Imagining The Ultimate My Little Pony

When I was little in the 1980s, I would dream about the perfect My Little Pony. It was a pony that combined all the best features of all the ponies. It would be a unicorn pony, with the fuzzy/velvety body, a jewel in its eye, and the wings that could actually flap up and down. I'm sure there were more features from the many ponies being made that I wanted to include, but those are the features I remember best. In my 8 year old daydream, all these features would be combined into one glorious pony.

Now, many years later, I don't daydream about the ultimate My Little Pony anymore. But sometimes I do daydream about things that, if adopted, could go far in protecting the earth. I haven't vetted how possible these are or what the ramifications would be, but here is a taste of my daydreams:

• A ban on making disposal tissue products (toilet paper, napkins, paper towels) from anything but recycled fibers
• As long as we're talking about disposal paper products, let's require all toilet paper and paper towel companies to make them without the cardboard roll in the center like Scott Naturals
• Ban the use of carcinogenic compounds in consumer products. Are they really necessary?
• Ban sprinkler systems for lawns (green lawns in the desert? Terrible idea. I'm looking at you, American Southwest and anywhere that a green lawn, even in a drought, is a status symbol)
• Ban fertilizers and pesticides for lawns
• Ban plastic bags
• Ban sky lamps and balloon releases (these products aren't biodegradable despite what they say and cause a lot of harm and litter)
• Ban cheap crap made in China (or elsewhere) that breaks after one use. Heck, ban "planned obsolescence" altogether)
• Ban plastic water bottles

Walking the Talk: My Report Card

Yesterday the Huffington Post posted an article called You Can Help Save The Planet With These 15 (Somewhat) Easy Steps. As a Green who is trying to get better at walking the talk, I thought it would be fun to share with you all how I am doing in each of these categories. I'd love to hear how you are doing in these categories as well.

1. Not Driving A Big Car All By Over The Place By Yourself

I do drive a big car, a Honda Odyssey to be exact. If I could afford an all-electric family car I would, alas I cannot. My kids are almost always with me in the van, and sometimes my husband and dog, or the grandparents are too. I love it when the van completely full, though that can be hard to do. Although the mpg isn't great, it is good for a minivan (18/25 city/highway). I also try to limit my driving trips overall, which is more possible since I am a stay at home mom.
 

2. Not Having Lots Of Kids

I have two kids, that was planned because I was trying to fill my maternal wants AND "Plan It for the Planet." I also don't have energy for more kids even if I thought the planet could handle it.

3. Don't Idle Your Car

This is a serious pet peeve of mine. There have been SO MANY times that I want to walk up to a stranger and tell them to turn off their car as they wait in a parking lot to whatever establishment we are both at. I restrain myself, but it's difficult. Once I did try to gently say something, but it didn't result in the guy turning off his engine. So, no, I personally don't idle. I even turn off my engine at the rare times I'm at a drive-thru or if I'm waiting at a particularly long red light.

4. Don't Eat Lots Of Meat

I was a vegetarian for five years during adolescence, but redeveloped a taste for meat. For a while, after receiving a blood transfusion I developed a serious appetite for red meat. My desire for meat has waned, and I would love to cut back even more. Currently, I sometimes try to stretch a package for a couple meals. I'd love to do more vegetarian meals, I just need to take the time to look up recipes.

5. Don't Vote for Climate Change-Denying And Pro-Oil Representatives 

I definitely don't vote for climate deniers or oil puppets. Fortunately, this is made easier by living in liberal, green, Vermont.

6. Don't Take A Really Long Shower

I'm a stay at home mom. If I shower twice a week I'm doing well. (TMI? Sorry.) Sometimes I do linger in those precious showers a little even though my brain guilts me about how much oil I'm burning to heat the water.

7. Avoid Buying Things From China

This is hard to do, but yes, I try. Good thing is that we rarely go shopping except for food so that helps a lot. I've also embraced hand-me-downs and garage sales for getting kid stuff in particular.
 

8. Stop Wasting Paper

Whenever there is a paperless billing option I do it. We do not subscribe to a printed newspaper. Our biggest source of paper waste by far is from junk mail and companies who do not have a paperless billing/statement option.

9. Avoid Flying Across The Country Multiple Times A Year

This past summer I flew for the first time in 6 years to attend the Climate Leadership Training in Chicago (yes, I see the contradiction in this). 

10. Don't Waste Food

I do my best to make sure my family eats everything we buy, but we do have a backyard composting operation. We don't put food waste in the trash.

11. Quit Eating Out Of Season

This makes sense, but it's hard because in VT there is no fresh fruit and my kids love bananas, clementines, grapes, pears, you name it. I do too. Canned and dried doesn't quite cut it for me. I am looking forward to cracking open a jar of my own canned peaches during our first big snowstorm.

12. Stop Using As Much Electricity And Unplug When Possible

We are conscious about turning off lights and not leaving our Christmas tree lights on unless we are home to enjoy them. Our biggest downfall is probably our tv. If I was more disciplined I would only watch it when specific shows are on, but sometimes we do zone out in front of the tv, or multitask with other devices. We have solar panels for our house which helps. We also live in a region that gets a lot of hydropower which helps. We also have advanced power strips that cut down on phantom electricity demand.

13. Cut Back On Air Conditioner Use

We don't have one, so this isn't an issue. I would love to finish a room in the basement. That's where I hid out on hot summer days while growing up, unless I was in the pool. If we fix the holes in our screened-in porch we could also use that more on hot days as a sleeping porch, or hang out area after the sun goes down.

14. Don't Worsen America's Dog Obsession

We have a dog, but just one. She's here to stay.

15. Seal Up Your House

We did an energy audit this past summer and had insulation and air sealing done. It should cut down on our heating energy use and emissions by about 30%.

Don't Forget Santa

I've definitely gotten swept up in the Christmas spirit fast, and since I have kids Santa Claus is a big part of the season. So it's important that I don't forget about Santa in all my preparations.Our most beloved North Pole resident's home is in real danger due to climate change and the threat of oil development in its pristine waters due to opportunities presented by melting ice.

Even for me, a climate fanatic, it can be easy to get lulled into a false sense of security and forget this daunting problem we created for ourselves by burning fossil fuels. It's much nicer to go on with business as usual and not think about it. So, as we go through this season which is largely defined by rampant consumerism, keep the jolly guy in the red suit who lives up North, and your kids, in mind as you make your purchases and travel plans. Do what you can to protect Santa's Arctic home and workshop.

To make your Christmas more green consider these things:

• limit travel
• Carpool, CarShare or use public transit
• Focus on experiences instead of things (Locals, see The Family Friendly Holiday Guide to BVT)
• Limit the number of gift purchases
• Buy local so your goods consume fewer transport fuels? (Locals, see Shop VT 2013). 
• Make gifts yourself
• Buy from craft fairs or other local artists
• Upgrade your Christmas lights to LEDs or get solar lights and put them on a timer
• Use reusable gift bags instead of wasting wrapping paper

There are many things we can do to reduce our environmental impact without killing the holiday spirit. Have yourself a Green and Merry Christmas!

Trunk or Treat!

Halloween is one week from today! My son is very excited and asks almost every day if it's time for trick or treating yet. Here in the islands houses are far apart making Trick or Treating in the traditional sense impractical. Sure, my husband grew up having his parents drive him from house to house to beg for candy, but that sounds utterly unappealing to me being raised as an "in town" girl.

Thankfully our town has a fun and environmentally-more-friendly solution! It's called Trunk or Treat. It's hosted at the local school (K-8, we have no high school of our own) and everyone parks their cars and hands candy out from their trunks. People decorate their cars in festive ways and the PTO sells snack foods. Everyone is in costume, even many parents, and it's just a giant party as kids go trunk to trunk to get their candy and the adults chat. Here is a picture of us at Trunk or Treat last year when my son was 2 and my daughter was 6 months old.

This year the Fire Department is offering prizes to cars who win in the following categories: scariest, funniest, most original, and most environmentally friendly. Environmentally friendly??? It has my name written all over it! How can I not participate? I still need to come up with an idea. The best thing would be to bike down to the school with my kids in a bike trailer. I would open up the bike trailer to reveal candy for eager trick or treaters, and perhaps decorate it with solar lights and have pretend windmills attached. Alas, I don't have a bike (I apologize), let alone one with a kid trailer. So what to do? Any ideas, dear readers? I would love to hear them.