Shirley Siluk Gregory's Blog
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
Abolitionist Wendell Phillips once said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." But, it turns out, it's also the price of truly green living.
That's because, to live a legitimately green, environmentally responsible lifestyle, you have to be continually aware of the implications and effects of everything you do and everything you buy. Without awareness and vigilance, it's far too easy to fall prey to greenwashers and opportunistic green wanna-bes.
Case in point: on a recent grocery shopping trip, I stopped in the preserves and jellies section to pick up a jar of raspberry preserves. After a moment or two scanning the shelves, I picked up the one marked "Natural," and turned it around to read the label.
There, right after "raspberries," was the second ingredient: "high-fructose corn syrup." The all-pervasive sweetener was the second-most dominant ingredient in the "natural" preserves.
Now, I know high-fructose corn syrup, for all its bad rep, is really no better or worse than sugar. But I've made a point of trying to choose foods that are as natural, as unadulterated as possible, and I'm trying to keep high-fructose corn syrup and other industrial food additives out of the equation. So I put the preserves back on the shelf.
I think, when the raspberries are in season this year, I'm stocking up and making my own preserves.
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
Yet another news story came out this week warning that children aren't getting outside enough on their own to play anymore. This one, from the Daily Mail in the U.K., cites government research finding that a full 25 percent of 8- to 10-year-old British children have never -- that's never -- played outdoors without adult supervision.
That's just sad, and it echoes a situation I commented on in an earlier blog post inspired by a news story about children finding nature "boring" unless it's on TV.
As the parent of a five-year-old boy who's trying to expand his boundaries on a daily, if not hourly basis, I understand the desire to protect your children. I also understand that not all families live in places with close access to a decent playground, a nice park or a bit of real-life nature. But there's got to be a way to do better by our kids, to give them a better chance to explore, learn about and understand the "real" world of nature. Second Life and Wii games aren't the answer.
So here are a few ideas for introducing kids to a world of nature, no matter where they might live: Plant a windowsill garden. Grow a few sunflowers in a patch of dirt outside. Sit on the porch, or even by an open window, and watch for -- and listen for -- birds. Buy some ladybugs to set loose in your backyard as natural pest control. In short, do, don't watch.
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
There's no escaping the fact that we humans have done a lot to foul our planet. And just because our waste might not be in our own backyards doesn't mean it shouldn't concern us.
Case in point: A sailor named Charles Moore, taking a rarely used Pacific Ocean shortcut in 1997, came upon seas filled with plastic trash that just kept coming, day after day after day. Today, that "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has grown to an area twice the size of the continental U.S. And it's likely to double in size over the next 10 years if people don't start reducing their use of plastic, Moore warns.
But how easy it is to buy plastic every day and not think about where it eventually ends up. In fact, it's darned hard not to buy plastic in one form or another: shampoo bottles, ketchup bottles, toothbrushes, computer keyboards, disposable pens, flashlights, dish scrubbers, etc. And even if you're fanatical about recycling as much as you can, it's almost impossible for the average person to recycle everything.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is just one sign that it's time for us to remake our lifestyles. Between climate change and depleting fresh water aquifers, dwindling fossil fuel supplies and expanding ocean dead zones, the message from Planet Earth is clear and growing louder every day: 'Stop messing me up, because you have to live here too.'
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
If you're concerned about climate change and looking for ways to be part of the solution, it's not too late to join in on the "Focus the Nation" teach-in, which kicks off on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 30.
Focus the Nation organizers have signed up more than 1,600 colleges, universities, faith organizations and civic groups across the U.S. to participate in an all-day discussion of global warming and possible solutions on Thursday, Jan. 31.
Before the national teach-in, though, Focus the Nation participants can take part in a live, interactive Webcast of "The 2% Solution," which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, on Earth Day Television. Leading the online discussion will be climate scientist Stephen Schneider, sustainability proponent Hunter Lovins and social justice activist and attorney Van Jones.
In addition to the all-day teach-in, Focus the Nation is also encouraging participants to join in a "Green Politics" movement by meeting with their elected officials to discuss their concerns about climate change. The movement is focused on establishing nationwide momentum for positive change before February 2008, when the newly elected U.S. president and Congress begin setting their agenda for the nation.
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recent announcement that meat from cloned animals was safe to eat launched an avalanche of commentary from foodies, consumer advocates, environmentalists and others, both online and off. If you really want to be green, though, the prospect of cloned meat needn't be an issue: you're better off leaving meat out of your diet entirely anyway.
That's because meat production in general is an environmentally costly business. For example, it takes five pounds of grain to produce a single pound of beef. And producing just a quarter-pound of beef requires 4,500 gallons of water, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The livestock business also uses up billions of pounds of fertilizer (to grow feed grain), produces trillions of pounds of manure and generates almost one-fifth of the world's methane emissions.
So leave it to others to worry about whether it makes sense to eat cloned animals. From an eco-standpoint, it really doesn't make sense to eat any animals at all.
Posted by Shirley Siluk Gregory
There've been many times in recent years when news from the outside world seems so bad I can't help but feel depressed and miserable. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina sent me into a funk for weeks, and the ongoing news about climate change could easily push me into a permanent down mood, if I let it.
I've resolved, though, not to let it. After all, if I'm doing the best I can to live well and effect change for the better, shouldn't I also do what I can to enjoy what I have? Not stuff, of course: I can live without plenty of stuff. But the joyful things of life, even if they're only here for a little while or are threatened by global change.
For me, those joyful things are spending time with and talking with my family, playing silly games with my almost-five-year-old son, laughing at funny movies with my husband, getting a chill down my spine from a Mozart concerto or gazing on the beautiful blue-green waters and bright-white sands of the beaches near my home. It's listening to early-morning birds chirping in my backyard, spotting the first sprouts of the garden vegetables I've planted or taking that first sip of a really nice cabernet.
Too often, green-minded and environmentally-focused people are accused of being messengers of doom and gloom. While the real-world news might not be so great, we don't have to make it worse for ourselves with self-inflicted misery. So, whatever gives you joy -- smelling a rose, baking bread, taking a walk in the woods, sewing your own clothes -- be sure to find time for it, at least a little bit, every day.