to expose man’s quest to dominate the planet, and leave sprawl, over growth, disease and destruction in its path. We over indulge, over-plug, and over saturate this beautiful planet, with blatant disregard for the other species who live on earth. Tom and I discuss how we can resolve and build solutions to these problems. This unique approach, which uses powerful photographs, illustrates that humankind must do better, we must stop drilling, stop building and stop decimating the earth. Mother Nature is not happy, but we can do things to make her smile again. Go to populationspeakout.org for more information.

#1515: Overdevelopment, Overpopulation, Overshoot by The Many Shades Of Green on Mixcloud