It's EARTH Day!

I wouldn't be a "natural" mama if I didn't get a little bit excited about Earth Day, right?



In my own personal opinon, it's a little bit silly that EARTH gets a DAY. Since we exercise a lot of green practices over here, we are constantly thinking about the planet, resources, and what we can do to preserve these things for future generations. We live a very green life every day. But it wasn't always this way!

Before I tell you my history, let's talk a little bit about the history of Earth Day and how it came to be. You can also check out the full story at http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement.

"

Earth Day: The History of A Movement

Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.
The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it.
At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. “Environment” was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.  Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the stage had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962.  The book represented a watershed moment for the modern environmental movement, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries and, up until that moment, more than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health.
Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.

The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.
Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked.""

Nowadays, us earth-minded folks are still called "hippies" and political pundits spit out "Environmentalists" like it's a dirty word, but I don't mind. I am privileged enough to have an entire circle of family and friends that conserve and protect in one way or another.

If you are a pregnant or new mama surfing over to my blog today, here are just a few things that we've picked up along the way to get you started on your green journey:
 

•  Reusables

  •  "A bottled water habit can cost a family $1200 a year, the paper towel habit $50, disposable batteries $30. Other habits than can add up: disposable dishes, Ziploc bags, baby wipes, and cleaning products. There are greener alternatives for all these things that will save you money while helping the health of people and the environment." (says Ask the Green Mama) I would add mama cloth and diapers (more about those below). Check facebook, etsy, and Hyena Cart for homemade reusable items that will save your family money over time, while saving the landfills the burden of throw-aways.
     

   

• Avoid the Plastic trap (pretty impossible, I know, but each purchase makes a difference). 

• "Many plastics have been found to leach BPA, phthalates, or other chemicals with health effects from feminizing effects on baby boys to toxicity concerns.  When avoiding plastics, prioritize the things that go into baby’s mouth or that contact food (e.g. chew toys, food containers, and bottles). There are great alternatives out there for all these things made from glass, stainless steel, and natural fibers like cotton and wool."( says Ask the Green Mama)

• Consider cloth diapering or even Elimination Communication. (Note: the amount of water used to wash the diapers is sometimes brought up, but trust me, I've been using these babies for over 2 and half years, with no noticeable rise in our water consumption, and the amount of petroleum to produce disposable diapers is staggering:

• In 1988, over 18 billion diapers were sold and consumed in the United States that year.⁴  Based on our calculations (listed below under "Cost: National Costs"), we estimate that 27.4 billion disposable diapers are consumed every year in the U.S.¹³
  The instructions on a disposable diaper package advice that all fecal matter should be deposited in the toilet before discarding, yet less than one half of one percent of all waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewage system.⁴
  Over 92% of all single-use diapers end up in a landfill.⁴
  In 1988, nearly $300 million dollars were spent annually just to discard disposable diapers, whereas cotton diapers are reused 50 to 200 times before being turned into rags.⁴
  No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years, long after your children, grandchildren and great, great, great grandchildren will be gone.⁵
  Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills, and represent about 4% of solid waste.  In a house with a child in diapers, disposables make up 50% of household waste.⁵
  Disposable diapers generate sixty times more solid waste and use twenty times more raw materials, like crude oil and wood pulp.³
  The manufacture and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more water wasted than cloth.³
  Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby EACH YEAR.⁶
  In 1991, an attempt towards recycling disposable diapers was made in the city of Seattle, involving 800 families, 30 day care centers, a hospital and a Seattle-based recycler for a period of one year. The conclusion made by Procter & Gamble was that recycling disposable diapers was not an economically feasible task on any scale.¹⁷  
  ^{- from Real Diaper Association}
  
  
   

There are so many more things you can do, depending on your preferences - breastfeeding (that's as local and sustainable as it gets!), growing a garden (you can later incorporate your child! Learning and growing together!), making your own baby food, and much much more.


What are some "green" things you do in your family?

Today, Earth Day is celebrated by over 192 countries. WOW!