Flour Sack Mama

Leaders Dump Partisanship, but Dilute Efforts to Improve America's Chemical Safety

2013-05-24T13:23:00.002-04:00

Elder statesman Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and several others from both sides of the political aisle have joined together to promote safer consumer products with an update to the outdated Toxic Substances Control Act. The US Senators have joined New Jersey's Senator Frank Lautenberg, the grandfather who has vowed to get the Safe Chemicals Act passed before his retirement. Their bipartisanship brings encouragement, while the details look like a diluted version of the original Lautenberg effort.

Tennessee Tuesday Breakfast May 2012 in Washington, DC
Senator Lamar Alexander, Memphis Mom Donna Brigham,
Senator Bob Corker, Knoxville Mom Anne Brock

This bipartisan effort is now called the Lautenberg-Vitter "Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013." As with any piece of compromise legislation, the bill gets mixed reviews. The broad-based coalition, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families is noting this as an encouraging step, although the details have not all been sorted out. SCHF Director Andy Igrejas says, "This is an impressive bipartisan group of Senators and it shows that we can get reform done in this Congress. We look forward to working with them to ensure the strongest law possible."

Consumer advocate Environmental Working Group is sounding a more critical tone and says the new legislation strays too far from the safety and health intent behind the original Safe Chemicals Act. EWG President Ken Cook says, "This draft bill, which has received extremely enthusiastic support from the industry it would regulate, is an unacceptably weak response to the chemical exposure problems that American families face every day." EWG says the compromise bill strips tough safety standards and omits clear deadlines for chemical safety assessments, creating only a minimal improvement over TSCA's current inability to protect Americans. EWG's work is a major reason why we all know the new normal for American babies is to be born prepolluted with hundreds of toxins in their cord blood, a reality confirmed by repeated government studies.

What business would knowingly use Hazardous 100+ list substances for consumer products anymore and what government leader would play games with our children's health by not working toward meaningful TSCA reform? Parents across the country will continue asking the nation's top retailers to Mind the Store, and we'll expect our elected leaders to put safety and health first.

Those of us parents, nurses and educators who lobbied our Senators for the Safe Chemicals Act last year and marched in the National Stroller Brigade have reason to be both encouraged and skeptical. I appreciated SCHF giving me the opportunity to attend and blog about the event. I'll never forget meeting Donna Brigham, a special needs coordinator for her school who is another mother from Tennessee. We weren't interested in how the other one voted and neither of us expressed much enthusiasm for politics in general. We did discuss our shared concerns for our children and we prayed together before meeting Senator Alexander at the Tennessee Tuesday breakfast. To countless parents like us, protecting our children from known toxins in everyday consumer products isn't a partisan, pro-business or anti-business issue. It's just common sense and something that should be done, for goodness' sake!

Container Gardening Class Take-Aways

2013-05-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

Church-Sponsored Gardening Class with Master Gardener Lisa Lemza

When Master Gardener Lisa Lemza teaches a gardening class, she mixes botanical terms with colloquialisms, sharing a wealth of information without intimidating her students. No wonder her classes are so popular on Saturdays at Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga.

Her first class of the season was about container gardening. She covered the practical and the pretty, the maintenance and the fun. "It's your garden," she encouraged her students, "please yourself and have fun with it!" She showed us everything from designer-colored glazed pots to plantings in an old shoe.

Lemza encouraged using the best potting soil you can find and creating a healthy environment for whatever you choose to plant in your small container. "In a pot you're creating a little miniature world and the more good stuff in there, the better off your plants are gonna be."

Here are some of the most useful takeaways I got from her class:

*Give your plant a generously sized pot

*Glazed pots hold moisture better, while terra cotta pots dry out faster

*Do not put shards or stones in the bottom of the pot

*Do put screen in the bottom of the pot and make sure there are plenty of drainage holes

Gardening classes are held in conjunction with the community garden program at Grace.

Surfing and Savoring The Best of Hawaii

2013-05-23T15:01:00.001-04:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arby's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The kai (ocean) and kahakai (beach) are calling me to visit the beautiful island of Hawaii! Can you imagine what you'd do with carefree days and nights in Honolulu? How about learning to ride the waves with Hawaii's finest firefighters who are also surf instructors at Hawaiian Fire? Sounds hot to me too!

You still have a chance to win this vacation of a lifetime in the Arby’s Hawaiian Getaway Sweepstakes. Arby's grand prize winner and a companion will be flying round trip, with four nights' stay in Honolulu. Plus, the winner will have to chance to learn surfing with a premium group lesson from Hawaiian Fire.

I'm ready for a luxury vacation like this! My husband, on the other hand, could get just as excited about a hot roast beef sandwich on special KING'S HAWAIIAN bread. For a limited time, Arby's is teaming up with the popular KING'S HAWAIIAN brand to offer two premium sandwiches. The Arby’s KING’S HAWAIIAN Roast Beef sandwich offers an extra helping of roast beef on the slightly sweet KING'S HAWAIIAN bun. Start with all that, adding Swiss cheese, crunchy pickles and creamy Dijon spread, and you have the KING'S HAWAIIAN Roast Beef & Swiss sandwich. These sandwiches are clever combos of savory and sweet tastes, with buns crafted in the tradition of Robert Taira's 1950-era Hawaiian bakery that's grown into nationally known KING'S HAWAIIAN.

You can only catch the taste of Arby's new KING'S HAWAIIAN sandwiches for a limited time. And your chance to catch some waves and more in Arby's Hawaiian vacation contest ends May 26. So enter now at the above sweepstakes link.

How Church Got Started with GreenFaith Ministry

2013-05-23T05:00:00.000-04:00

Seeing a medium- or large-sized church with a program in place like GreenFaith, the program might seem daunting to a smaller church or to one that previously had no focus on creation care. While the leaders I met recently at Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga are certainly well-organized and talented, they say any faith community can do what they've done. Church efforts include sustainable landscaping, recycling, composting, a community garden and a weekly farmers' market.

GreenFaith Team leader Marion Pound encourages others to start with education and then one small action step at a time. She said something as simple as recycling could help a congregation get started. "Start with one thing and then watch it grow. I think you will be surprised at how people will get excited!"

Master Gardener Lisa Lemza noted that a community garden project needs a manager. She also explained that both budget and the need for low maintenance are important details to consider before getting started.

The Rev. Susan J. Butler
Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, TN

The Reverend Susan J. Butler said she's amazed at how well the various talents and concerns of church members came together to make GreenFaith projects work. And yes, she credits a higher power. "As a Christian minister, when you asked me why this happened, what I believe is that it was the movement of the Holy Spirit. That people who have a passion for the preservation and restoration of the earth just presented themselves and said 'you know we really think that Grace Church ought to get GreenFaith certified, ought to incorporate the preservation and restoration of the creation into our Sunday school program, not just for kids but for adults as well…that our liturgies ought to reflect creation-centered spiritually and theology.' I think that the Holy Spirit just moved here…to encourage people, to give them voice.”

GreenFaith offers a free start-up kit of ideas for faith communities who want to green their ministries.

People dig community garden!

Ministry brings farmers and residents together!

Southern church celebrates God's creation!

People Dig Church-Sponsored Community Garden

2013-05-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

Community Garden Manager Lisa Lemza

The Senior Warden of the Vestry at Grace Episcopal Church met me wearing boots and a rain slicker at the community garden still soggy from a morning rain shower. She'd been greeting people from the neighborhood at the annual plant sale, and she was a few minutes away from teaching a gardening class. I wanted to ask her about the neat, numbered, raised garden beds that her church rents out for $20 a year.

Vestry Warden Lisa Lemza explained that the church wants to include anyone in the surrounding Brainerd neighborhood of Chattanooga who is willing to tend their own garden. She teaches classes and is available to answer questions, since she is also a Master Gardener and manager of the community garden. But if you don't keep your garden spot tidy, Lemza said you could lose your planting bed to the next person on the waiting list. "We want to keep the garden beautiful. A garden shouldn't just be functional. It should always be beautiful. It should be a place of peace, serenity, repose, escape, it's what the natural world offers us even in tame and urbanized settings."

The raised beds are built from composite board in order to last longer than wood. Central to the garden is a neat trio of composting bins complete with user-friendly signs. The garden also features blackberry bushes and vines such as muscadine. Nearby is the pavilion with a living roof growing with plants, where the free classes take place. The community garden is both a missional and educational component of the church's GreenFaith efforts to live out faith through environmental stewardship. The Reverend Susan J. Butler explained that the garden and related efforts are
ways to live out scriptural lessons, “We’re learning every day from the process of what it means to be incarnational ministers, what it means to reflect what Jesus taught us; you actually have to do it, not just talk about it.”

When I asked her why a community garden is a good thing for a church to host, Lemza answered in her own down-to-earth style, "“It’s our job to take care of the earth, it’s what we’re here for and an ethic we’ve been ignoring for the last 100 years. Those chickens are coming home to roost pretty hard right now. Stewardship is a recurring theme throughout all biblical interpretation that’s worth a hoot. So it’s our job to take care of the earth, it’s our job to pass on to our children and grandchildren a world that’s better than the one we’ve received, not one that’s been decimated and saw the juice sucked out and tossed a cinder to our grandchildren -- that’s an abomination.”

The Rev. Susan J. Butler
Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga

The community garden is one of many components that Grace planted while achieving its GreenFaith certification that was recently awarded in 2013. Certification was a two-year process. GreenFaith team leader Marion Pound is also motivated to not only do good works but to share her faith through these programs. “If our spirituality doesn’t lead us to care for the earth and to care about being more responsible and living more simply and thinking about the people downstream from our choices, if that’s not a part of our faith, I think our faith is incomplete somehow.”

Tomorrow: what worked for this church and how yours could get started with a GreenFaith program

Christian Mission Brings Farmers and Residents Together

2013-05-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

Rainy Saturdy Morning at Brainerd Farmers' Market

Just across the street from a typical grocery store and strip mall, in a modest Chattanooga, Tennessee neighborhood, the parking lot is bustling with people at the Brainerd Farmers' Market. A rain shower has scattered the usual Saturday morning crowd, and some vendors are packing up. They've brought flowers and garden plants, fresh food and more.

Brainerd Farmers' Market is nestled on the grounds of Grace Episcopal Church. The Reverend Susan J. Butler explains, "Indeed, Saturday mornings here, probably nine months out of the year, is like a mini-church, the fellowship angle of a church, without the actual worship." While shoppers and vendors are made to feel welcome, there's no obligation to step inside on Sunday mornings. Free music is a frequent addition to the open-air gatherings. Parishioner Marion Pound shares, "I think it's evangelical in a very low-key sort of way. They don't ever have to come to a service, but their coming and being a part of this is a way to preach the gospel."

Farmers Alex McGregor and Wife Leslie Smith
with Farm Intern Allison Banks

Vendor Alexa McGregor and his wife, Leslie Smith are selling strawberry plants and more from their organic Walden Farm. They've enlisted an intern to help at the market, and they tell me business has grown for them each year that they've participated at Brainerd. McGregor said, "Every year we've almost doubled our sales!"

Shoppers can not only bring cash, but they can use their EBT or food stamp cards for food and vegetable gardening items. The church runs promotions to double the amount of points EBT card holders can use at the market, stretching their mission to feed the hungry. Parishioner Kathleen Russell, who started the Farmers' Market three years ago, says it attracts local vendors who use organic and sustainable practices, even if they're not all USDA Organic certified. McGregor shared that his customers want to talk with him directly about his growing practices, and that means even more to his farm than a government seal. Market manager Catherine Durham said the community is best served when the church can help keep shopping local. "People feel really good when they buy from someone they know is part of their community," added Russell.

Grace Episcopal's GreenFaith Team Leader Marion Pound (left)
Brainard Farmers' Market Founder (and GreenFaith Leader) Kathleen Russell

The Saturday morning market is part of a larger GreenFaith project the church is implementing. The project challenges congregations of faith to become environmental leaders through a wide range of sustainability programs.

Tomorrow: see why the community really digs this church!

Southern Church Celebrates God's Creation

2013-05-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

The stately stone building anchors the block of a quaint Chattanooga, Tennessee neighborhood, complete with slate tile roof and Celtic cross. Its surrounding lawn is perhaps what you would expect near a house of worship, except for small differences in the details. Clover is allowed in otherwise tidy stretches of grass.

Generous areas are mulched and filled with native plants. Absent are those small white flags that indicate toxins have been sprayed on the lawn by a typical lawn care service. Century-old trees look healthy and well cared for. A parking lot median is planted in vegetables free for the picking, instead of decorative flowers.

Grace Episcopal Church, GreenFaith congregation in Chattanooga, TN

A visitor to Grace Episcopal Church gets the message that God's Creation is important, before ever entering the sanctuary. That's intentional. Grace is the first Episcopal church in Tennessee to join the GreenFaith Certification Program. During Sunday morning breakfasts and Wednesday dinners, efforts are made to include wholesome, locally grown food. Utility and maintenance work is done with a measure of care. Leader Marion Pound of the local GreenFaith Team explained, "We've changed all of our cleaners to green cleaners and we switched all of our light bulbs and we have recycling programs and composting programs, so now nothing's wasted inside."

Native plants fill large planting beds near mature shade trees

Sunday school classes spend time outdoors to enjoy a butterfly garden and bluebird houses. They even have creation care included in their curriculum. Pound, a mother of two, explained, "I feel like it's a critical component and especially raising children and their awareness of that connection between creation care and their spirituality. We're hoping that they are well educated from the beginning that that's a part of their Christian responsibility."

Church member Jerry Evans mulches a "free picking"
vegetable bed with newspapers before adding pine straw

Grace Episcopal Church is doing much more to minister to its neighborhood outside the church walls. Tomorrow, see what else is growing there!

When Faith Inspires Green

2013-05-19T01:00:00.000-04:00

How does your faith inspire you? Remember when those "What Would Jesus Do?" bracelets were so popular?

Congregations of faith are asking questions like "What does Jesus have to do with Creation?" and they're figuring out ways to live out their faith in greener ways. Not because green is trendy, but because their faith calls them to do so.

This week at FlourSackMama.com, visit one of those congregations where "going to church" doesn't always look like you might expect, and where the mission field is -- getting greener!

Defending the Family Strawberry Patch

2013-05-18T18:16:00.001-04:00

Anything better than strawberry picking in May and June? I don't think so. Our family's getting anxious for the homegrown berries that have been ripening in our garden.

Trouble is, the pillbugs keep getting the first bite just as the strawberries start to ripen! It's been a damp week, and that hasn't helped matters. In a more arid climate, I don't think this would be a problem. I also wonder if the same conditions that have created an otherwise healthy looking strawberry crop, such as nutrient-rich, compost-filled planting beds, are the same conditions attracting these bugs.

I tried diatomaceous earth (an all-natural flour made of crushed shells) around the plants, which has deterred pests from other plants in the garden. Unfortunately, a hard rain came shortly after I applied it, making the dust useless. I'd run out and buy more, but at some point this will become cost prohibitive.

So, we're working on keeping the area where the ripe strawberries set dryer and less appealing to pests (without resorting to toxic, persistent pesticides).

Appalachian Feet offers all sorts of great information about pillbugs in the garden, so check out what they have to say.

More later...time to go work in the garden...

How Do You Spell The Name of That Blog?

2013-05-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

"What's the name of your blog?"

"How do you spell it?"

"Flower?"

"Huh?"

Grandma never knew about the internet. Wonder what she'd think if she knew she inspired a blog because she was so resourceful that she could create useful quilts and beautiful dresses from flour sack fabric? Is this blog about sewing and quilting? Sometimes. Is it all about old-fashioned things from Grandma's generation? Not necessarily.

Still confused? Thousands of you keep coming back to see what's happening here, so we must be doing something right. Here's a smattering of what other people have to say about FlourSackMama.com:

Examining Human Costs of Mountaintop Removal Mining in Appalachia

2013-05-16T05:30:00.000-04:00

We flip on the switch, read a book or run our computer all evening and don't give it a second thought. We don't even ask what it took to make that happen. Bumper stickers remind me "Coal, It Keeps the Lights On," and I can't argue with the truth in that. Businesses and individuals feel intrinsically they need to "support coal" and its jobs, and they proudly display signs saying so in the tiny town of Appalachia, Virginia. It may take an up-close look at exactly what it means to extract coal these days from the ancient mountains of Appalachia to see that we're literally destroying the earth for short-term gain.

It was difficult to hear accounts of young lives lost and at risk in poor communities near mountaintop removal mining. The industry disputes any health connection.

Residents in several Appalachian states have been calling for better air, water and forest protections for the mountain region for years.

Coalfields are becoming a new sort of mission field for Christian college students who are gathering health data about residents near MTR activities.

Discovering your connection to MTR is easy. What you do about it, is up to you.

Gardening and Waking Up With Stonyfield

2013-05-15T04:30:00.000-04:00

Heirloom Red Bell Pepper Plants

I run five miles, water the garden, prepare a gourmet breakfast, then head out the door, on time, with perfectly mannered children and my own perfectly coiffed hair. Sounds like a parenting fantasy to me!

Truth is, if I can get one or two of those things right in the morning, I'm happy. Sure, I try to be a responsible parent. And yes, I'm committed to pampering the garden, especially since we're growing more varieties of our own organic food than ever. I fail most often in the fitness category, simply not making enough time for myself. As for the hair...wasn't it a busy mom who invented the pony tail?

If I manage breakfast well enough to cook something scrumptious, Stonyfield recipes are there to help me make everything from quiche to pancakes to breakfast burritos. If I'm short on time, Stonyfield can still help ensure our family has a nutritious start to the day. Sometimes we make smoothies that include fresh kale from the garden, frozen berries and Stonyfield's organic yogurt. Really running late? YoKids comes in all sorts of great textures and flavors that my kids can gobble on the go. I often put frozen YoKids Squeezers into the kids' lunches, happy to send them off with a treat that adds all-natural goodness.

Late-Blooming Heirloom Tomato Plants next to the Strawberry Patch

Heirloom Seed Potato Pieces Curing Before Planting

Mornings can be a challenge, and they're also a beautiful time for counting blessings: fresh air and sunshine, healthy kids, and hopefully our own fresh strawberries to pick from the garden soon. While my tomato seedlings were a bit neglected this year, the sweet pepper seedlings look hardy and I've had a surplus to share with friends. Our family is excited about trying new crops like organic potatoes, carrots and watermelon.

Organic gardening and cooking is something I'm relearning after a childhood on a family farm. While I grew up around gardening, I'm learning alongside my own kids about growing food without toxic, persistent pesticides. I appreciate that Stonyfield supports family farms and uses only organic ingredients, just like we're growing in the family garden.

Wake Up With Stonyfield helps me get better informed about the origins of our food, as well as conveniently getting mornings off to a healthy start. You can Wake Up With Stonyfield too by signing up here for a daily bit of inspiration and coupons from Stonyfield Farm - a great clean couponing resource. Here's to filling even the most hectic mornings with sunshine and goodness!

Disclosure: as a Yo-Getter fan of Stonyfield yogurt, from time to time I've received free yogurt samples and other modest promotional items and compensation from Stonyfield. Currently, this blog post is an entry in the #WakeUpWithStonyfield blogger contest in which I would love to win the chance for more paid blogging with the company. However, as anyone who knows me can attest, my opinions are always my own! #ad

Organic Corn and Sorghum get Boost from Cover Crops

2013-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

This post is for all of you who've laughed when I inquired at farmers' markets for organic corn. It's for all of you who told me "nobody" grows corn organically, at least not in East Tennessee. Take a look at this cornfield.

Rye Grass and Hairy Vetch as Cover Crops for Cornfield

You say it doesn't look like corn. You're right. You see, it's not time yet for planting the corn and sorghum that will grow in this field.

Flowering Lupine in Field Where Corn will Eventually Grow

For now, the field is bursting green with rye grass and hairy vetch. These two cover crops are inviting to insects (those "pests" held in disdain by conventional farmers), and they choke out most of the other plants that might be considered weeds. The pretty white flowers you see are lupine, another potential cover crop.

Field of Rye Grass and Hairy Vetch

This cornfield in progress is being watched and studied carefully by researchers at the University of Tennessee's Organic Crops Unit so they can help farmers grow corn organically. Researcher David Butler, PhD noted that the grass and legume are a good combination to prep the field for what comes next. A large drum-like machine will roll-kill these cover crops. The UT Assistant Professor described, “The rye biomass will break down more slowly so it can help suppress weeds even after it’s died, whereas the vetch because it’s got a lot of nitrogen, will break down pretty quickly, but it will provide the nutrients for the following crop. They’re complementing each other in this mixture as a cover crop.”

White Lupine Flower

Butler said the corn and sorghum will be directly planted after the cover crops are crimped and laid onto the ground. He said, "So it’s an organic no-till system. When you think of no-till systems, typically they’re using herbicides to prevent weeds. Here we’re roll-killing the cover crop and using that to prevent weeds." A farmer adopting this system would avoid the large herbicide expense of conventional corn farming.

When buying organic foods, what's in it for consumers? Aside from concerns about protecting the natural environment, consumers can look to organic farming for foods without pesticide residues. Added Butler, “For you as a consumer, most studies have shown fewer pesticide residues in organic systems, which is what you’d expect since we’re not using those synthetic pesticides. So I think that’s a big draw for most consumers in the marketplace.”

University Researchers Growing Organic Wheat in Southeast

2013-05-13T05:00:00.000-04:00

Crop Researcher David Butler, PhD in Organic Wheat Trial Fields
University of Tennessee - Organic Crops Unit

On an overcast April day, blades of wheat were already filling in enough of the field to crowd out the few weeds trying to grow there. When I noticed a dandelion and some clover, I asked if someone would be pulling the weeds. "No," responded the professor, as he explained that in just the right proportion, the wheat plants would thrive, choking out enough weeds to eliminate the need for manual labor or herbicides. Soon, the fields would be waist high.

As consumers want to know more about the origins of their food, farmers are faced with new challenges. How do you grow an in-demand crop like wheat with a mindful eye to clean air, water and end product? Assistant professor David Butler, PhD is studying three different varieties of organic wheat in a field test at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He graciously took me on a farm tour, making this Ozarks farm girl feel right at home.

Lady Beetle or so-called Ladybug on Clover Amid Field of Organic Wheat
University of Tennessee Organic Farm

Butler explained that this current field test at the Organic Crops Unit of the East Tennessee Ag Research and Education Center would help determine which characteristics and varieties are best for growing organic wheat under Southeastern agricultural conditions. Knoxville sits in a valley area known for moderately high humidity and mostly mild temperatures. Butler said the research would also help determine the ideal seeding rates for organic wheat. He said the ideal rate would optimize the current year's crop by outpacing weeds while also minimizing future weed seeding. "So we’re trying to look at this at a long-term scale," explained Butler, "and see how that affects the long–term system if you’re trying to produce organic wheat in this region."

The University of Tennessee is one of few land grant universities doing organic and sustainable crop research. Butler says much more work needs to be done to understand the best ways to grow organic crops, especially in the Southeast region of the country. “I don’t know that we’re there yet in knowing the optimal management practices for a lot of organic crops in this region.” The field trials on wheat, which could take years for growing, producing enough data and analyzing that data, are a step toward giving modern farmers the information they need to make organics competitive and profitable. The three varieties currently being tested are: Agripro W1377, FFR 2239, and Excel BW442.

Trial Field of Organic Wheat
East Tennessee

Consumers often wax nostalgic about organics these days, thinking of them as a throwback to our grandparents' time. This would have been before the ubiquitous use of inputs like fossil-fuel-based fertilizers and toxic, persistent pesticides in conventional agribusiness. This was also before the erosion and depletion of much of the nation's prime farmland and the pollution of waterways. Butler cautioned that growing conditions today are not the same as in our grandparents' day. He elaborated, "There are a lot of things that we think about in organic systems, now that the science has evolved, that we really didn't think 50, 100 years ago before we were using a lot of synthetic pesticides: the best way to design a crop rotation, what off-site impacts are of certain practices. And we just don't have the research now on organic systems to say, 'this is the best way to produce this crop organically.' We just don't have that research and I think that's important to consider."

Next time: what's in it for you when you pick organic food? Plus, how crops you'll never eat can help organic food grow strong!

Kids Get Creative with Gifts from Uncommon Goods

2013-05-12T01:00:00.000-04:00

Parents, we've all been there, haven't we? The mere anticipation of the coolest new toy that sings, dances and entertains your child (only requiring 100 batteries), far outweighs the grandeur of it all after the five layers of packaging have finally been opened at the birthday party and it's been played with a mere ten minutes before your child loses interest!

What if the simplicity of a toy or craft cost you less and engaged your child longer? That sort of thoughtful choice is what the buyers at Uncommon Goods seem to be offering via their unique online store. My kids were so excited about the gifts they chose that they surprised me by cleaning their rooms early on a Saturday so they'd be allowed the open the box. They each chose two modest items that involved crafting and creativity. It's hard to believe they've already outgrown their baby stage, because I would have loved to get them some of the adorable organic cotton toys available for the toddler set.

My oldest daughter chose the Notebook with 100 "Elements" and couldn't wait to show her friends what she'd done with it. The 100 "Elements" are letters, numbers and symbols for expressing your personality. Inside, the thick sketchbook paper plus lined pages are blank canvas for more creativity. She's just begun learning how to use the Hypotrochoid Art Set with its templates, gears and colorful pens. It's a challenge that mixes art with math, stored in its own compact container.

The Fairy Tales Finger Painting Art Set was a hit with my younger daughter. She instantly saw how to replicate its sweet and simple characters with her fingerprints plus stamps and colored pencils. The eco-conscious brown packing paper that came in the larger box was plenty of canvas for her.

The item that engaged my kids the longest was the Balloon Modeling Kit. They quickly learned to use the red hand pump and turn modeling balloons into cute critters. When they involved my husband, he critiqued the kit and declared the instructions too unclear to create a proper pink poodle as his daughters requested. The girls were unphased; they were soon making their own versions of swans, butterflies, whales and more. The little stick-on eyes helped them avoid having to use a magic marker.

While he failed at balloon making, my husband is a great dad and is usually good at working with his hands. With Father's Day rolling around, it's hard to say which thoughtful item he'd appreciate more: the Working Man's Hygiene Kit or a writing pen carved from a wooden baseball park seat. While browsing, I found a wide range of gift choices for dads with every interest and for dads who have everything.

Although I fell in love with the Glass Memory Locket for myself (hint, hint to my loving family), and saw plenty of thoughtful gifts under $50 to check out at http://www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/by-price/gifts-under-50, I'm glad the kids enjoyed their arts and craft projects. The best part of their picks was that the goodies and gadgets kept them occupied, making them a good value in my book.

While my kids thought their new things were fun, I appreciated the thoughtfulness involved. For instance, the funky notebook was made with a recycled rubber cover. Some of the plastic packaging was neat envelope styles that could be saved to use again, and all of the Uncommon Goods packaging seemed recyclable and minimal. I appreciate Uncommon Goods' stated commitment to sustainability, fair wages, and supporting independent artisans. The company is a founding Certified B Corporation.

Disclosure: Our family received $50 worth of free merchandise from Uncommon Goods that we reviewed in this post. My opinions are my own.

Conscious Box Giveaway Winner Announced

2013-05-11T21:28:00.001-04:00

I envy Sara F. over these next three months. Each month she'll be surprised by a delivery to her door that contains innovative, fun new products to try. Congrats to Sara for being the winner of our Conscious Box 3-month subscription giveaway at FlourSackMama.com!

Thanks again for our family's free box of goodies we received in April for our review. I only wish every shopping trip were as easy at Conscious Box doing the guesswork for me!

Reading Sandra Steingraber's Message to Fellow Mothers

2013-05-11T04:00:00.000-04:00

Why do Americans, in this day and age, have to beg and plead for others to simply use common sense? Why, when something as fundamental as clean air or water is at stake, doesn't everyone want to work together for a solution? If there was any question in my mind that parents must be more mindful than ever about our children's future, it was answered when I read world renowned scientist and author Sandra Steingraber's recent letter to other moms, written from the Chemung County Jail.

When I heard that Steingraber was jailed along with other peaceful protesters to draw attention to concerns about protecting the waters of Seneca Lake, I wondered why the powers that be didn't just listen to her in the first place. This cancer survivor, biologist and author of Raising Elijah and Living Downstream, has a doctorate degree and has testified as an expert in all sorts of venues. If she thinks New Yorkers should be concerned about the health and safety risks posed by storing natural gas products near a lake many people depend on for drinking water, she's probably done her homework. Reasonable leaders in government and even business would listen to her and look for safer solutions, wouldn't they?

Many of us busy moms can thank Steingraber for opening our eyes to profound parenting concerns through her book Raising Elijah. I admit I'm not prepared to participate in civil disobedience the way she bravely did. However, I respect that these are serious, somber issues of protecting our children from toxins now and trying to preserve a healthy world for them to have when we're gone. I'm thinking Elijah and his sister were pretty proud of their mom.

Arkansas Mom Calls for Moral Response to Community Health Problems

2013-05-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Arkansas Mom April Lane
ArkansasFracking.org

April Lane made sure to wear her Arkansas Razorbacks shirt on the day she was having her picture taken for a news article. She's proud of her Ozarks heritage, is president of the Environmental Alliance at the University of Central Arkansas where she attends, and wants to raise a healthy family with her husband, Sam. Lane showed me one of the buckets that she and other residents have been trained to use for testing the air in their community north of Little Rock.

Many have experienced strange symptoms and health concerns since hydraulic fracturing has transformed the place they live into what seems like one big industrial park. Lane says nausea, nose bleeds and rashes are happening to multiple people. The Lanes are already raising a young son, very concerned about air and water quality for him and other children in the area. Locally, the Lanes helped organize ArkansasFracking.org and participate in the Faulkner County Citizens Advisory Group. They were glad to get support from Global Community Monitor in the form of the air testing buckets.

As a concerned citizen, Lane has learned to arm herself with facts in order to make the case for good community health. She also believes there's a moral obligation to make sure that an industry like fracking is safe for everyone. "It’s harming the environment, but more than this being an environmental issue, it’s a human health issue, this is a civil rights issue." She hopes that scientists' analysis of the air sampling data will help answer some health questions and provide evidence if needed for cleaning up the air.

I asked Lane if her relentless drive to improve her community health is, at least in part, a faith issue. She answered, “Yes, it’s absolutely a faith issues, I’m a Christian. I've attended a small congregation for most of my life. As Christians we’re instructed to take care and be good stewards of this earth. For me it's looking at all these issues and the people who've been negatively affected, and knowing that God expects me to do something about this. I cannot just stand by and turn a blind eye, because I’ll be held accountable for it, I firmly believe that.”

Ultimately, Lane hopes that the Bucket Brigade information and wider awareness of problems in her community will lead people to make more responsible decisions about fracking. She hopes people will realize the impacts on families just like theirs. “They’ll look at their own children and they’ll look at their own families, and they’ll say if this were happening to us, if that were my child, if that were my family, being negatively impacted, I would do something about it, I would care.”

*Arkansas Bucket Brigade
*Pending Permit Allows Fracking Wastewater in Arkansas Streams
*Arkansas Fracking Jobs and Human Costs
*Arkansas Community Watchdogs Concerned

Pending Permit Allows Fracking Wastewater in Arkansas Streams

2013-05-09T04:00:00.000-04:00

Site of Proposed Facility for Recycling and Dumping Leftover
Fracking Fluids into a Stream that Runs Toward the Arkansas River

Remember making an enclosed terrarium as a schoolkid, learning that a little bit of moisture inside would keep recycling and sustaining life just like on earth? This concept of water conservation and reuse is not necessarily a model for the way things are done these days. In the case of millions of gallons of water infused with industrial substances left over from hydraulic fracturing to obtain natural gas, government and industry in Arkansas are cooperating to very likely allow dumping into public waterways.

In a little town called Bee Branch, Arkansas, a large facility is waiting to hold large quantities of so-called produced water from fracking, and to let that fluid overflow into a small tributary of the Arkansas River. The permit is pending. The permit says the water/chemical mixture would be treated and equipment at the facility would include a reverse osmosis system. Perhaps, per the name of the facility, fluids would mostly get recycled to be used again in the fracking process. Yet, local watchdog group ArkansasFracking.org is concerned that "filtering plants cannot clean the water enough to be released into waterways." AF notes that when fracking fluid returns from deep wells, it might even have become radioactive. This is because hydraulic fracturing disturbs naturally occurring radioactive elements deep in the earth.

"We're paying with this with our lives," said resident April Lane sadly. She's part of a growing citizen movement to question the health affects of fracking. Often citizen groups are more vocal than official groups that have the power to enforce health and safety rules. Communications Director Ann Russell of the Arkansas Department of Health responded when asked about the discharge permit, "We reviewed the permit and did not comment. No water supply is threatened by this proposed permit." The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is in charge of issuing permits for both the facility construction and the discharge to applicant SEECO, Inc, a subsidiary of Southwestern Energy. The application states, "The discharge of treated fluids from the exploration, production, and development of oil and/or gas operations is into an unnamed tributary, thence to Linn Creek, thence to the North Fork of Cadron Creek, thence to Cadron Creek, thence to the Arkansas River in Segment 3D of the Arkansas River Basin."

April's sister-in-law, Emily Lane, pointed out during the January public hearing on the permit that Cadron Creek is considered an Extraordinary Resource Water in the state of Arkansas and is the backup water supply for the city of Conway and its 50,000 residents. Emily Lane was one of several people who spoke out against the discharge permit. Her biggest concern is that clean water is too delicate a matter to trust industry policing itself. She told leaders at the hearing, "Finally, a facility like this should not be allowed to self-test and self-report, ADEQ should be conducting and/or overseeing the testing of these parameters, especially Chronic WET Tests." Whole Effluent Toxicity tests measure wastewater's effects on living organisms. The hearing was covered locally by the Van Buren County Democrat newspaper.

When asked if he had a comment on this discharge of wastewater that would eventually flow to the Arkansas River, Arkansas Tourism Director Joe David Rice said he was unaware of this specific permit. However, Rice did have this to say about the potential for enjoying the river: "Unfortunately, the Arkansas River's potential for tourism in this state remains largely untapped. While it's regularly enjoyed by many local boaters and fisherman, the stream has yet to play a big role in the overall tourism industry. One problem has been a shortage of facilities to serve recreational traffic on the stream. However, two large marina complexes are under construction in the Little Rock/North Little Rock area and we suspect these new developments will lead to increased recreation on the river."

Open Air Storage Pool for Liquid used in Natural Gas Fracking
Commonly found near Arkansas homes and farms

What to do with the millions of gallons of industrial liquids pumped into and recovered out of each natural gas well has become a conundrum for those in Arkansas and many other states. The disposal of this wastewater in underground injection wells was stopped, at least temporarily, after a slew of earthquakes in the Fayetteville Shale area. There are the controversial "land farms" where wastewater has been spread on farmland. You might commonly see shallow, open pools of the wastewater stored in pastures around the area. And now, industry wants a state permit to run this large storage facility where wastewater could either be recycled or dumped into the creek. It would be the first such facility to operate in Arkansas. Southwestern Energy says about the handling of wastewater in general, on its website, "Our goal is to recycle as much water as possible," and a spokesperson stresses that the company strives to comply with all regulations and reporting standards.

Citizens have been raising concerns at public hearings for things like the discharge permit, in hopes that the state will consider all of the human and ecological costs involved. April Lane added, “I’m counting on the conservatives in this state who really deeply care about the natural state, about Arkansas, to start standing up, being more vocal and start looking to their neighbors and start really reaching out to them and asking them 'what’s wrong and how has this affected you?' And care, and then do something about it.”

You can watch the trailer for Emily Lane's upcoming film about fracking in Arkansas, Land of Opportunity, at this link.

*Arkansas Mom Calls for Moral Response

*Arkansas Bucket Brigade
*Arkansas Fracking Jobs and Human Costs
*Arkansas Community Watchdogs Concerned

Fast Food Marketing to Kids: #MomsNotLovinIt

2013-05-08T08:44:00.000-04:00

Let's just start with full disclosure: I am not one of those moms who finds time to make absolutely everything from scratch (although I try) and whose children have never set foot in a fast food restaurant. In an attempt to teach them moderation and preserve my sanity, I do allow occasional treats that could include something from a fast food restaurant. They understand, however, that these are to be rare occasions and that these treats are not nutritionally ideal for their growing bodies and brains.

Ideal food comes from our organic family garden directly to the table, or from a restaurant without a soda fountain. My kids, grumble though they may, know my imperfect efforts to make the simplest home cooked meals are expressions of my love for them. One reason they grumble is that "everybody else" gets to eat fun, fast food (and fewer vegetables) more often than they do. Somehow, even if we steer clear of certain restaurants and keep the television turned off, the kids still have messages from the most masterful of all mcmarketers stuck in their innocent little brains. How did this happen?

Could it have been the times a festive, articulate Ronald McDonald showed up at the library as a regular summer reading program guest? Or was it that my kid's favorite teachers flipped burgers for a school spirit night when a portion of sales were being donated to the school? Recently when I wanted to reward my daughter with lunch from the restaurant of her choice, she begged for McDonald's and that elusive thing she'd heard of other kids having, called a Happy Meal.

Moms around the country are joining together in asking McDonald's CEO Don Thompson to stop marketing fast food to their kids. The American Academy of Pediatrics has called marketing to children under 8 "inherently deceptive," and "wholly exploitative," and many moms agree. Many want a ban on junk food/fast food marketing during tv programming for children. Many also find it unsavory that McDonald's teams up so often with institutions like schools to promote its twist on nutritional values.

Corporate Accountability International says parents need a level playing field for parents to make healthy choices for their kids. In other words, if you're doing your best to fill more than half of your children's plates with colorful vegetables, it's tough to do if the norm seems like that space should be filled with fries. CAI says McDonald's spent $115 million in 2010 alone to advertise those popular Happy Meals. No wonder, huh? Who's out there putting millions into advertising for broccoli and carrots?

Intense, even sneaky fast food marketing to young children? I agree with #MomsNotLovingIt that parents need a break from this. If you'd like to learn more about the CAI's efforts to stem the tidal wave of fast food marketing to your kids, visit www.MomsNotLovinIt.org for more details.

Arkansas Fracking Jobs and Human Costs

2013-05-08T01:00:00.000-04:00

Northcentral Arkansas

Jobs. Good jobs. Average salaries over $74,000. Sounds like a good thing for Arkansas, according to many looking for economic stability. A consortium of oil and natural gas producers proudly announces on its website that the industry employs more than 20,000 workers throughout the state. Southwestern Energy alone says it employs more than 1,300 people who live and work in the Fayetteville Shale area. Arkansas needs industry and the tax revenues that go with that, so business and government is generally supportive of modern hydraulic fracturing methods used to extract natural gas from the place that calls itself the "natural state."

Typical Arkansas Fracking Site near Homes

Citizen groups that also support statewide industry have begun to question whether the modern process of extracting the gas, called fracking, is done with enough safeguards for human health. They were concerned about a slew of earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 that coincided with large amounts of spent fracking fluid being injected into the earth. They're concerned about clean water and clean air and long-term health effects for Arkansas residents as well as the long-term well being of their beautiful state.

Venting Gases at Rural Arkansas Refining Facility

On the same road in rural Arkansas as a natural gas refining facility and compressors sits an abandoned church where parishoners decided they could no longer meet. Two abandoned houses also sit along the road, close to the facility. A local tells a story of the neighbor's chickens dying, and the family eventually moving out. My guide tells me to look from the roadside at the gases venting atop a small tower. Hard to capture on camera, they are visible with the naked eye. There is a hint of something in the air and I start to cough.

Refining Facility and Compressor with Abandoned Church and Homes nearby

Fracking is exempt from many federal measures protecting clean air and water, leaving the Environmental Protection Agency nearly powerless to enforce safeguards. A report about 2008 air quality testing by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (via an EPA grant) admits that the agency's work is incomplete and not able to satisfy long-term safety questions. The ADEQ report states, "The greenhouse gases emitted annually from Fayetteville Shale gas production are equivalent to the emissions from approximately 650,000 passenger vehicles (USEPA GHG Equivalencies Calculator). The annual emissions from Fayetteville Shale are expected to have increased substantially since 2008 because of the rapid growth in the number of active wells and gas production." Yet residents don't get regular alerts about how the gas production is affecting what they'll breathe from day to day. Global Community Monitor has trained Arkansas citizens to start monitoring the air quality for themselves. GCM spokesperson Ruth Breech said, “As it relates to natural gas, what we're seeing nationally is that there is truly an epidemic happening right now. People are sick, they’re getting sicker. We need to stop and assess what are undocumented health effects.”

Abandoned Backflow Tanks Used in
Natural Gas Fracking Operations, Near Homes and Farms

Are the financial incentives of fracking worth the other costs? Not to Beverly Langford. Her family at first shared in the profits by leasing some of their land near Bee Branch for natural gas drilling and fracking. They later were told they didn't own their mineral rights after all. Yet they had no power to make the industrial park in their former cattle pasture go away. I asked if she would take such an opportunity again. Langford answered, “It wasn’t an opportunity to us, we didn’t want them here. And no, would I want them here? No, not at all!" She cautioned other families to think long-term and not believe that they'll necessarily profit by signing a natural gas lease.

Langford says she does commend Southwest for being more accountable than some energy players have been in the past. Even on the best days, she must endure heavy machinery and lots of comings and goings. Southwest's management said, "We take pride in being accepted as an important part of each community in which we operate, and that compels us to continuously carry out our operations responsibly and with high standards." Chesapeake Energy was a large holder of Fayetteville Shale gas leases until 2011, when it sold many of those to BHP Billiton. All in all, Langford has regrets, “If I could go back in time and make this something that never happened, I definitely would.”

April Lane is co-director of ArkansasFracking.org, and the mother of a preschooler. She says she got concerned around the time of the earthquakes and now organizes community watchdog programs, including the air monitoring bucket brigade with Faulkner Citizens Citizens Advisory Group. ArkansasFracking.org shares little known details about what happens during the fracking process. For instance, water is mixed with toxic additives in order to do the job of fracturing rock to release the natural gas, and millions of gallons of liquid are involved. Lane encourages other citizens to get informed and speak up for their rights, even if they aren't scientists. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that pumping 7 to 12 million gallons of toxic fluid down into the earth is probably not a good idea. And putting a well 200 feet from someone’s front door and where children play is cutting it way too close. There are certain common decencies that these companies just turn their backs on, they don’t take the time to inform residents of what they're doing, and in my opinion it’s because they know that what they’re doing is harmful."

Next time: should fracking wastewater, even cleaned up, be allowed in freshwater streams?

No More Secret Scents!

2013-05-07T17:33:00.001-04:00

Tidy housekeeping and good manners have motivated many of us through the years to keep a can of air freshener handy in the restroom. It was the civilized way to deal with daily unpleasantries, wasn't it? For the longest time, I didn't realize there were so many natural alternatives for keeping the house smelling fresh and clean.

Scientists for consumer group Women's Voices for the Earth have uncovered allergens and hormone disruptors in popular air fresheners from Glade, and women around the country are calling on maker SC Johnson to come clean about its secret scents. Today's science tells us there's reason for concern about the health impacts of synthetic fragrances like the ones uncovered by WVE's investigation.

If you want to make an informed choice about products like air fresheners for your home, you need to read everything on the label, don't you? You can take action now via WVE to ask SC Johnson to be open about what synthetic fragrances it's using.

You can also stay informed about consumer issues affecting your home by bookmarking WVE's website.

Sampling Soothing CV Skinlabs Lotion

2013-05-07T16:42:00.002-04:00

If beauty is only skin deep, then the ideal skincare product has to do more than just make us look beautiful, doesn't it? That's the idea behind Britta Aragon's new CV Skinlabs products. She wanted to formulate them so carefully that they could soothe the most sensitive skin, even that of a cancer patient recovering from the harshness of chemotherapy.

It was a calming reprieve this week to try a small sample of two CV Skinlabs products. Calming Moisture is a medium-weight lotion that glides on easily, is not greasy and seemed very mild on both my face and hands. A lot of lotions can burn my face, while this did not. The Restorative Skin Balm is a thicker salve that felt especially healing on my feet. Neither product has much of a scent, as they are designed with minimal, all-natural ingredients and promise not to include a list of questionable ingredients like synthetic fragrances commonly found in other skin products.

We had a mixed reaction to using the Calming Moisture on my young daughter's face. It was not able to stop the onset of what I think was a dietary-induced eczema that was coming on the same afternoon that we tried the lotion. At first, the one cheek where we used the lotion actually looked a little pinker than the other, but then it calmed back down. My daughter's skin is also oilier than mine, so my clear takeaway was that the lotion worked better on my dry skin than it did on hers.

Because CV Skinlabs is designed to be as pure as possible for people undergoing cancer treatments, we decided to share the larger samples with a family friend dealing with chemotherapy.

I first heard from Britta Aragon last fall during a Body & Soul Talk with Women's Voices for the Earth. I related to her story as she told of struggling with her father's skin care during his painful cancer treatments, and how she was inspired to create something better for cancer patients and others with sensitive skin. Aragon's story about creating the Cinco Vidas community and her process of creating CV Skinlabs products is inspiring.

By supporting their crowd funding campaign, you can be part of building a health conscious business for today's consumer, plus have the chance to sample their soothing products for yourself. You can go to their Indiegogo page to learn more about it.

(Disclosure: I received modest samples of skin care products for my household to use or share with friends. My opinions are my own.)

Bucket Brigade Helps Arkansas Residents Test Air Near Fracking Sites

2013-05-07T05:00:00.000-04:00

Local Air Bucket Brigade Organizer
Arkansas Mother April Lane

The strange, not-quite-sweet smell was in the air as my guides took me on a tour of public roads winding through rural Arkansas. At every stop, every time I stepped out of the car along the right-of-way, there it was. With roads marked with signs like Civil War Trail, Rabbit Ridge and Bee Branch, and with acres upon acres of rolling hills, I'd expected to smell little more than the freshness of overripe cow pastures or perhaps a poultry house. This was different.

There were a few cattle remaining, but many had left to make way for drilling rigs, holding tanks and open pits of toxic liquid in places where they used to graze. Just a few miles north of Little Rock, a five-county rural area has become the target of exploration for the last stubborn pockets of natural gas that were previously unreachable with yesterday's technology. Those bucolic cow pastures sit atop the Fayetteville Shale, also home to more than 200,000 people.

"What am I smelling?" I asked my guides. "You don't know what it is," one of them answered matter-of-factly. Thus, I began to understand the reality these Arkansas residents live with everyday. The complexities of modern fracking, far more powerful than natural gas exploration in previous decades, involve multiple steps that affect land, water and air. Citizens often feel powerless to understand what is happening around them, not even having a say in whether industry should be operating just feet from their homes and farms.

Open Air Holding Pond for Used Fracking Fluid
Near Arkansas Homes and Farms

Global Community Monitor has been cautioning about both short- and long-term health effects of substances used in the natural gas hydraulic fracturing or fracking process. In its 2011 report called Gassed!, GCM recommended quarter-mile buffer zones for the processes associated with hydraulic fracturing to keep it a minimal distance from homes, schools and businesses. Instead, the energy industry has made itself at home in the fields and yards of Arkansas residents, sometimes even uninvited because of the way mineral rights work.

Arkansas Resident Dirk Deturk shows
Mapping of Earthquakes in Fayetteville Shale area
including his own backyard

"They just put an industrial park in everybody's backyard," exclaimed Van Buren County resident Dirk Deturk! He and his wife overlook a large forest area that now contains two natural gas fracking pads in the valley below. Deturk said, "I’ve been out back working in the garden and my tongue would bleed. The smell is horrendous that comes off these wells at times." He showed me a photo of a rash that he said he and a neighbor both came down with at the same time, immediately after they noticed flaring operations in the valley below. A couple of years ago, Deturck and others experienced earthquakes that led to a moratorium on other deep Arkansas wells where fracking byproducts were being injected into the ground.

Van Buren County resident Beverly Langford is also concerned about her family's health since fracking has replaced cattle ranching in her field. "It’s absolutely air concerns, one of my major platforms has been the air concerns. I don't think they’ve figured out a way to address the fact that property in Texas where it’s completely flat and they're doing a lot of drilling is different than here in the valley. Look out here how hazy it is today. Haze hangs in these hills...Everybody that you talk to now has breathing problems, has severe allergy problems, has a lot of sinus issues, things like that, but nothing can be linked back to them.”

Natural Gas Fracking Production in Langford Family's Former Cattle Field,
where they're still required to pay property taxes, with their home on the far right

Arkansas Resident Beverly Langford
Has view and odor of
Natural Gas Production
from her front porch.

GCM has equipped a group of Arkansas residents to monitor their own air quality and send it to an independent lab for testing, to help answer some of the lingering questions about fracking in their communities. University of Central Arkansas student, wife and mother April Lane is demanding answers and leading a modern day bucket brigade so residents can protect themselves. Lane said. "There’s just a lack of disclosure of what we’re being exposed to. Companies don’t tell you when you they come onto your property and they’re starting to do one stage of production, they don’t let you know anything, any safety information, letting you know what they’re pumping into the air on certain days. As a landowner and a mother you need to know what you and your children and your family are being exposed to." Lane helped organize ArkansasFracking.org because of health and safety concerns. State agencies apparently do little to no air quality testing, while industry finds loopholes in protective federal measures like the Clean Air Act. There's also a difference in how industry or government tests to meet occupational standards and how independent testing might be done to protect vulnerable populations.

*Arkansas Mom Calls for Moral Response
*Arkansas Fracking Jobs and Human Costs
*Arkansas Community Watchdogs Concerned
*Pending Permit Allows Fracking Wastewater in Arkansas Streams

Join Team ENERGY STAR's New EPIC Adventure!

2013-05-06T15:26:00.003-04:00

Anyone out there not know what an inhaler is? Does someone in your family use one or do you know of a young child who must tote one around for after-school activities? It's become commonplace, hasn't it? No matter what the original cause of the breathing challenge, it seems something in the air on certain days can aggravate it. That seemed to be the case in one small Appalachian town I visited recently, where health surveys are being done to help understand why people are feeling so sick. The town is next door to mountaintop removal mining, a process that has destroyed hundreds of America's mountains to get some of the coal needed to burn in power plants to provide our electricity, raising questions about air and water pollution.

Would you like to be part of an effort to clean up whatever's in the air that could be making children sick? You can start today by simply conserving energy. Little habits like teaching children to turn off the light switch when they leave the room, or home maintenance efforts like installing programmable thermostats and picking ENERGY STAR certified appliances -- can all save your family money while helping clean up America's energy conundrum. We all want a comfortable lifestyle, don't we? None of us intended for our comfortable lifestyle to make children or the planet sick, did we? Turns out that running the typical America household (not even counting our cars) puts more than 20,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions into the air each year. Maybe you've already heard how those greenhouse gases contribute to extremes called climate change -- a very real problem that the world's top scientists agree will only get worse unless we make better choices.

As a mom, I appreciate how Team ENERGY STAR helps me start teaching my young children to protect themselves and others through small, energy-saving steps. I like the FREE activity booklet downloadable from the Team ENERGY STAR website, as well as other online ways our entire family can get involved in energy conservation. My husband is enticed about saving money; did you know the average household spends more than $2,000 per year on energy and could save at least $200 of that by following ENERGY STAR tips? It's easy to get started with the ENERGY STAR Home Check-Up.

My family has joined more than three million other Americans who are pledging to protect the climate, and you can too. When your kids share their energy-saving stories with Team ENERGY STAR they become eligible to win all sorts of great energy-saving appliances. My daughter was thrilled when her essay was picked as a winner last year in a similar Team ENERGY STAR contest!

Our family is also excited about the prospect of free tickets to see the new blockbuster summer movie EPIC that's in theaters this summer! As a mother of two girls, I'm excited to see that a teenage girl is the hero who finds herself in a world where she can help the power of personal responsibility and good triumph over the power of greed and destruction. Team ENERGY STAR has partnered with EPIC to help empower more of us to do our part in preventing climate change.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am writing about Team ENERGY STAR because I support the program and because I believe it is important to educate the public about energy efficiency and climate change. I have received a modest "thank you" reward from LG, an ENERGY STAR partner, in appreciation for my post. That gift in no way influenced my belief that saving energy is important and necessary.