emma_in_dream

Congratulations to the ninth placed girl in the Save the Bilby competition.
Thank you for voting for her.

https://www.facebook.com/FaceTheChallengeCompetition/photos/a.1289557714394958.1073741829.444692425548162/1289559351061461/?type=3&theater

A recent study from the Center for Health, Environment & Justice found that all the children’s lunch boxes tested -- which technically aren’t “toys” and so aren't covered by current legislation -- contained up to 30 times the amount of toxic dust deemed safe by the federal government.

Disney’s lunch boxes were some of the worst offenders. Their lunchboxes are covered with beloved characters -- like iconic princesses and Spiderman -- but could be shedding toxic chemicals that put my kids at risk.

Tell Disney to be a leader for children's health and stop using dangerous phthalates in their products now.

http://www.change.org/petitions/disney-get-toxic-chemicals-out-of-princess-and-spiderman-lunch-boxes

It’s Spring and I am feeling inspired about strawberries. I love the sweetness, the plump redness. It really is the taste of the fresh, summer season. I love the sight of Ruby clutching them in her chubby fists and stuffing them into her mouth with such joy.

But that’s not what’s inspiring me.

Sadly, what is moving me is a great book by Sandra Steingraber about parenting in our age of environmental toxins.(1) She talks about the need to take action to save our kids from environmental toxins, and she writes compellingly about how small issues link up to the bigger environmental issues.

One of the examples she uses is strawberries which, in the US are grown with the use of a fumigant called methyl bromide. Methyl bromide is a known ozone depleter. These berries may have the taste of summer but their growing contributes to global warning. The fumigant is a neurotoxicant and as a bonus it causes climate change, so your concern about your child ingesting pesticides segues into your desire for your child to inherit a safe world.

Steingraber speaks movingly of the need to take action, the need to say to our kids - ‘It’s OK, I’m working on fixing these problems’.

So, OK, I am moved. I will start here.

Why will I begin with strawberries?

( Read more... )

What have I found out?

( Read more... )

What else can I do?

Well, firstly, I can distribute this information. (Hello, Internet!)

Green guides would suggest growing your own. I’ve had zero success in growing anything in my shady, shady garden. Like geraniums die, lemon trees die. I seriously doubt strawberries would grow and I refuse to waste money trying.

Green guides would also suggest a community supported agriculture group (CSA). These seem to be common in the USA but I’ve had trouble finding one in Western Australia.

And I am open to other suggestions, people, especially from those of you who actually understand science.


(1) Sandra Steingraber, Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis (2011). You can find out about her at: http://steingraber.com/

(2) http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/332/the-new-dirty-dozen-12-foods-to-eat-organic-and-avoid-pesticide-residue.html

(3) http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/food-and-drink/safety/strawberries/page/about%20our%20test.aspx

(4)http://www.horticulture.com.au/admin/assets/library/annual_reports/pdfs/PDF_File_103.pdf

(5)http://www.environment.gov.au/atmosphere/ozone/publications/pubs/critical-uses-update-2010.pdf

(6) http://panna.org/

(7) http://www.strawberriesaustralia.com.au/

(8) Not only is organic fruit way more expensive but the books on eating sustainably bang on and on about deep freezing and storing food. In order to do that you have to have enough space for a deep freeze (also money) so this advice irritates me greatly. My experiment is with one punnet. If it works, one day when I live in a space with more space I’ll freeze on a larger scale.