It’s Blog Action Day 2011. Blog Action Day is the one day a year when all bloggers join together to discuss one important issue. I’ve been participating since 2007, and it’s not only fun, but informative to read what all these different types of bloggers have to say about a single issue. Last year’s topic was water and the topic this year is food. At last count, more than 2,250 bloggers from 100 countries have joined this amazing event.

On Blog Action Day, I like to round-up the posts I wrote for my readers, along with some of the best posts I’ve read today while scurrying around the web.

Today I discussed greener take-out food and how to easily go organic while holding onto your sanity. Many other people around the web wrote endlessly about all sorts of food topics as well. Below are some of my favorites…

Shameless promotions: 

Some of the posts I like are from friend’s blogs and other sites I write for. They’re absolutely good posts or I wouldn’t link them, but since there is still a little favoritism involved here, I just wanted to be up-front.

• My pal Peggy is discussing why everyone deserves food – food is a basic right.

• Celebrate Green has a poem up all about food waste, or more so, a reminder about not wasting food. Very clever and heartfelt.

• At my son’s school blog I looked at school lunch waste in schools, along with some solutions to this extreme problem.

• At Inhabitots, we looked at raising vegetarian kids plus excellent sources of protein for your already vegetarian child.

• Boyfriend Dave, offers a sneak peek into what bands should eat when on the road if they want to avoid Elvis-sized guts.

Other awesome Blog Action Day 2011 food posts from around the web:

• A very well done post from Green Living Ideas about why food prices are rising and what we can do to combat those prices.

• Change the world one meal at a time with advice from Non-Toxic Kids.

• A wonderful post about the significance of the ordinary kitchen table from Dirt & Noise – as a eat together, be together family advocate, I really loved this post. Maybe my fave of the day.

• Treehugger is asking everyone to Say No To GMOs & Factory Farming.

• J.C Martin went a very different way, by discussing the 7 weirdest foods he’s ever eaten. Yikes.

• Interesting musings from Agriculture Proud about how one family’s pasture ties them together.

• Mashable, always the social media darling, posted 5 Ways to Connect to the Local Food Movement Online. Useful info.

There are hundreds of other Blog Action day 2011 posts to browse. To learn more visit Blog Action Day 2011, join Blog Action day on Facebook or search on Twitter – #BAD11.

Today is Blog Action Day 2011. This year’s topic is food, which is a little redundant here at Growing a Green Family, since we discuss food all the time. With that in mind, I thought we’d take a peek back at my favorite food issues – organic food.

When I decided to go organic, I almost went nuts trying to get a grasp on it. Not only is organics a HUGE topic, but when I first got super interested in organic food it was way back in 2001 and organics simply weren’t as out in the open.

Do you know how much organic food info is out there? There are dozens of books, movies, tons of debating back-and-fourth research and, at the time, organic food was much harder to come by. Not to mention all my friends and family members talking in circles about the issue. Double not to mention that back in 2001, organics were a lot more expensive. I had a newborn and was in college full time, so also attempting to go organic was 100% insane. My mind was overwhelmed with information.

Luckily for you, going organic in 2011 is not nearly as tough. You can totally go organic while avoiding all the organic chaos. Following are some helpful tips.

Why go organic?:

If going organic is so darn hard, why bother? There are tons of reasons to go organic. For example, organic food is GMO-free and doesn’t contain nasty artificial flavors or colors. Most of all, organic food doesn’t contain all the same gross pesticides that conventional foods do.

You’ll often hear, “Organics aren’t any healthier,” but seriously, how is feeding your child pesticides (basically poison) a sane idea? I know people teach their child not to mess with cleaners under the sink, so why on earth would people then turn around and feed toxins and chemicals willingly to their kid?

People confuse “Nutrition” with “Healthy” but there’s a real difference. Yes, organic apples and conventional apples may contain the same nutrients, but that’s missing the point. Conventional foods contain stuff meant to kill weeds and bugs. Do you want to eat stuff meant to kill? Does that sound healthy? Pesticides have been linked to cancer and a slew of other health problems.

• 8 Reasons Why Consumers Should Buy Organic Food

Get to know organic food:

Inform yourself about the USDA Organic Seal. This seal equals actual certified organics. Read some common questions about the Organic Seal.

• When Is Organic Really Organic?
• Which Food Products Qualify for Organic Certification?
• 8 Differences Between Organic Food & Sustainable Food

If labels like “natural” vs. “organic” vs. “USDA organic” have got you confused, carry a cheat sheet to the grocery store. No one will know. Everyone will just think you’re looking at your grocery list.

• EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce + app for your phone
• The True Food Shoppers’ Guide to Avoiding GMOs
• Organic Center’s pocket guide (pdf)
• Tons of handy healthy pocket guides – including food guides.

Image © BlueOrange Studio - Fotolia

Know your best organic food options:

Some organic food items are more important than others. If you’re budgeting, buy the most important organics first, before wasting your cash on the less important ones. Get to know the Dirty Dozen list, which points out produce that contains the most, or least pesticides. Choose to go organic as much as you’re comfortable with in small steps. You DO NOT have to go 100% organic all at once. If you try, you’ll only make yourself crazy. Really, even I don’t buy 100% organic food – although that is a goal of mine.

Also, be open to change. Your favorite cookies, cereal, and yogurt may not come in organic versions – don’t panic. Explore your new organic options. See what is offered in organic foods rather than looking for what you’re used to buying.

Sort out the truth about organic food:

Sadly, not all organic food is created equally. There’s a ton of misinformation out there, and plenty of companies loking to make a buck of the term, “Organic.” Don’t get fooled. If you’re going organic, you may as well, know what you’re getting.

• Which Organic Dairy Products are the Most Trustworthy?
• Unscrambling Organic Eggs: Separating Facts from Fiction
• Organic Food Can Make You Fat – don’t confuse organic with low-fat, low-calorie.

Image © Sophia Winters - Fotolia.com

You can afford organic food:

I buy more organics now then I did back in 2001, yet, I also spend less money on organics now than I used to. Part of this is because organics are more readily available. The other part is that I’ve simply learned over the years what to buy and where to buy it.

Research shows that organics cost less at your local Farmer’s Market, so shopping there first (before the grocery store) can save you money. After that, there are plenty of other ways to save money on organic food. Read 70+ tips about how to save money on organic food for dozens of affordable tips.

Lastly, eat less meat. Switching to organics can be a hit (at first) money-wise. Cutting out meat will lower your initial cross over to organics.

Get cooking!:

Try some organic dishes and cook with your kids. Organic cooking is an excellent way to grow greener values in your child. Check out 18 Green & Healthy Cookbooks for some recipe ideas, or see these easy starter organic recipes below (kid-friendly).

• Homemade Organic Vegetable Pot Pie
• Homemade Organic Goldfish Crackers
• Organic Black Raspberry Chocolate Frozen Yogurt
• Homemade Organic Ice Pops
• Homemade Organic Cran-Strawberry Roll-Ups
• Homemade Organic Honey Oat Bread – EASY

The above tips should help you out if you’re looking to go organic. Keep in mind that going organic is a major diet and budget adjustment. It’s like getting used to being vegetarian, or trying to create a low-sodium or low-fat diet. If it’s new to you, it’ll take time to perfect. No worries, take it step-by-step and your mind will stay happily intact.

Lead image © NiDerLander – Fotolia.com

Hopefully, you’re already greening your hand washing routine with reusable soap dispensers and other tactics. However, another way to keep it green and clean is to reuse all those weird soap slivers you end up with.

Homemade hand soap made with left-over soap slivers:

Collect old soap slivers. You’ll need a bunch. If you just want to make some homemade hand soap, and you have zero leftover slivers, you can buy a natural, organic, detergent-free bar of soap, but really it kind of defeats the reuse purpose. This is more for folks who already use bar soap.

Make some distilled water. You can buy some, but it’s cheaper to make your own. Simply leave a gallon of water sitting out on your counter for a couple of days. This allows any odd stuff in your water to evaporate out.

1. Chop your soap slivers up into super tiny pieces or grate the slivers.
2. Boil 3-4 cups of your water. Once it’s nice and hot, add the soap pieces.
3. Mix then allow the mixture to sit on a low boil.
4. Watch the consistency and if needed, add more soap and or water.
5. Once it appears to be the right thickness, do a final really good mixing session. The mixture needs to be completely blended or little soap hardened pieces will show up, which of course will clog your pump.
6. After the final mix, run a test. Your test is to let it sit out overnight. If you come back and it’s too thick, heat and add more water. Getting the thickness right is the hard part. It depends on the soap. If you add 3 oz of soap or so, start with 3-4 cups H2o and go from there. It will turn out different depending your soap, so this is a project you need to watch, at least the first time you do it.

EXTRAS:

• Experiment with adding a few drops of organic essential oils.

• You can also make scrubby shower soap. Start with the liquid soap then add scrubby bits, such as ground almonds or oatmeal. DO NOT put this in a pump. It’ll clog. You need to put it in a bottle.

• To make a herbal hand soap, boil organic herbs in the distilled water BEFORE you add the soap silvers. Remove the herbs and strain before adding soap slivers.

• If you want to play and get fancy try adding a few tablespoons of Aloe Vera, honey, coconut or olive oil, vanilla or cinnamon (boil whole sticks), flower essences and more – really whatever you like. This is an almost 100% free project, so mess-ups won’t kill you.

You can also use this to clean your house, not just your body.

In the most basic of definitions, organic means; “Relating to, or derived from living organisms.” Now of course the term organic has also come to mean the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin. Even further related to food, the term organic stands for meat or poultry raised without the use of drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals.

The term organic affects green families in that it can be applied to food items, textiles, toys, furniture, mattresses, bath and body care products, cosmetics and other products or used as an action – i.e. organic farming or living organically. The term organic is used widely and often used inappropriately so always do your research before paying money for organics.

To learn more about the term organic check out the following:

• Read a general run-down of the USDA Organic Seal and also take a look at Common USDA Organic Seal Questions.
• Organic Foods Your Family Should Buy All the Time
• Find out if organic food is all its cracked up to be.
• Can you trust organic dairy products? – HARDLY, as it turns out.
• USDA Organic Certified Body Care Products
• Why Choose Organic Cotton Clothing & Textiles

The other day someone commented at a green forum I frequent about how ALL eco-friendly people are tree hugging hippies who focus on driving a Prius or solar panels – i.e. BIG actions. Then later in the day someone asked me if I thought I was an environmentalist; because in their opinion when they think about environmentalists they think about people protesting or working on green tech or something like that – i.e. more big actions.

So it’s been on my mind – am I an environmentalist and more importantly, because I have a son, what exactly does being a good green parent mean to me.

Websters notes that an environmentalist is…

1. an advocate of environmentalism
2. one concerned about environmental quality especially of the human environment with respect to the control of pollution

The above is true about me. Although, I’d say I fall under 2 more so than one. I don’t currently go out and protest. I don’t drive a Prius. I don’t live in an off-grid home. I don’t make large gestures. Being a green parent is a lot more simple than that in my opinion. I’ve been thinking about it and I can sum up what I think it means to be a green parent in maybe 5 steps…

1. Buy less stuff: If I had to sum up my number one best idea for living green, kids or not, “Buy Less Stuff” would be at the top of the list. If you only do one green thing, buying less stuff might give you the most bang for your time. Too much, too big, too excessive stuff is the cause of many green issues. So many people want more, more, more and that’s not an eco-friendly way to be. All stuff uses up resources, space, energy, time and money – and all of this drag us further away from objectives like healthy living, nature and family time – which in turn are important aspects to focus on if you want to live green. On top of this you might want to add buy smarter stuff – i.e. reusable options vs. disposables and recycled vs. non-recycled.

2. Focus on the basics: I do think that green parenting at the very least means encouraging recycling, making green cleaning choices and doing away with disposables when possible. For example, we’ve never had paper napkins in our house, and I’m hoping my son will grow up and continue to use cloth napkins – small choices add up. The above (green cleaning, recycling, and knocking disposables) are easy things that any parent can try. Basically if you’ve got easy curb side recycling and you’re not using it and teaching your kids about it, you could be doing better in my opinion.

3. Promote nature appreciation: Most kids aren’t born with nature appreciation, just like kids aren’t born with TV appreciation or Happy Meal appreciation. Our actions as parents make a huge difference. If we like to be outside, if we get our kids out there and have fun, if we discuss nature, then yes, hopefully they’ll learn to appreciate and maybe even love nature. Growing green kids is pretty darn basic – kids who appreciate nature grow into adults who appreciate nature and adults who appreciate nature are more likely to be advocates for the earth. In my experience, people almost never attempt to preserve what doesn’t matter personally to them. As a parent you do need to make nature count for your child.

4. Keep their world healthy: By “Their world” I mean their direct world. Serve vegetables not fast food most of the time, buy organics when possible to cut out pesticides, use green cleaners and BPA-free dishes. A lot of green issues are health-minded. I do try to cut out many chemicals and pesticides from my son’s world. I know he’s going to run into pollution and chemicals – that’s a given unless I send him to live in a cave. However, in Cedar’s own home-based world I can do small things that get him thinking about the state of his health and body. Kids in this country are outstandingly overweight right now, and that’s a big problem. While you may not consider the childhood obesity issue a green topic, I actually do because kids I see who do get to run around in nature are fit enough to do so happily. There’s a huge link between having a healthy body and living green. I think if we focus on health issues from an early age our kids will have the tools they need to be healthy enough to deal with all sorts of issues, green included.

5. Talk green: Talking about why we make the choices we do has a big effect on kids. My son is nine years old and he can tell you about pollution, recycling, organic foods, tree planting and more. Yeah, he tells it in his own words and he gets mixed up about some stuff, but overall he gets green living at a level that’s appropriate for his age and green issues matter to him – he brings them up independently now. Talking about green living issues, and more importantly, how they relate to our direct world is one of the most important parts of being a green parent in my opinion.

So does the above make me an environmentalist or would I need to go tie myself to a tree or drive a hybrid to earn that title? I don’t know. I suppose I don’t even care. I just try to make green choices that will affect my family in a positive way. My version of green living is small smart steps that add up; maybe I’m not even living green, maybe I’m living logically; who knows? What I do know is that so far it’s working out for me and my son.

What do you think defines a good green parent?

[all images of son Cedar and best friend's daughter Bella out and about taken by Jennifer (who is not photo savvy)] 

I’m what you might call fairly germ obsessive, but probably not in the way you think. My aunt probably is a little germ obsessive in the way you might think – she ALWAYS uses those paper toilet seat covers, never drinks off other people’s drinks, and loves her anti-bacterial hand wash and bleach cleaners. Actually this is likely not germ obsessive now that I think about it. I’d say it’s normal for Americans. Here in America we buy untold amounts of dangerious cleaners each year along with mountains of sanitizing products and paper towels all meant to do one thing – protect us from germs.

I’m germ obsessive in an opposite way from most people. Germs fascinate me because of how they’ve captured everyone’s attention. Germs astound me because people are so freaked out by such a little organism. Most of all though germs make me laugh because although people must know that germs are everywhere, that they touch us all, that we absolutely cannot win a war waged with germs, still many people try.

It’s not like I don’t take basic germ precautions. I wash my hands and make my son wash his. I wash food well (even organic) and use a tissue when I have a cold. That said I also don’t condone anti-bacterial products or bleach and other harsh cleaners. I use cloths not paper towels to clean with. I guess you might say I have a lackadaisical approach to germs – yeah I know they’re there. Yes I know some can be very dangerious. But overall, I ignore them because I know they outnumber me. Why bother fighting to the max?

My lack of issue with germs started when I took Microbiology for health sciences in college. We swabbed for germs and other icky stuff on ‘clean’ cafeteria trays, money, library books and a slew of other seemingly harmless everyday objects and guess what – everything, and I do mean everything had some sort of icky germ on it. After seeing that germs are always with us the two positions available were freak and become a total germ-a-phobe or take basic precautions and try not to worry. I choose the second stance obviously.

Why bring it up?

I recently got a new product to review – PeopleTowles. PeopleTowels are 100% organic cotton, reusable personal hand towels meant to be carried with you on-the-go which will eliminate the need for paper towels or electric hand air dryers when you’re out and about.

I asked my boyfriend to be part of said review and he said, “Why would I want to carry a personal hand towel around?” then went on to explain that paper towels serve more than one purpose – they dry your hands sure but they also protect you from germs. For example, he said he washes, then uses that same paper towel to open the bathroom door on the way out. It’s a perfectly valid concern and I’ll for sure be adding it to my review, but what I’m wondering is if that concern is valid enough to warrant the use of millions of paper towels each year.

For example. You use the paper towel like my boyfriend to dry your hands in a public restroom at a store. Assuming you did a good job washing your hands you should now be germ free. Then you take that paper towel and use it to open the bathroom door. Germ free check!

What about however, when you venture further into the store?

In the store you come into contact with carts, produce, boxes of cereal, money, the pen you use to write your check (or god forbid the ATM machine), plus a slew of other objects that thousands of folks before you have touched. Your point with using the paper towel to avoid germs has now been blown to heck and back because I assure you, all those other objects you’ve now touched are covered with germs of people who also came out of that bathroom but didn’t wash their hands and now sadly those germs are on you.

Is it worth it to have used the paper towel?

My take is no. No it wasn’t worth it. All that toxic bleach. All those anti-bacterial products that contain icky chemicals. ALL those paper towels… probably not worth it in the grand scheme of things. It just makes me wonder. My boyfriend is smart. He’s reasonable. He’s actually pretty green minded too. So are plenty of other people in America. However, we still buy the cleaners and paper towels which makes me think that maybe a lot of anti-green behavior is caused by germs; an issue we can’t easily (or maybe at all) control.

It’s something to think about. In fact, why not tell me what you think about it… Are germs a major issue behind why people are still using anti-green tactics like paper towels and bleach?

Washing your hands seems simple enough – rinse, lather, hum happy birthday as you scrub, then rinse. Easy! However, there’s a green way and the not so green way to wash your hands. Below are some common barriers to greener hand washing – this by the way is a perfect first green step for little kids because it’s easy, necessary, and a good way to open up a conversation about green living.

BARRIER one – you lather up with antibacterial soap: Antibacterial products are all the rage but many are not so green or even necessary. Many antibacterial products contain nastytriclosan. Triclosan (pdf) is a synthetic, broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent found in products such as deodorants, toothpastes, cosmetics, fabrics, plastics and of course antibacterial soaps. The downside; according to Beyond Pesticides is that, “Studies have increasingly linked triclosan to a range of health and environmental effects, from skin irritation, allergy susceptibility, bacterial and compounded antibiotic resistant, and dioxin contamination to destruction of fragile aquatic ecosystems.” There is zero current data that demonstrates any extra health benefits from having antibacterial-containing cleansers, over basic soap and water, for either hands or other items in a healthy household.

The World Health Organization (WHO) notes the same (pdf), stating that while children who wash their hands regularly with soap and water have 53% lower incidents of diarrhea, there’s no added benefits for kids in a home using antibacterial products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also advocates simple hand washing with warm water and soap not antibacterial soap.

Furthermore, when you use antibacterial soaps you’re basically lathering with pesticides. Antimicrobials are considered pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (first used to to destroy or suppress the growth of harmful microorganisms on inanimate objects and surfaces). However these sameantimicrobials , when put into products used on the human body or in processed food or food wrappers, are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) not the EPA, even though their toxicology is the same.

If you really want to get into the nitty gritty of why antibacterial soap is no good, take a look at why using it may cause bigger and badder super germs – which I’m guessing is just the opposite of what you’d like a good hand washing to accomplish.

Skip the antibacterial soap. It costs more, it’s a pesticide, and it’s not any more effective for home use. Get some non-toxic, natural hand soap and wash your hands properly with warm water.

BARRIER 2 – you waste water: We all know that leaving the water running while we brush our teeth or wash dishes wastes water. However since it’s recommended that you rinse your hands under running water AND wash for just 20 seconds (much less time than brushing teeth or washing dishes), you’re not going to save much by turning the water off while you scrub up. That said you can still conserve water while washing your hands by installing a simple aerator (check at a Home Depot type place) which screws directly onto your faucet. An aerator reduces the splash factor, slows down the flow and saves water.

A bigger issue I’ve seen is kids who unknowingly waste water when hand washing. At my house the kids tend to turn off water faucets but not quite all the way. Teach your kiddos to turn the faucet all the way off. Water drips don’t amount to much in a day, but over time can add up.

BARRIER 3 – you use paper towels: With all the worries about the flu, many people think that paper towels are the only way to keep hand washing germ free – and yeah that makes sense in public spaces. However, at home using paper towels is an unnecessary step. If your family washes their hands properly, you all can use the same cloth hand towel unless one or more of you is sick. In the case of illness, the Canadian Lung Association notes that you should give the sick individual their own hand towel and switch out hand towels frequently.

IF you strongly feel the need to use paper towels use only 100% recycled paper towels. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) notes that, “If every household in the United States replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels (70 sheets) with 100% recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.” That’s a shockingly large number.

BARRIER 4 – you use plastic soap dispensers: Reusing a refillable soap dispenser is a much greener choice than buying brand new plastic hand soap containers over and over again. In many cases not all components of hand soap containers can be recycled either. I buy natural soap in bulk (in a reusable container) from my local natural grocery store and simply refill my reusable containers. Another option is to buy natural bar soap in unpackaged blocks, which also are available at most natural grocers.

There, now don’t you feel like lathering up right now!