Eco-Challenge 7: Energetics and Nutrition

June 1, 2010 By 138 Comments

The purpose of this post is not to sway you to become a vegetarian. It is to educate you on what you are consuming and to let you know why going-meatless on occassion can not only be great for your health but your walletbook.

Energetics is a study of how energy flows and is utilized between cycles or entitites. For our purpose of examining energetics and how it relates to food systems we will look at energetics and how it is cycled through trophic levels (or various levels of energy consumption such as herbivores and carnivores). The primary source of energy entering our system (Earth) is from the sun. The only food directly created from solar energy are plants via photosynthesis. Beyond plant production and up trophic levels there is a great energy loss between each level through energetic cycling processes (about a 90% loss between each trophic level).

http://image.tutorvista.com/content/ecosystem/progressive-energy-loss.jpeg

The more efficient way to obtain energy is from plant-based nutrition but that does not always sound fun given the way the U. S. diet is accustomed to be primarily meat-based. However is the meat-based diet the healthiest for you? Energetically it makes sense to eat low on the food chain however as people concerned with fitness we know that a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet helps us work towards lean-massed bodies faster than almost any other diets.

Two questions to ask regarding meat-based diets and health are:

What is the quality of the meat you consume? Unfortunately with numerous government-based subsidies our animal stocks are now fed unnatural chemical-infused, corn-based diets and USDA regulations have relaxed with facility inspections in the last 20 years leading to lower-quality meat and an increase in food-borne illnesses in our food supply. If eating meat try to get organic, pasture, open-range fed from facilities you can trust.

What is meat contributing to the health of you and your family? We are accustomed to it and it tastes good when cooked right, but what does it really give you? Meat in moderation seems to be the most sensible form of utilizing it since in excessive quantities it can increase cholesterol (especially with beef) and contribute to endrocrine disruption. Watch portion sizes.

With all of us in the Mamavation program we have a beautiful concern with our health and well-being. It may interest you to know that the healthiest and happiest lifestyles on the planet do not subscribe to meat-based diets. An example are the Blue Zones where several communities around the world that have a higher quality of life than the conventional U. S. quality of life were examined and one big factor to longevity and health was their diet.

Watch the piece from Good Morning America where they spent a year transforming a Minnesota town into a Blue Zone town that included a diet overhaul. This was a year before Jamie Oliver began his Food Revolution in West Virginia but as you can see there are many sentiments echoed between the two.

Leah go to this link

Global diets that lead to longer longevity than conventional U. S. diets include Mediterranean diets, French diets, and Japanese diets where there is more of an emphasis on produce, grains, fermented products, and very little meat.

Please see the Blue Zones Eating Well Page for more reading on altering your diet in this way.

Not only does reducing meat consumption in your diet lead to better health but on paper it is better for your wallet. Think back to the trophic levels and energy required to produce plants. That is natural. The fact that you can get a 99 cent hamburger from drive thru should really make you question the quality of subsidized meat that would make something so energetically expensive be so cheap for the consumer. Do you really want that cheap meat in your body or your childrens bodies?

My challenge to you is to go meatless at least once a week for dinner. If you need ideas please visit Meatless Monday which is an initiative to get people to consume 15% less meat by going meatless one day a week for planetary and personal health. The initiative is via John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Their goals for this are to reduce heart disease, limit cancer risks, fight diabetes, curb obesity, live longer, improve diet, cut weekly budget, curb healthcare spending, reduce carbon footpring, minimize water usage, and reduce fuel dependency. All these goals seem to summarize what Mamavation and this series of Eco-Challenges have been all about. Know something as small as a small diet alteration can have HUGE impacts on your personal and planetary health.

-kia a.k.a. @bodhi_bear

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear

***also for Rachel… more info on getting a complete protein from plant sources
Complimentary Protein Sources from Suite101
Nutribody Protein Types
Filed Under: Challenges, healthy living Tagged With: , ,

Eco-Challenge 6: Energy Conservation

May 25, 2010 By 293 Comments

Isn’t it amazing how energy bills can change from home to home or business to business or car to car? Some variance is due to how much electricity you consciously use (e.g. how much TV you watch, how many computers you have on, how big of a property you utilize) while some of it relates to the integrity of your property (e.g. insulation, passive solar efficiency). Think about variance from vehicle to vehicle not only in make and model but integrity of the car (e.g. tire inflation, maintained engines). In this challenge we are going to think about our energy needs, alternatives to ease those needs, the big picture for our larger communities, and the savings we can hopefully reap by being a little more thoughtful if we aren’t already.

To begin with let us look at energy sources:

(via http://staging.yearofscience2009.org/home/)

While I wish it was a possibility that everyone could immediately shift to sustainable, alternative energy sources like wind and solar that is not realistic without a lot of money into our infrastructures. Just know that what we use in the United States as individuals is across the board more consumptive than the rest of the world? Do we really need to use excessive amounts of energy? That really depends on your lifestyle, but quite honestly no. Have we set ourselves up in our modern world to use excessive amounts of energy? Yes. Now many of us are paying for it in our bills and this is where we face the dilemma of what do we really need and how to engage alternatives.

First of all for your properties assess what you are using. Many municipalities will conduct energy audits for you if you ask. Check your bill for information on audits or the corresponding website. Another option is a do-it-yourself assessment. From there find the serious culprits or energy vampires on your property. Common issues are an inefficient refrigerator too close to the walls or with a dusty motor, electrical gadgets that are always plugged in, non CFL bulbs, poor insulation, and drafts around windows or doors. Here is a TLC link on improving home energy efficiency.

This also goes for your vehicle and the integrity of its operation. Here are simple tips to help with fuel efficiency.

Now that you are working on the structural integrity of property and vehicles let us think about how we use them. That is for you to decide if you really need to watch so much TV, have the TIVO always plugged in, take separate trips to the store for items. If the answer is no then plan how you use these items more wisely. If you want to get your kids involved have them be light monitors in your home and turn off lights if no one is in a room. Kids are great at following these kinds of rules us adults seem to forget about.

I think is an important topic because just like water, many of our energy sources are not renewable. As it is just like water, we do a lot of environmental degradation to harvest them. Many times this is in areas that most customers do not see like in more remote wild places in our landscape, or in coal mines far below ground. Energy sourcing is actually a topic I have a lot of work experience in so am not trying to get too in-depth with in this post just because of disclosure with work contracts I have done. I will answer most questions you have, but not all.

As usual please share any resources you may have, questions, comments, etc.

-kia a.k.a. @bodhi_bear

Additional resources:
How to Go Green Guides via treehugger.com (many topics related to energy use in this list)

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear

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Eco-Challenge 5: Waste Management

May 18, 2010 By 187 Comments

This will not be one of the horrible Bogeyman posts like last week’s Household Chemical Exposure because you as a mom and consumer have control over the kind of waste your household produces. First think about that word, waste. Waste is leftover product we don’t use and needs to be disposed of, for many of us that is turning to our garbage can, some of us recycle, and a few of us even compost. In all the efforts of dealing with our waste I want you to be knowledgeable of landfills (A Garbage Story via How Stuff Works) and how much waste we produce (about 4.5 pounds/person/day in the U. S. via Clean Air Council). Please visit these two links to see a video and a lot of factoids about what we are doing.

The main thing I want to introduce to you as consumers, mothers, and people trying to do good for our environment is the concept of landfill diversion. I want to help you minimize the amount of waste you send to already overcrowded landfills with three easy actions:

  1. PRECYCLING
  2. RECYCLING
  3. COMPOSTING

PRECYCLING

This concept is more abstract than the other two. It is basically the thought that you as a consumer put into purchasing a product with the added factor of how much waste it generates. Is there excess packaging? Will you use all of it? Do you really need it? Anything to figure out how to most efficiently recycle material or dispose of it is considered precycling. Here are some precycling tips from ConsumerReports.Org.

RECYCLING

This is a more mainstream concept that is a great learning tool for kids since they can take responsibility for maintaining the recycling program for a family. Many municipalities have recycling programs that pick up waste from households, but this is not always the case. If you live in an area still without a recycling program mention it to your waste management collection agency that you want this option or look for recycling centers. Here is a link from Earth911.com for U. S. recycling centers.

The things you an recycle are amazing now with the full range of plastics, glass, paper, magazines, chipboard, batteries, electronics, etc. Check with your local municpality for who handles their recycling and their complete list of recyclables. It is in their best interest to divert as many items from landfills as possible too (since they are so expensive to create and hard to get permitted for).

COMPOSTING

Now with everyone being super groovy and eating more freggies and real food versus packaged foods in their Mamavation programs I bet you have noticed more items that can be composted versus tossed in the landfill. I mentioned on the show the other night that there are various composting techniques and that some are better for others depending on your climate and living situation. Take this local because many municipalities hold workshops and offer discounted equipment to get started for residents willing to compost. If you can’t find this resource let me know and I’ll help search for you.

Also some municipalities also offer compost pick up as part of their waste management program. Where I live this is an option every other week and I use it for yard waste and compost my produce, egg shell waste, tea, and coffee in the compost bin for the garden. Here is a basic how-to compost guide from the EPA. I think the big pointers are to keep an environment that is controlled for heat and moisture to optimize how matter is broken down. You don’t have to invent the wheel for this in your area because most likely there is a local resource for you through your local municipality.

My challenge to you this week is to at least think about how what products you are about to buy will be disposed of when you are done with them. If recycling is an option for you then keep it organized and help get your kids involved in keeping it efficient. Composting can be a big task so I am not urging everyone to do it, but definitely do it if it is an option as part of your waste management system you pay for.

My last tidbit to be more conscious of what waste you produce is to keep your waste in plain sight if you have children old enough not to play in it or pets that will not get hold of it. It is a trick I picked up years ago and it really makes me think twice before I purchase anything. Here is a news clip of a guy who lived with his trash for a year.

-kia a.k.a. @bodhi_bear

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear
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Eco-Challenge 4: Household Chemical Exposure

May 11, 2010 By 187 Comments

I really feel like this is the scary Bogeyman challenge because of how pervasive chemicals are in our homes. Our homes are usually thought of as the safe haven, but given the diversity of consumer products we bring into our four walls chemical exposure can be of concern when we really start thinking about it. I am not here to freak you out but give you simple tools to become educated about what you are being exposed to, what this exposure can lead to, and simple alternatives to these chemicals. I am going to start out with the “A Wake Up Story” video from Healthy Child.

A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.

Now that I have cautioned you about your kiddos I will caution you as moms and most likely primary caretakers in your home. That video listed individual chemicals that are in your home… my big caution to you is what happens when these chemicals are mixed. The synergistic effects of very simple things can be obvious immediately such as toilet bowl cleaners with bleach overpowering you with fumes, or high alkaline and high acid cleaners that can cause caustic burns. Unfortunately not all of these bad mixtures are so obvious. Here is a brief article examining a study of 120 households, 89 chemicals and the risk of breast cancer for the women (mothers) exposed to the brunt of this exposure. It is not only breast cancer, but studies link to infertility, endocrine disruption, and other fundamental activities of a healthy body.

Here is a link to the Household Chemical Database via the National Institutes of Health to help you become aware of what you are dealing with on a daily basis. As you can see these chemicals are cleaners, personal care including cosmetics, pesticides, pet care, the dishes you use to serve food on, etc. Also, on twitter there are excellent resources in @thesmartmama (Jennifer Taggert) and @thesoftlanding (Alicia Voorhies) regarding chemical exposure to common household items.

I hope I have not freaked you out at this point because this is where we get to the happy, kumbaya part of the post… the challenge. You saw some brief information last week about yard chemicals in the organic gardening challenge… if not see it here. As far as basic cleaning products I am gonna challenge to use simple stuff you have in your home like white vinegar, lemon, and baking soda. If this type of cleaning is new to you here is an easy challenge:

Clean your window or mirror: Use 1/8 c. white vinegar with 1 c. water. Place in spray bottle. Apply and wipe clean with a newspaper (pulled from your recycling of course)

Click here for a nice guide on Non-Toxic Household Cleaners to read more ideas. Another idea is to clean consistently and use some elbow grease when anything is too stubborn to remove. If these alternatives seem too strange to you then consider looking at Method, Seventh Generation, or another line of eco-friendly alternatives.

Another part of our challenge is to look at the chemicals you do have and safely use them or dispose of them. Of course this is when the topic goes local for you (you may have noticed that theme in my challenges). DO NOT DUMP CHEMICALS DOWN THE DRAIN… learn what they are and where to take them for local hazardous material disposal. Read this Planet Green article for more helpful tips safely removing chemicals from your home.

And on a final note consider the kind of dishes you use for your food and beverages. Glass is best especially for the microwave. Be cautious of plastics that may leak BPA (bisphenol-A) into what you consume. This is even true of this chemical being in the lining of canned foods. Canned tomatoes are one of the most serious products to avoid because acidic tomatoes are more able to break down the lining and release this chemical. It has been linked to infertility and cancer. Read this MSN article for pointers on this prevalent compound.

A good idea at least for your hot beverages is to do something cute like our Sista @DaenelT and her new personalized coffee mug she showed off in her most recent Mamavation Monday post. Personally I also use stainless steel for my mugs and water bottles.

To recap your challenge is to do one or all of the following:

  • Learn what kind of chemicals you are exposing yourself to via the databases I linked in the post
  • Try an alternative to what you have been doing (the mirror/window one is the easiest)
  • Learn how to safely dispose of chemicals in your home and where local chemical recycling/dumping takes place in your community
  • Reconsider your BPA exposure and look for a BPA-free product for your food or drink

Have a great week everyone. As usual let us dialogue, share info we have, etc. The point of the Healthy Child video is crucial… become informed and share your knowledge on this topic!

-kia a.k.a. @bodhi_bear

Additional Resources:

Environmental Working Group
Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Database

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear
Filed Under: Challenges, healthy living Tagged With: , ,

Eco-Challenge 3: Organic Gardening

May 5, 2010 By 150 Comments

Thank you all who have been participating in the eco-challenges. Congratulations to Scarlet Black (@MMScarlett) of Manical Matron for winning the companion guide to the film Food, Inc. Based on your challenge interactions I am sure you are going to love the book! As an offshoot of last week’s Food Sources topic this week we will look at Organic Gardening since it was completely absent. Food from your garden is the most local, most organic food source you can utilize since you have complete quality control. Or as much control as you can over the elements at your disposal.

In an ideal world we would all have huge yards with great drainage, a mix of sun and shade, abundant clean water, and high-quality soil. In reality not all of us even have yards. Whatever your situation is you can still garden.

I would start big and ask yourself what do you want to garden. If you have no idea what grows in your area or when your planting seasons are then contact your local Master Gardener program most likely via a university extension program for detailed information. Community education is one of their tenets and you may have more resources at your disposal for a novice than you realized.

Second I would look at your situation, what do you have space for and what do you have time for? The great thing about being a mom is that gardening can be a wonderful activity you can do with your children and partner. This works if you have the time for it. I don’t want to set you up for failure if you don’t have time to tend to your plants at least once or twice a week though.

As far as space there are so many options.

  • If you have a yard and can have plots then get a soil test done before you begin. I hate to be cynical but given environmental contamination you may have no idea what was at your residence before you moved in, testing can also give you a baseline into soil health (previous gardening in an area will alter soil chemistry).
  • If you have a yard and don’t want to dig up dirt or have poor drainage (like a clay soil) then consider making raised beds where you will bring in soil.
  • If you don’t want to deal with these large plots but want a few plants outdoors then consider container gardening which can be great for plants with vines like tomatoes.
  • If still you want to make it easier then consider something simpler than can be grown indoors herbs.
  • You always have the option of not gardening at home if you live in an area with community garden plots. They are tons of fun and you get to meet others who live around you.

Basically if you want to plant it, there is a space. Have you ever heard of “vertical gardening”? Be inspired to play with your space.

Image via treehugger.com

Next up in your garden planting is figuring out how to water these plants. As you know from the water conservation challenge not everyone has an abundance of clean water all the time. Figure out your gardening situation to increase the efficiency of how you use water. Pick plants appropriate for your region and water supply. For example I would love to grow semi-tropical plants in the dry Colorado foothills but know that would be irresponsible because of the water they would consume. I pick appropriate plants here that I get from a long-time farm that has cultivated local varietals of plants to handle our dry summers.

For watering a standard hose is simple and great for small plots if you or your family are willing to watch over your plants. Another option is trickle or drip irrigation that uses less water and you aren’t left holding a hose in your hand. Plan your plants and water strategy accordingly.

Now that you know what you want to grow, have your space, and watering/care tactic planned it is time to get seeds. Get the organic, local, heirloom quality seeds if can. Talk to a local farmer at your farmers market, Master Gardener, or nursery for more information on where to acquire them in your area. They may be pricier but they are more likely to have some immunity against climate, disease, and pest stress. I caution you if you are looking at commercial seeds… it is even possible to innoculate them with pesticides and/or antibiotics in the seed stage.

Since you have your space, know what you want to grow, and have the timing down, and know your water scheme you can get started. The big questions once everything is planted are at the core of organic gardening… pest control and fertilization… these are the topics that really freak novices out!

Pest Control
There are so many options and small tricks with natural pest control. I hope I don’t have to go into why pesticides are bad… let me just say that something as common as Round-Up has an extremely similar chemical structure to Agent Orange (yes that stuff used in the jungles of Vietnam). Stay away from the chemicals as much as you can, they absorb in our bodies, in our water systems, in our soils, etc.

I urge you to look at your master gardener programs to see what works best for your area and particular plants. This topic is also one of the reasons you may want to consider local heirloom quality plants and seeds that have in a sense been grown to adapt to your location and conditions because they have more resiliency to disease and pests than more conventional plants. Here are some basic organic pest control tricks you may want to consider if you still have issues. If you have any specific pest issues please leave them in the comment box. Also use social media as a resource if you get stuck. Did you know that people like Helen Yoest from Better Homes and Gardens are on twitter?

Fertilizer
There are so many good things you can be doing for what you are growing with what you have at your home. We’ll talk about compost in the Waste Management eco-challenge, but know that your garden will think compost is super yummy. In our garden at home my husband and I are fond of dumping our tea leaves and coffee grinds into water and placing it around our garden for added nitrogen. In soil prep many people also rely on good ol’ fish because as it goes stinky real quick it releases some amazing nutrients in its breakdown. Here is a source for organic fertilization if you are into a step-by-step process.

I take fertilization pretty seriously because after you water it is washed away from your garden and into water sources. This can be extremely serious since fertilizers contain chemicals (Nitrogen and Phosphorus) in abundance that are in low quantities naturally in water. When pooled fertilizer run-off accumulates it creates algae blooms that deplete oxygen to water sources. There is a reason you see so much algae and potentially fish kills near golf courses.

Have a happy growing season this year. I know that Leah (@bookieboo), Paige (@PaigeBayer), Heather (@notdiyheather), Lori (@gutimom), Rachel (@Rachel_L), and Holly (@bloggymama) are already off to a fine start with their gardens. Ask them questions, gardeners are a fine bunch that love to share their accomplishments. This will not be a big garden year for me with the baby due soon, I won’t have much time for plots but will be container and indoor herb gardening as well as mooching off friends gardens who I shared last year’s seeds with. Enjoy the yummy freggies you grow!!

Also engage in discussion this week. I will be sending someone a Mio for Target Indoor Herb Garden with parsley, basil, and cilantro.

-kia @bodhi_bear

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear

Additional Sources:
Planet Green How to Go Green: Gardening Guide
Re-Nest Backyard Farmers: 25 Websites You Should Be Reading

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Eco-Challenge 2: Food Sources

April 27, 2010 By 334 Comments

Happy Tuesday Mamavation family. Thank you to all who asked questions via this site and twitter last week about the Water Conservation. I hope you learned something about your local water supply and feel more connected to that resource. That connection is going to make you more apt to conserve it. This week we are going to explore the HUGE topic of food sources. As a note next week we will be discussing gardening so that is why it will be largely absent in this post.

In pop culture we are at a fun point where you cannot avoid the topic of processed foods and what they do to our bodies and our families. Popular shows like Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution and movies like Super-Size Me and Food Inc. have brought some of these lingering questions from the back of our minds about our food system to water cooler conversations with friends and co-workers.

I want to stress a point I made on the Mamavation show last night, this topic needs to be free of guilt for parents trying to do the best for their families with the resources they have at hand. Yes, our society has become fat and unhealthy and a good deal of that can be attributed to our diet but in the last few decades there have been forces at work beyond your control. As a parent all we can do now is become informed about our current food system and make healthy choices our families will adhere to. This challenge best exemplifies the tie with our planet’s health to our personal health because when we don’t eat well it only takes a few minutes to not feel well.

A little background to the forces at work beyond our control are the relationships between corporations, food manufacturers, government regulation, and food growers. These entities are huge and relatively absent from the dinner table. “Good” Americans have worked hard, put their faith in their religion, and faith in their government to take care of them over the last 30+ years and did not realize the power corporations have garnered over our food supply to become such large juggernauts. Food corporations now exist at such a level with the power to change legislation via lobbying and planting their executives in regulatory positions that the protection we as consumers have relied on from the USDA and FDA no longer exists like it has in the past. Food producers are no longer simple farmers but many times they are large-scale growers that can be sued at any time by their employers and generally cannot eat the product they grow because it is even unrecognizable to them as real food.

Here is a graphic from Grub: Ideas For an Urban Organic Kitchen by Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry (2006) looking at the sheer monetary power of these corporations when compared to other nations.

Now honestly ask yourself, as a parent, how are you supposed to keep up with a corporation that is as powerful as an oil-producing Middle Eastern nation? You are not. This is why food and environmental justice issues that have plagued urban areas for generations are now hitting the majority of America head on. How are you supposed to feed your family given your income and your choices (where processed food is subsidized and generally cheaper than real food)? This is where our challenge comes in.

#1. Monitor What You Consume. Unlike the water challenge we are not going to look at our food supply, but monitor our waste. It would be easy to see what is in our pantries and freezers but honestly, the healthy stuff in there may stay in there next week as well. Instead take a look at your garbage. What food containers are you recycling or putting in the trash? What fast food wrappers do you end up with every week? What cereals are your kids eating? What food scraps are you composting? There is a great deal more processed food diversity in our markets than real, whole food so your family’s preferences may be bizarre, but corporations have engineers being paid to put your family in a specialty niche.

#2. Become Informed. Take a look at the wrappers from what you have eaten. Can you recognize all the ingredients? Can you at least recognize the top 6 ingredients? What about the basic nutrition label… does it make sense? Here is a tutorial on reading nutrition fact panels. The goal for you and your family is to eat more real, whole foods… the kinds of foods your grandparents could recognize. Also continue to look at media in your education process. If you want to watch a movie with your kids I recommend King Corn to trace how prevalent this grain is in our food supply even though many of us would hardly recognize it as corn. The movie is also entertaining and does not contain disturbing images. I also suggest reading Mark Bittman’s Food Matters since it is 1/2 research on our food system and 1/2 cookbook with basic recipes (most libraries carry it).

#3. Make Small Changes. Now this is the big one that can be hard for a family because every family is different in how they currently eat, how easy they adapt to change, and how much money they have in their budget for a diet. In an ideal world I wish everyone could jump on localharvest.org and find farms, growers, and restaurants that use local, fresh, organic ingredients and call it a day. In reality your family may not like this kind of food and may not be able to afford it. In truth if you are coming from a family that eats a majority of highly-processed foods getting your family to eat produce and recognizable grains like rice can be a huge victory.

This is for you as a family to decide what works best for you. Just keep in mind processed foods do not provide the nutrient density that real, whole foods do. Actually in processing the food is stripped of nutrients that are usually added in at the end in the form of supplements. Processed foods can be laden with ingredients that are causing or exacerbating illnesses such as ADD with additives and preservatives. And keep in mind that chemicals in conventionally grown produce (even from the seed stage) are present in produce and feed given to animals thus their meat and other products.

Here are some small changes and explorations you can do this week:

  • Make a food from scratch. @notdiyheather has a simple french bread recipe she uses for her family
  • Visit your local farmers market to get an idea of what is in season, compare this to what is in your grocery store. A goal for you will be to eat in-season, local food. To find markets and farms click here. Also keep an eye out for farm tours that are occassionally offered. Sometimes they are open to the public, sometimes just CSA (community supported agriculture). We will talk more about CSAs next week.
  • Get your family involved in the kitchen. If produce or a product is new for all of you then let your kids have some say in picking it out and even preparing it like chopping it for a salad. Giving them some ownership of the changes will help them be more willing to try something new. For tips on getting kids in the kitchen look at What’s Cooking Blog.
  • Switch to something organic, here is a list of the more important produce to buy organic because of how it absorbs pesticides. Be cautious of the organic label though, it is everywhere and buying processed organic foods will cost you a lot of money, go for real food if expense is an issue.
  • Consider going meat-free for a dinner meal this week. We will explore energetics and nutrition as our last challenge but eating plant-based proteins will be leaner on your wallet, better for your health, and better for the planet. Stay away from processed meat-substitutes if money is an issue… look at grain and legume combinations for a complete protein. MeatlessMondays.com is a great source for recipes and reasons why this is a great idea.
  • Get involved with Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution and the actions including signing the petition to reform the lunch programs in our public schools.

This topic of food sources is so HUGE that I barely scratched the surface. Luckily many ladies in Mamavation have some knowledge in these areas so let us discuss. Add tips. Ask questions. I know I am not the only one that has a thing or two to say on this topic. Talk here, talk on twitter. Talk ladies, not only for ourselves and our families, but for our greater community. Let us support each other as we engage our families away from an overly-processed diet to a more nutritious, real, food diet. We just have to navigate food traps and find ways for ourselves and our families to enjoy a potato vs. a french fry. Good luck.

Finally I am offering the companion book to the film Food Inc. for a challenge participant. This book contains 13 essays including one on Kids’ Nutrition, a small piece on the challenge of Childhood Obesity and 14 pages of additional resources for the consumer. In my opinion this book is an optimistic companion to the movie because the movie exposed many to our food system problems, this book offers solutions.


I will look at discussions via this post and on twitter to pick who I send the book to. Let me know what you discovered about your family’s diet and the small changes you did this week. I’ll announce the winner on the Mamavation show next Monday 10 PM EST.

-kia a.k.a. @bodhi_bear

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear
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Eco-Challenge 1: Water Conservation

April 20, 2010 By 906 Comments

I want you to ponder something… the human body is about 70% water, the planet is about 70% water. We are very much like our environment, yet it is a resource many of us take for granted. In the United States we are very lucky to have a supply of water that moves all over the country unlike many other nations, and we are lucky to have a cleaner supply than many other nations. If you don’t believe me then google the term “water wars” and realize it is a serious global issue and actually something that is of concern domestically as well.

However think about it, would you let your kid drink from this stream? No way, this is a water source though. Our water quality and quantity is not as good as it could be given how advanced our society is. As a consumer who most likely buys water from your local municipality it is not your fault you do not think of water too often, you simply pay your bill and it comes out of a faucet. That is all you really need to be exposed to in your busy mom lifestyle.

La Poudre River, Colorado (image courtesy Kia Ruiz)

My challenge to you this week is to go out of this comfortable mindset of water and learn about your water source, local water issues, and implement some changes in how your household uses water. This post will focus on water quantity, perhaps we will ask @bookieboo if we can discuss water quality and bottled water another time or on bookieboo.com.

1. Learn about your watershed, where your water comes from. Think of the water cycle from precipitation to movement to storing in a reservoir to use to waste to evaporation to precipitation again. This is a bound system that can covers HUGE areas of land, below is an illustration of a watershed.

For example water going to Oakland, CA comes from the western Sierra Nevada mountains, pools near Yosemite National Park, flows towards Oakland and stores in five reservoirs north, east and south of Oakland before it feeds into pipes for household use.

The first part of your challenge this week is to learn where your water comes from. You can do this by looking through the website of the people you pay your water bill to. The reason they make this information available is because they most likely want their customers to be willing to conserve this resource since it is a finite (which becomes obvious in times of drought). If you use well water then research your local geology to learn the sources that feed into the groundwater pools you tap into.

2. While learning more about your water source learn about local water issues. These issues can be more specific based on your location because someone in Los Angeles will have different water issues than someone that lives in Miami. Many municipalities will have paid watershed educators to work with customers and schools about the best ways to conserve water and keep the distal portions of your watershed clean. Also look at non-government organizations in your area that work for watershed conservation to help you as a customer out.

3. Now that you as an awesome mom have done your research for your area take what you have learned into your home for the second part of this challenge. Follow recommendations for your area first. If you cannot find local recommendations then here is a link from eartheasy.com on 25 basic ways to conserve water in your home and yard. Examples are fix a leaky faucet, turn the water off when brushing your teeth, xeriscape your yard, and reduce the capacity in your toilet with empty water bottles.

Look at the earth easy stats towards the bottom of the page, the average household uses 350 gallons of water a day and simple conservation efforts can save 125 gallons a day. Over a year that is 44,000 gallons a year… that is a lot of money (if that is your bottom-line). Also one big thing is leaks in a home. How cool of a mom would you be if you are handling the “handyman” chores in the house? If you need hands-on training beyond the links from the earth easy site then look at Home Depot, they have women-only in-store workshops on the weekends.

Now I would love for you to post what you learn about your water source and the ways you are going to implement water conservation in your home. Do something simple like one small change for your family (e.g. turning water off when brushing your teeth) and one big lasting change you can make (e.g. fixing a leak or reducing toilet tank capactiy) Good luck! Save money, work on behalf of your family, and think of the environment.

Source for more info:
Watershed Background and Links from the Environmental Protection Agency

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear
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Greening the 4th Mamavation Campaign

April 19, 2010 By 149 Comments

It is with all sorts of gratitude towards Earth Footwear that we are able to have a comprehensive series of eco-challenges for the 4th Mamavation Campaign. I am starting the introduction of our series with this special note about them because of the rare opportunity we as moms are presented with. We have been entrusted with an eco-challenge series that may be a “green” introduction for many. We have latitude to avoid “green-washing” in our actions and focus on core eco-awareness values.

I hope to take this campaign to an inviting place by following three guidelines:

  1. Family-friendly actions that most people in your household will try
  2. Small awareness actions that are not terribly time-consuming
  3. Actions that will not cost you a lot of $$$

We will attempt to take our lifestyles back to a place where our grandparents lived. They may have been money-conscious (like many of us in the face of a recession) and they also did all they could for their families with the resources at their disposal. For us resources will be our focus in realizing what they are, which ones we currently use, and how to use them more efficiently or to find more earth-friendly alternatives.

We will begin Tuesday April 20th with a more tangible resource, water. We will explore water sources and water conservation. Topics and challenges will be presented every Tuesday, the morning after the weekly Mamavation show.

Here is our schedule:

  • April 20 – Water Conservation
  • April 27 – Local Food Sources
  • May 4 – Grow Your Own Food
  • May 11 – Household Chemical Exposure
  • May 18 – Waste Management
  • May 25 – Energy Conservation
  • June 1 – Energetics and Nutrition

Please join in every week to learn the topic, add your knowledge to the discussion (there are some seasoned moms in these categories already), and participate in the challenge. Once more this is a rare opportunity given to us by Earth Footwear. I hope the Mamavation Sistahood and others considering pledging take advantage for the health of their families and for our environment.

If you have any further questions about the greening of this campaign please comment below or contact Kia at bodhibearinfo@gmail.com.

This post sponsored by Earth Footwear
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Mamavation Goes Green for Earth Footwear’s 40th Anniversary & Earth Day

March 23, 2010 By 240 Comments

Earth Footwear turns 40 this year. April 22nd on Earth Day to be exact. They have been around for 40 years providing the world with calorie burning shoes that are ALSO good to the environment. Wow, that’s a long time. I’m not even 40 yet. What an accomplishment. In honor of Earth Day, Earth Footwear challenged Mamavation to go “green” for campaign #4. This is a worthy challenge.

So where do we start? Well, first of all, everyone will be learning how to go green, including myself. I’m a fitness person, not a green person, so I’ll be learning how do implement green friendly choices in my daily life along with the rest of the Mamavation family. But we will need help, so if you have any ideas, please put them in the comments. And if you would like to offer yourself as a green expert, please let me know.

Luckily, we already have a member of the Sistahood that is very well versed in “green” knowledge and she is going to be a HUGE resource for us, Kia at @bodhi_bear. We are very lucky to have her. I’m getting a couple other green mom experts for us to utilize during the campaign, one of them is Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff at @ecostilettor. She is going to be launching another great eco-friendly site soon that is targeted specifically to moms called Mommy Greenest, so stay tuned for that on May 1st. (But sign up for her newsletter if you get a chance.)

And there are special giveaways. In honor of Earth Day and Earth Footwear’s 4oth Anniversary, the Mamavation campaign is going to get an additional 3 pairs of shoes. To win, you must create a Mamavation Monday post and mention Earth Footwear anywhere with a link back to their site. Let me know you entered by linking your post up in the Mamavation Group on Bookieboo. The first giveaway will be this coming Monday, March 29th.

I’m excited about this challenge, but it will definitely put me outside of my comfort zone. So if I can do it, you guys can do it. Will you join with me?

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