Contributed by Dr. Sarah Warren

“One question I often thought about while writing this book was where you should live in the future in order to stay safe… look for a place that has a secure water supply, a stable government, and a vibrant community—a place where people know how to work with their hands, where they look out for one another…That’s going to be your surest protection if things get difficult in the years ahead.”

When I saw this quote from Mark Hertsgaard’s letter to his 5 year old daughter, Chiara, in his recent book Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth, a rush parental love washed over me and up and through me, the love that initially propelled me to use my psychological expertise to protect the planet for the sake of my two young boys, for the sake of all children.

The quote was included in an email from Eban Goodstein who directs the Bard College Center for Environmental Policy and has recently launched the youth leadership program C2C (http://www.bard.edu/cep/c2c/). When I read the quote I got choked up, which I’m not prone to doing.

Because a hot world is not going to be like a vacation in Cancun. It’s going to be full of challenges. Really tough challenges that frankly I find hard to contemplate as a parent.

And those challenges are directly attributable to our addiction to oil, to our tailpipes and smokestacks, to the policies that we allow our elected officials to enact that perpetuate our downward spiral into the unintended consequences of our addiction.

And I was reminded why I was called to action– personal, parental, and professional– to inspire others to use their spheres of influence so that our kids can have the best future possible.

Thank you Mark Hertsgaard, for reminding me. For reminding all of us who are parents, who are aunts and uncles and grandparents, who will be parents in the future…

Because this is about our kids’ future… Because we have exactly enough time, starting now.

As I drove from Chicago to Normal, IL to the Governor’s Symposium on Sustainability in Higher Education, I noted that the corn fields that bring us ethanol (for better or worse) surround Coal City, IL, reminding me that I live not just in an an agricultural state but a coal state. And just past Coal City on I-55, I found a big wind farm– reminding me that the Midwest is a wind energy corridor. And, surprise, surprise– the wind farm sits on active corn farmland.

And the town of Normal?– (I will pass on making a joke as a psychologist about the name)– Perhaps you’ve seen this Mitsubishi commercial featuring a hip, forward-thinking grandmother? It’s short and delightful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx_X6tCwet4 . Watch out Chicago– there’s competition to the south for cool, green places in Illinois!

At the symposium on greening our colleges and universities, Governor Quinn mentioned his objective of making Illinois the electric vehicle capitol of the US, and that Illinois soybeans form the base for the white paint that now reflects sun off the Shedd Aquarium.

At the conference I learned that nearly 1 million students attend community colleges in Illinois– that’s a lot. And that those community colleges are full of percolating ideas for sustainability solutions in higher education. And all across the state (and US), students, faculty and administrators are innovating, developing new curricula, collaborating, and figuring out solutions to reduce environmental impact, like turning off the hot water in the laundry rooms. (That last one– that’s students at DePaul in Chicago!)

On my return drive to Chicago, I wasn’t in such a rush, and I got to thinking, “This is really the nexus of energy in the US at this juncture in history.” All that was missing were tar sands and an old nuclear plant.

I pulled over to snap some pics of the wind turbines amidst the cornfields (with my beloved iphone), and happened to see a tractor rolling under the wind turbines.  Alas, the tractor is barely visible on the lower left side.  It seemed to evoke the working aspect of these fields– they’re not fallow and replaced by wind turbines.

When I turned around after taking this photo, I saw that I had stumbled onto Old Route 66 (captured below in a blurry manner). It seemed fitting. The road that was used to traverse the US, prior to the influx of the current superhighway system that brought us our ‘burbs and car-dependent lifestyles…

As I drove that day I listened on the car radio to accounts of historic floods threatening to shut down Bangkok– including its historic section with its gorgeous and culturally significant temples.

The next day, an unprecedented October blizzard dumped over two feet of snow in parts of New England, causing 11 deaths as of this writing. See pics and video here: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/240154/20111030/snow-storm-batters-northeast-october-2011-photos.htm And because early snow is wet and heavy, and trees still have leaves, lots of power lines were downed, causing 3 million (that’s right, 3 million) people to lose power.   This is what I call “global weirdness”– the price of our addiction to coal and oil.

As I post this, the 7 billionth baby has been born. The world’s population has doubled in my life time. What will life be like for that 7 billionth baby? And for all the kids who will grow up with that baby and the all the other millions of babies being born, here and abroad? What does this mean for our children? How will we provide food, water and energy for the world’s burgeoning population? Are we creating a world for them in which they can thrive?

So here we are at an energy crossroads in history, not just in the heartland, but everywhere in the US.

Will we use the clean energy technologies we already have that will allow us to protect the planet for our kids? Will we elect officials who will implement policies that promote electric vehicles and level the playing field for clean renewable energy? Will we as voters hold our elected officials to account and engage them in dialogue on the legacy we leave our children?

Are you ready to step up? Post a comment about how you’re prepared to use your spheres of influence!

I tend to be a woman of words, which is reflected in my (slightly!) wordy blog posts. This time, thanks to the fabulous camera on my new I-phone, and the photogenic scenery of the little island in Maine where I go with the 8 year-old HamSter and the 6 year-old DudeSter and extended family for our annual vacation without electricity or Internet, I will let pictures tell the story– mostly!

Can you tell I love my I-phone?

For context, here’s the house:

You may recall that in Parts I and II of this blog thread I talked about how our family benefits on our annual vacation from connecting with each other by unplugging, and the eco impact of our travel to and from this pristine spot.

In this post, I’ll share what makes it a green-ish vacation– what it is about the place we stay that makes it pretty eco friendly. I say “green-ish” because there is an eco impact, especially in getting from Chicago to Maine (via Redbones Restaurant in Somerville, MA!) and back.

So let’s start with the biggest and most obvious thing: There is no electricity. So, we’re not running air conditioners, not even fans. No electric lights. I can tell you that in the summer of 2002 I would have been really happy to have a way to stay cooler during a massive heat wave when I was pregnant with the now 8 year-old HamSter. But I kept my feet in the water most of the time, and I did survive.

And because there is also no electricity AND no Internet– No computers. So we’re not powering computers themselves, or accessing remote energy-hogging servers.

Here’s a pretty good shot of the living room that includes the original gas lamps (fueled by a propane tank) that we use for lighting in the evening. Because the lights are dim, it helps us to go bed early which makes the vacation restorative and restful!

And here’s our laundry hanging out to dry: 

Since most of the electricity in the US comes from very polluting coal power plants that kick out nasty things like mercury and emissions that contribute to our warming atmosphere and the “pickling” of our gorgeous oceans, not using electricity definitely contributes to the green-ishness of our vacation. Not that we can give up electricity in our day-to-day lives…

No microwave! We eat very well, thank you, with fabulous meals cooked on this gas stove:

We enjoy a daily does of homemade “Mama’s bread,” baked fresh daily in this oven! Thank you Grandma Lee! Not just for the bread, for making the island trip possible!

Composting!

Why does composting matter?  The methane gas that comes from our landfills (you know those little blue jets?) is way, way worse in its warming effects than the stuff that comes out of our tailpipes. It may seem kinda gross, but  composting is a good thing for the planet, for our kids’ future– and plants LOVE to be fed with compost!

We also use biodegradable soaps and shampoos because everything drains straight into the lake. I don’t have a photo of our shampoo!- but no matter where you live, it’s a good idea to use soaps, detergents and shampoos that are biodegradable. Why? When we don’t, we contribute to problems like the vast Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico ( one of a growing number of dead zones) where the ocean cannot support life because our sewage ends up dumping into the ocean, often via rivers such as the Missisippi. And, most non-biodegradable products are made from petroleum– toxic stuff, and part of our hidden addiction to oil!

And last but not least, the solar powered composting outhouse. Yup.

The solar panel on this outhouse helps run the composter for the waste. On some outhouses solar panels even run fans and lights! You might have seen them in National Parks.

For the record, I do not personally use the outhouse, but the DudeSter does –quite happily.  For myself, I was very happy when shortly after we started going to the island, a flush toilet using lake water was installed.

So this is my final post for the year on our annual unplugged vacation. Stay tuned for next year!

Let me know what you think of this series. And share your story of your low impact vacation!

Let’s talk about planes, cars and boats, shall we?

In Part I of this blog thread, I talked about how our family benefits from unplugging on an island with no electricity, running water or Internet– a pretty low eco impact vacation. In this installment, I talk about the eco impact of getting to and from our pristine little island in Maine with a 6 year-old DudeSter and an 8 year-old HamSter.   And to foreshadow– In my third and  final post about our “green-ish” vacation, I’ll talk about what makes it green-ish, above and beyond the obvious lack of electricity.

First, in case you missed the photo in my previous blog post on why we subject ourselves to the deprivations of this island, here is another photo to give you a sense:

Now on to those planes, cars and boats…

All of our dominant modes of transportation have some form of impact on the environment, mostly from the fossil fuels they burn, and the heat-trapping emissions they kick into our atmosphere.

I wanted to know just what that impact was. So…

I calculated just how many polluting emissions we generated.

According to infoplease.com, the kids and I flew 851 miles each way from Chicago to Boston.

Using Bonneville Environmental Foundations’s carbon footprint calculator (b-e-f.org/carbon/calc/), I find that our flight generated 1331 pounds of C02 per person– our most common form of heat-trapping pollution.

We drove around the Boston area for a couple of days before we went up to the Sebago Lake region in ME, including a visit to my sister’s for a pre-island visit with the cousins. And our drive to and from Redbones Restaurant (redbones.com) in Somerville, MA (a tasty jumping off point!) to the island in Maine? 210 miles roundtrip.

I’m adding a few miles for getting lost en route from Redbones to the airport (so tasty we had to stop on the way back.)  We had a very stressful dash to the airport when I missed the turn, in a very Boston driving experience, out of Sumner tunnel! Thankfully, the dudes in the backseat were oblivious to my stress as the driver– lost in Boston with a flight to catch!

So I’m using 300 miles as a pretty close estimate of our driving miles.

We were driving around in a Mitsubishi Endeavor, a large rented SUV– just what the rental car company had that was big enough for us and our stuff. Not a clean- burning hybrid, and not the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the road! I estimate that we got 21 MPG on the highway, which was the majority of our driving.

The driving added 281 pounds of C02 emissions to our trip’s eco impact.

About the boats part of the equation. The skiff that we ride from the shore to the island? Well, I’m not counting that 10 minute boat ride because Bonneville’s carbon footprint calculator doesn’t include boats (and I’ve not seen one that does). I’m pretty sure the impact of that short boat ride is below the threshold of the carbon calculator– but I do want to say that the two-stroke motors that power many smaller power boats are not only very leaky but very inefficient. Not eco friendly!

So even when we take vacations that seem like they shouldn’t have much eco impact– like a camping trip, say– we still might want to consider the impact of getting to and from our destination.

In order to compensate for– oroffset — our eco impact, I’m buying carbon offsets from Bonneville Environmental Foundation (b-e-f.org), which are green-e certified.

A quick explanation– Green-e (green-e.org) certified offsets (the only kind I recommend) ensure that for every unit of fossil fuel based energy you use, an equal amount of renewable energy is generated– hence the “offset” concept.  I buy from Bonneville because they are highly regarded in the industry.

The bottom line: The cost per person to buy 1612 pounds worth of credits towards renewable energy from Bonneville? A whopping $22 per person!

What are your eco travel stories? How do you assess your eco impact? What do you do to minimize or “offset” your eco impact? Post a comment! Share your story!

Having just returned from our annual extended family vacation on an inland island in Maine, I want to share my thoughts–as a psychologist, a parent, and an “unlikely environmentalist”–about why it is so special for us as a family to maintain this 36 year tradition of heading to an island with no electricity, no land lines, no Internet, and no running water.

Let me start with a visual clue as to why we subject ourselves to the deprivations of this place.

First let me say that I call myself an “unlikely environmentalist.” I enjoy creature comforts– I love wearing cute high heels, playing with cosmetics, drinking espresso drinks. I do not enjoy camping… But on this tiny peaceful island, we get to have a bed under us and a roof over heads.

So here’s my perspective on why it’s so wonderful and valuable– aside from the incredible beauty.

Unplugging - Because there’s no electricity or Internet on the island, unplugging paves the way for all the experiences and opportunities that I describe below.

In the age of cell phones, we can use our phones (unlike in the past), but the ethos is that we don’t take our attention off the island– and each other– unless we have to.

My sister ribbed me about the irony of me tweeting from my iPhone while we were on vacation.  One of Chicago’s top Twitterers has a little trouble leaving her social media life behind… Point taken.

Adding to the irony, I spent some time on vacation reading psychologist Sherry Turkle’s new and important book Alone Together on the psychological and social cost of our intense digital relationships.

But mostly, I was present for my family.

Quality Family Time – On the island we hang out with my sister and her husband and their two- and five- year olds who live 1000 miles from us. My kids and her kids are now at an age to really connect with each other– but they need time to develop those relationships. At the island, the kids eagerly follow each other around and play endlessly in the water. The HamSter, my 8 year-old son, loves to read to his young cousins. My boys created an economy based on pinecones.  The HamSter wanted me to take him canoeing (in spite of the risks associated with my ignorance!), so then the DudeSter wanted a special canoe ride with mom. Sibling rivalry persists regardless of the setting!

Slowing Down - Sleeping when the sun is down, preparing meals in a leisurely manner, hanging out and catching up on “the afternoon dock.” We enjoy the tastiest of fresh (and healthy) food, like the local salmon I grilled and served with a wild rice cranberry citrus salad. And, of course, the lucious “Fwo’s Bwond Bwonies,” which have been pronounced that way since my sister and her cousin were younger than her kids and mine are now.

I sleep more and better on the island than anywhere, ever. Going to sleep when the sun goes down is a real treat. And from a psychological standpoint, I can attest that studies indicate that we would do much better mentally and physically if we slept on that kind of schedule– we are a sleep-deprived society and we pay for it!

Connecting with Nature – My kids and I live a pretty urban life in Chicagoland. We see squirrels and swallows and robins, and the occasional coyote! But we pretty much have to seek out opportunities to find wildlife, and really pause to appreciate them.

Nature abounds on the island, but it’s not just that. The fact that there is no Wii (which they have at their dad’s house), no VCR, no TV and no computer means that playing outside is just what the kids do. This year the HamSter protested a bit for the first time about not having all those tech trappings, but mostly I think (hope!) it was just posturing.

There’s an eagle that inhabits the next island over which is always of interest– including its absence this year.  And this year, the HamSter kept on telling me about a little bird he’d never seen before that he wanted to point out to me. I never got to see it, alas– but he did.

Unfortunately, we missed the moose (moose!) that visited the island the day after our wing of the family returned to Chicago. According to my step-mom, the moose ran the length of the island, looked in a cabin, then dove into the lake and swam away. When my dudes heard this they said, “Whoa. Just ‘Whoa.’”

Stay tuned for Part II in which I will detail what makes this vacation “green.” HINT: It’s not just the lack of electricity. Subscribe if you want to make sure you see the next installment!

How have you unplugged? How has your family benefited? Share your story! Post a comment!

“We vote with our wallets every day.” That’s what eco thought leader Gil Friend (@gfriend), founder of Natural Logic, Inc (natlogic.com), told me in a recent interview.

When we think about green purchases, we often think about what cleaning products we buy because we’re concerned (rightfully) about toxic chemicals. Or we look at how many miles something traveled before it got to us. Or we think about buying organic to avoid pesticides for the sake of our kids’ health.  Right?

But in fact the single biggest eco (or NON-eco) purchase we make is our cars.

Why? Because most of the emissions that pollute our atmosphere come from our smokestacks and tailpipes.

Before getting zealous, let’s get real. I’m the mother of two young boys. I’m committed to using my spheres of influence– personally as a consumer and professionally as a psychologist– to protecting the planet for the sake of my kids. But I’m also practical. I don’t have extra cash to burn. And I want a car that’s safe AND meets my family’s needs. I bet you have practical considerations as well.

We need to think about safety and our day-to-day use of our cars as we make purchases. We need cars that work for the lives that we lead. — And a word to you car manufacturers: We need and want more family-friendly environmentally car options!

So here are my top factors to weigh in making a car purchase with eco impact in mind. You might be surprised.

1. What is the manufacturer’s commitment to monitoring, reporting and reducing it’s eco impact? Yes, this is my top consideration! It’s about more than the fuel efficiency or the emissions of the car itself. It’s about the manufacturer’s policies and practices. This is where the rubber really hits the road, so to speak.

My friend Ann loves peppy cars. She announced proudly to me a few months ago that she had just bought a VW (vw.com) Jetta with a clean-burning diesel engine. In researching for this blog post, however, I learned that according to the user-friendly rankabrand.org, VW as a company has quite a bit of room for improvement in its eco commitments and transparency. (Sorry Annie!)

I took a look at Subarus (subaru.com) because they have a zero-waste plant in IN (cool), and their cars are reliable and safe. But it turns out that according to rankabrand.org, they are not doing as much as they could on emissions, either from the cars themselves or their company practices.

2. How clean does the car run? It’s not just about how many miles per gallon a car gets, but how cleanly it burns those gallons. So for instance, the Prius is more fuel-efficient than the Honda (Honda.com) Insight, but the Insight kicks out less emissions — so the Insight runs cleaner and is therefore greener. Check out this article for more: http://www.car-and-travel.com/2011/02/2011-honda-models-get-top-ratings-for-green-fuel-efficient-cars/.

3. Is the car reliable and built to last? Why does this matter? The longer a car lasts, the more use we get out of the resources it took to make the car. This why even though there are more eco-friendly cars, I’m still driving my conventional Toyota (Toyota.com) which only has 70k miles.

4. How big a car do you really need? We tend to super-size our purchases. Not just our fast food, but our houses and cars. But instead of thinking about he fact that every now and then you have to haul extra kids, how about thinking in terms of your typical use.  For me that means, I’m not going to buy a Prius because it’s too small for me and my two fast-growing young dudes. But I’m also not going to get a hybrid Mariner because that’s bigger than I need.

Based on what I learned researching this post, the MINI (minisusa.com) is looking better than I expected! At least from a fuel efficiency and clean burning engine standpoint. And it’s so appealing. Hmm….

Are you surprised by any of this? Let me know!

Usually on Mother’s Day we talk about what we love and admire about our mothers, and how grateful we are, right? I AM grateful to my mom– incredibly so, since I’m a divorced mom, and she’s my co-parent. We’ll get back to that in a bit…

But now I want to talk about loving our kids, and what our responsibility to them means for us as mothers.

First, I have to say that what got me here– to this blog, to social media, to writing– is not just parenthood, but my decision to use my psychological expertise to ensure my kids– the 6 year old DudeSter and the 8 year-old HamSter– a bright future. So, I’m always a psychologist.

So these are my reflections as a psychologist and mother on what it means for us to assume responsibility for the future of the children we love so much.

Here’s an excerpt from my forthcoming book, Fierce Love: How One Mother Reinvented Herself by Saving the Planet… and you can too. (Read more from my book here: http://ecoactionplan.wordpress.com/fierce-love-the-book/  )

Let’s talk about guilt. Guilt and shame are often used interchangeably, but in fact they’re not the same. And because they are used in a way that confuses the terms, guilt has in recent decades gotten an unfairly bad rap. Shame includes a painful sense of embarrassment or humiliation. There’s not much to recommend the experience. And it tends not to be very motivating; in fact, it can be pretty paralyzing. Guilt, however, derives from our conscience, from our sense of what’s right and wrong. And we would not want to live in a society where people lacked a sense of right and wrong. Guilt has a very real purpose that helps us refrain from doing harmful things to other people, and leads us to make amends when we’ve wronged others. Our legal system gives people “credit” for acknowledging their transgressions. Guilt helps us act responsibly. And it helps us raise children with a strong sense of conscience.

So, a sense of responsibility to our children—our nieces and nephews, grandchildren and future children– can lead us commit to doing what we need to do to ensure them the best possible future by protecting the planet. We already do that on other fronts—we save for college; we get up in the middle of the night to run to the ER. Protecting the planet for those we love is just a natural extension of our love and responsibility.

My younger son, 4 years old at the time, told a bedtime story that I found both heartbreaking and heartwarming. He said, “Someone left the light on in bathroom all night. The next day all the polar bears died. Then the next day all the penguins died, all because someone left that one light on. So, I’m going to put up signs all over the world with a “no energy” symbol, because that’s the way it works, right?” What his story shows, among other things, is that when we raise our children to see their part in protecting nature, it becomes part of their conscience.

Preschoolers are just at that stage of development. And that’s a wonderful thing. He may rebel in a few years and need to act like he doesn’t care, but this will always be a part of him, and it will infuse his life. On another important level, I love that he feels that he can make a difference. I am quite certain this sense of capacity to solve problems will not be limited to the environment—he’ll go into the world knowing that he can tackle all kinds of problems. Teaching children to feel effective in solving problems is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children.”

Read more from my book here: http://ecoactionplan.wordpress.com/fierce-love-the-book/

Back to my mom. I wouldn’t be sitting her today writing this blog, I wouldn’t have written my book, I wouldn’t have become one of the top Twitter users in Chicago, if it weren’t for my mom’s day-to-day support. When I was getting a divorce, she moved from 1000 miles away, uprooting her life, to help me raise the boys. She bakes, she does many, many dishes as I sit at the computer, she picks the dudes up at school. She reads drafts. And she provides emotional support. I’ve reinvented myself in the aftermath of my divorce and grown into a bigger version of myself. I couldn’t have done it without her.

What are your thoughts? I’d love your comments!

Dear Senator Kirk,

As the founder of Spheres of Influence, I am writing to welcome you to the US Senate.

I am one of many health care professionals and parents– many of whom, like me, are “unlikely environmentalists”– who are profoundly concerned about how the emissions from our tailpipes and smokestacks threaten our children’s health and quality of life– now and in the future.

We are already experiencing the consequences of our addiction to coal and oil — from canceled flights and giant potholes to longer cold and flu seasons to the Cubs being flooded out. We are experiencing bizarre weather — mudslides and frozen crops in CA, snow storms in DC, and thundersnow– normally a rare event– in numerous places around the country this winter. Yesterday, April 5, 2011 broke records for severe weather nationally: a record 1,210 severe weather reports were received including 23 tornadoes, 887 wind, and 300 hail reports (http://ow.ly/4xex3). According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, severe flooding in 2008 alone cost Illinois and Iowa farmers billions in lost revenues (http://ow.ly/4u3tm). The snow storm – or perhaps I should call it the hurricane with snow– that shut down Lake Shore Drive this winter… This is what I call “global weirdness.” It’s here, it’s now. And it impacts our health because, among other things, it creates high levels of stress.

We now have models that can determine how much our use of fossil fuels contributes to a given extreme weather event. MacArthur Foundation grantee Dr. Ben Santer has developed an attribution method which is described here: http://ow.ly/4u3v2. If you’ve not seen this video, I invite you to watch as Dr. Santer explains how they calculate the impacts of C02 emissions on specific extreme weather events http://ow.ly/4u3wY.

Both businesses and our health are impacted not just by costly weather disruptions but by the “pickling” effects of our emissions. Our increasingly acidic ocean is already impacting the entire ocean food chain, from plankton to lobsters to whales. The seafood industry is imperiled, as are related industries such as restaurants. If we keep moving on the same trajectory, this means that moms may not be able to feed their kids tuna sandwiches, Shaw’s may not be able to serve crab, and McDonald’s won’t be able to serve fish sandwiches. As a healthcare professional, I anticipate not just the loss of a way of life and loss of business opportunity, but the loss a whole class of food that is beneficial to our health– our brain function and our heart health. I am not alone in wanting to ensure that our sons and daughters can eat salmon and see whales in the ocean. The beautiful film A Sea Change (http://www.aseachange.net/) tells the story as a love letter to the filmmaker’s grandson.

The policy solution translates into incentivizing clean renewable energy and no longer subsidizing fossil fuels.

It also means….

… shutting down or cleaning up polluting coal plants that are so prevalent in Illinois.

… not approving new coal plants.

… improving our transportation infrastructure so that we are less reliant on cars.

… aggressively continuing to raise fuel efficiency standards, including for trucks.

… ensuring that the Clean Air Act, which has protected our health for decades, is not gutted.

… emulating the New England states which have been successfully implementing new energy standards.

… ensuring that the EPA is empowered to protect families from environmental harms such as the impacts of C02 emissions.

… shifting off ethanol which is only 2% more efficient than gasoline.

… factoring in the hidden costs of coal– including the loss of miners’ lives and the health care costs of asthma and other respiratory conditions to the residents– especially the young– near the coal-fired power plants in Chicago and elsewhere.

According to Mark Hertsgaard, author of Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth, the pollution from our addiction to fossil fuels has already raised global temperatures and will have inevitable impacts– for Illinois, that means more heat waves and severe storms. So we need to follow the lead of the Department of Defense and our own City of Chicago in preparing statewide and nationally. As a practicing psychologist, I can say that one key area of need is improvement of delivery of mental health services for residents who are acutely stressed by extreme weather events. In addition, we need to improve telehealth delivery because extreme weather events can impede travel to health care delivery sites.

Our children’s health is threatened not just by heat waves soot from coal plants but by wars that loom on the horizon, not just over oil but over water. I don’t want my two young rascals drafted into wars over oil and water. I am completely certain that I am not alone in that.

You voted for Cap and Trade legislation in 2009 when you were in Congress– but have waffled since then.

We can sidestep ideological debate– in fact, we must. This is not just a bipartisan issue, this is a human health crisis, a business opportunity, a moral imperative, a national security threat, and a legacy opportunity to do right by our children and grandchildren. My legacy– and yours– is at stake.

The parents and business owners of Illinois are counting on you to protect our national security, the integrity of our food supply, our business interests– and critically, our children’s health.

Your spheres of influence as a US Senator are considerable, and vital to our children’s future. I look forward to constructive dialogue on these crucial and urgent matters.

I am meeting with your legislative assistant, Robert Johnson, in the District this month, and look forward to meeting with you when you are in the District.

I look forward to a fruitful relationship with you.

Our children are counting on you. Because we have exactly enough time– starting now.

Respectfully Yours,

Sarah B. Warren, Ph.D.

Founder, Spheres of Influence

www.ourspheresofinfluence.com

My primary eco concern  is the impact of our addiction to fossil fuels on the health and well-being of our children– because I love my children fiercely. That driving concern, in fact,  led me to use my psychological expertise to serve as a catalyst in protecting the planet for future generations. And has led me to try to live my eco values with my two young dudes. Try is the operative word.

So of course Earth Hour (http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx), organized by the World Wildlife Fund (wwf.org),  appeals to my interest in raising awareness of our dependence on polluting energy that harms our children– now and in the future.

Last year during Earth Hour, we made it without the lights on for oh… about 20 minutes. The dudes found it intriguing and even exciting to use flashlights, but ultimately my then 7 year-old, aka The HamSter, found it too scary.  The lights went back on.  

This year on March 26th, my dudes– now 8 and 6 years old– went down to my mom’s house for the evening.  We made it for … an  interesting 30  minutes.  So we joined millions of people in over a 130 countries for half the time…

We set out our flashlights.  My mom’s idea had been that we would only use the flashlights in an emergency. That was not an option.

The 6 year-old DudeSter asked me to snuggle. We turned off the lights and the dudes piled with me onto my mom’s bed. The dudes turned on a flashlight, made shadows with their hands, and then we each told a spooky story.

One of my observations: Having the lights out afforded the opportunity to bond in a way that we do when we take our annual extended family vacation on an island in Maine that does not have electricity. We slow down. We hang out with each other. We go to sleep earlier and rise with the sun.

Another observation: There’s a lot ambient light that comes into our homes from street lights and neighbors. Quite notable.

A final observation: Even the children of a committed eco parent, who fundamentally get the eco connections, get restless and nervous in the dark. And even committed eco moms cave in to the request to turn on the TV (which we don’t watch much normally!)

A final final observation: It was powerful to participate in a truly global event that has been growing each year since 2007, knowing that millions of people on every continent were part of this eco hour.

I invite you to join this growing movement of unlikely environmentalists by reducing the amount of pollution you send out your tailpipes and chimneys– and crucially, by using your spheres of influence as a consumer and most especially as a voter.

Because we have exactly enough time– starting now.

Here is the letter I just sent to the editor of the Wall Street Journal in response to their editorial on December 30, 2010 entitled Midwest Wind Surtax. I have added links here:

Dear Editor,

As a health care professional, I am surprised that an esteemed business publication such as the Wall
Street Journal would allow an editorial analysis of energy subsidies (December 30, 2010) that fails
to account for externalities such as significant health care costs incurred by our reliance on heavily
subsidized coal.

The National Academy of Science analyzed the external costs, including health and environmental
impacts, of fossil fuels and renewables for 2005. They estimated that for 2005 alone $62 billion in
externalities, costs that were by definition not factored into the market price of fossil fuels. Their
estimate of the externalities for renewables? Virtually nil.

The National Research Council found that just two coal plants in Chicago generate $127 million
per year in hidden health costs, primarily because of the health impacts of soot from the plants’
smokestacks.

The health-related externalities of coal power plants include reduced life expectancy, reduced cardiac
and respiratory health, loss of IQ from mercury, and increased cancers. Other documented impacts
include production of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and reduction of crop yields. All of these factors
translate into both reduced quality of life and health care costs.

If we are to take a clear-eyed look at coal vs. renewable energy sources and allow the market to set
fair prices for energy based on real costs, we must consider all of the factors that are in play on this
distinctly un-level playing field, including the cost of treating illnesses that are induced by generating
power from highly polluting coal.

Sincerely,
Sarah B. Warren, Ph.D.
President, Sarah B. Warren, Ph.D. & Associates PC
Founder, Spheres of Influence

This holiday week, I’ve been reflecting on the two most recent Spheres of Influence conversations. Our themes of “thrivability” and “plenitude” strike me as timely during this frenetic week of consumption in the midst of a major economic downturn.

So here are some of my take-aways from our lovely monthly virtual roundtable conversations with Jean Russell, founder of Thrivability.org and Juliet Schor, author of Plenitude: The Economics of True Wealth and co-founder of Center for a New American Dream (newdream.org).

Perhaps my strongest resonance with our conversation with Jean Russell on thrivability is with the notion that the words we use to describe our vision set the bar, set the tone. “Sustainability” has become the buzzword for both environmental and economic programs. But you know, the first time I heard the word, I didn’t know what the person was referring to. It’s clunky and cumbersome, and fundamentally not enticing. It sets the bar low. But thrivability? That evokes images of gardens flourishing and people enjoying a full life. And as Jean would remind us– of play. I don’t know about you, but I want to ensure my boys a world in which they can thrive!

From the conversation with Juliet, perhaps my favorite nugget is the notion that “what’s good for the planet is good for people.” I’m a psychologist, so of course I’m interested in people. And the personal rewards of joining the growing green movement are what I’m “selling.” So what she tells us is that if we consume less, we don’t need to work as hard, we have more time to connect with other people– including our most beloved ones. And, when we consume less– by buying durable stuff, by shopping local, by doing things ourselves– we enjoy a higher quality of life. And oh by the way, we do less harm to the planet – less plastic, less oil used in shipping, all that. Makes sense to me!

Check out my Amazon review of Juliet’s wonderful, inspiring book (among other favorites): http://http://ow.ly/3rCvh. It would make a worthy gift!

Which brings me to “enoughness.” Enoughness is the experience of appreciation for all that we have that enriches our lives. When we live from a place of enoughness, we notice and value the abundance in our lives– our friends, our delicious food, our family, the beauty of the natural world. When we treasure all that we have to be grateful for, it shifts our perspective and experience. We’re less frantic about eating more, squeezing more into our day, making more money, keeping up with our neighbors– or particularly this time of year, buying more stuff. It’s a more fulfilling– fulfilled– way to live.

My  Enoughness Challenge to myself: Anyone who knows me knows that I have a thing for shoes. I own lots of cute shoes. An excessive number. Since talking with Juliet Schor about the problem of fashion fueling unnecessary purchases, I’ve been circling back to this quirky, un-ecofriendly habit. So for 2011 I’m going to challenge myself to live from a sense of enoughness when it comes to shoes. A week ago I inherited a wonderful pair of warm Italian boots from a friend whose feet have grown a bit. I feel great about that. If my running shoes wear out, OK. Fun shoes or boots? I’ll think twice. Three times. And breathe.

I’m am psychological coach so: What will you take on as your Enoughness Challenge this season? Post a comment! Let me know! (The more specific, the more likely you are to follow through!)

And I’m going to enjoy making homemade cards (my 6 year old son is a masterful and talented stamper!) and hanging out with my kids on the floor of the family room this winter break!

Here’s to slowing down…. and savoring.

This was my third night of attempting to help my two wound-up young rascals wind down at bedtime not just by reading Peaceful Piggy, which they’ve enjoyed for months, but by actually doing something that might approximate some hybrid Americanized version of  meditation.

So why, you might ask,  am I as an eco (and clinical!) psychologist and ambassador for green writing about family meditation of all things?

For more than one reason, actually. First, stress is something we all have to contend with. Because life is complicated. We have lots to juggle. We are so wired into technology. The pace of modern life can be relentless. And meditation is one of those tried and true techniques that helps. It just helps.

Meditation holds the potential for many rewards– decompressing, rejuvenating our bodies, and when done with others, connecting with each other.

Lately life has been reminding me of the need to take deliberate measures to take care of myself, which brings me to the second reason. I became an “unlikely environmentalist” while in the midst of a divorce with my two little guys in diapers. My wake up call as an environmentalist led me to write a book, to found Spheres of  Influence, and reinvent myself. I’ve been burning the candle both ends, continuing my psychology practice while raising two stressed out boys and launching into a cause that has changed my life– and me.  My body has been saying it’s time to slow down after five years of “push.” I need to take care of myself so that I can continue tending to my clients, and so that I can continue my work as an eco ambassador.  And I’ve got a socially anxious 7 year-old and a sometimes aggressive-sometimes sweet 6 year-old who remind me that they need to slow down. And they need my help.

Divorce is  not just an event. Divorce– and its aftermath– is a protracted, complex ongoing process of renegotiation of roles, identities, family dynamics, expectations, hopes and longings– for all involved. Even a good divorce is stressful.

The stress of divorce may or may not apply to you. But if you’re not dealing with the stress of family upheaval, I bet you’re contending with stress of some sort.

KerryMcLean wrote Peaceful Piggy after she and her family started to meditate together when they were facing a family medical crisis.

I have a client who is not going through a divorce but has a troubled young adult son living at home. My client is also in the financial industry, which is generally a pretty tough industry these days. He and his son meditate together every day for 15 minutes. I’ve not met his son, but I know it’s helping my client maintain perspective on the professional and familial challenges he’s facing.

I recently recommended Peaceful Piggy to a client who is going through a divorce with her two young kids. They all love it. I highly recommend the book– and family meditation. 

Be patient with yourselves–because change is a process– but give it try!

If you want to learn more about my story of transformation as an unlikely environmentalist and a divorced mom, go to my Fierce Love book page http://ecoactionplan.wordpress.com/fierce-love-the-book/   where you can download the first two chapters. And I would really appreciate your posting a comment on the site which will help show publishers I have an engaged audience! And I love feedback! Thank you in advance…

And please  follow me on Twitter @drsarahwarren where I tweet a lot about my two delightful dudes and our life as a family.

Now, I realize that if I want to ensure my kids a future in which they thrive– and don’t you too?– I need to use my voice and my vote to make sure that policies are put in place that protect the natural world that not only provides us beauty but literally allows us to eat and drink and survive. The natural world has limits– and we’ve engaged in practices and policies that have exceeded those limits.

Even though I think it’s important– and oh so cool– to use my travel mug and my reusable shopping bags– I know that my vote is really the way to ensure my kids a bright future.

What’s at stake for our kids?

Today I had a conversation with Marjorie, the mother of my son’s class mate Luke. She was saying she and her husband are looking at a future in which most of the world will be without water– and what that means for the civilization our kids will live in. It’s not cool at all. And buying local or putting our babies in organic cotton onesies won’t cut it. Helpful, but not sufficient.

Think about what’s at stake for your kids when the water supply of entire continents is lost to the permanent melting of the glaciers that provide them their water. How will people treat each other when their survival is threatened? What kinds of wars will be waged– with our children as combatants? I don’t know about you– but I don’t want my two young dudes to be drafted into wars over water.

Voting– and holding our elected officials to account– is where it’s at. The polices we do– or don’t– put in place will make or break the effort to respect the natural world. It’s about how efficient our cars are, whether we have mass transit, how we get our electricity– those kinds of local and national issues.

And it’s really empowering to become an engaged voter. I can attest to that.

Not sure who to vote for?

No worries! Some thorough folks have done the homework for you!

http://www.lcv.org/campaigns/endorsements/

Want to see the track record of incumbents?

Here you go!

http://www.lcv.org/scorecard/

It’s not about partisan politics– it’s about our kids

When I vote my conscience for the planet, I’m looking at who is going to best protect the natural world for my children and grandchildren– for all children. That’s the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Won’t you join me in voting for your kids’ future?

Because we have exactly enough time– starting now.

Inspired? Subscribe to my blog, and download chapters of my book Fierce Love: How One Mother Reinvented Herself by Saving the Planet (on the Fierce Love page on this site)

And I’d love to hear  comments– and your story!

Well, in Ecological Intelligence Daniel Goleman prompts us to think again about whether we’re doing what we really need to do. Action is imperative, but so is thinking. We need to act in a thoughtful, informed manner in order to have a real eco impact.

As a psychologist, environmentalist and concerned parent, I eagerly read the father of emotional and social intelligence’s contribution to the growing crop of books on the ecological impacts of our choices. In Ecological Intelligence, Daniel Goleman applies the same wisdom he displayed in Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence to what might be considered the most pressing issue of our time—the dire state of the natural world that nourishes and sustains us. The natural world that can afford our children a future in which our kids can thrive– if we act intelligently, or mindfully, now.

Daniel Goleman helps us understand our difficulty confronting hard truths about the state of our planet. He points to the need to stop telling ourselves comforting “vital lies” that mask hard truths. He nicely describes from an evolutionary and psychological standpoint why it is difficult—although not impossible– for us to register and therefore act on gradual threats such as the increases in temperature we are experiencing. I am highly informed, engaged, environmentally aware psychologist, and even I struggle sometimes to face the reality of the state of our natural world and the implications for our society—and our children’s lives.

He offers a wonderful of example of recycling as a vital lie that allows us to feel like we’re doing our part, when in fact we’re barely making a dent given the nature and scale of the problem of waste and contamination. Recycling is one of our favorite eco-actions— it’s a no brainer, right? Yet he suggests that until we have “total recycling” in which all the components of a product can be completely reused, we are simply lulling ourselves into thinking that we are doing enough when in fact we are doing very little of real environmental good. This kind of vital lie, he argues, “creates a collusion among us all not to look squarely at the hidden impacts of our choices.”

He makes a compelling argument for “radical transparency’ on the part of companies that would allow us to make fully informed choices about what we buy. Personally, I can’t wait til I no longer have to labor over questions like “Does this water bottle have toxic PBA that will leach into my kids’ water?”  To achieve radical transparency, however, will require us to use not just our wallets but our voices and votes to incentivize companies to reduce their impact on the natural world—and to tell us fully what they are doing.

My mission is about empowering people to take meaningful action to protect the planet for our children and grandchildren. Ecological intelligence is required of us if we are to protect the planet for those we love.

If you want to be a conscious consumer—or business leader or voter, for that matter—read this book, pause, reflect, pass it on to a friend, and use your spheres of influence to act in an ecologically intelligent manner– on the greatest scale possible.

While you’re at it– download the first two chapters of my book, Fierce Love: How One Mother Reinvented Herself by Saving the Planet, and you can too here.  And please post your valued comments!

Because we have exactly enough time– starting now.

We all want our kids to be healthy and safe. For me, healthy kids equate to a healthy planet. In fact, I joined the growing  movement of what I call “unlikely environmentalists” when I realized that our addiction to oil posed a threat to my children’s health and wellbeing, not just in the future, but now. Like we’re getting longer cold and flu seasons thanks to warming temperature– have you noticed?

So here are my Top Ten Tips for how we can set our kids up for a healthy school year by protecting the planet– so that our kids can thrive now and in the future!

I hope you’ll read all the way through because towards the end I offer tips that will really make you feel good because you get to really make a real impact. I saved the best for last.

1.Waste-free lunches in healthy lunch bags! Choose cloth or metal lunchboxes and  avoid backpacks with shiny plastic designs as they often contain PVC and/or lead. (Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) contains dangerous chemical additives used to soften or stabilize it.) Here’s a resource that a mom compiled: http://amomsblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/bpa-pvc-and-lead-free-lunch-boxes-for-back-to-school/  Get a PBA-free water bottle, fill it at home with filtered water, and you’re good to go. www.progressivekid.com/shop/Eco-FriendlyWaterBottles.aspx.   Throw in a cloth napkin and you’re good.

2. Organic and local lunches! Did you it takes a lot less energy to grow organic produce? Health for us, healthy for the atmosphere. It’s a two-fer. And local obviously saves on emissions from trucks that otherwise haul our food 15oo miles to our grocery stores!

3. Skip the wasteful single-package items! You know, juice boxes, snacks, all that stuff.  It generates a lot of waste– and it costs a lot. Maybe you and your kids can make lunch together– and bond!

4. Start a school garden. They are not just great ways for kids to learn about how things grow (science!), they can be a source of healthy that some schools use to feed kids (cool!). And what I’ve seen with our school garden is that these gardens build community.  I love our school garden!

5. Start a recycling program. We recycle tape packages and juice packs. It’s a start! Got a recycling program  already? Maybe it can be expanded.

6. Start a composting program for school lunches. If you’ve got a school garden, you’ve got a ready place to put the compost. The garden will appreciate it– and so will the atmosphere! Why? Because methane gas from landfills has over twenty times the heat-trapping power as auto emissions!

7. Take the “Walking School Bus!” When I first heard about this I thought, I want to take the Walking School bus and check out the gardens and trees along the way! And bond with my kids–and other kids. This is one of the coolest ideas out there. So you either walk your own kids, or you join forces with other parents (which works even in dicey urban  areas–  that’s where I learned about the Walking School bus!) Connect with nature, family and neighborhood bonding– and exercise which we sorely need as a society of increasingly obese children.

8. Start a Green Committee. Strength in numbers. Hopefully you can get not just parents but teachers and kids as well. Our school’s garden is a Green Committee project.

9. Work on helping to  reduce the school’s energy use. Why? How? Work to help the janitor or facilities manager make different purchasing decisions (furnaces, windows, lighting)  that can have the greatest impact of anything you do to go green. Tail pipes and smoke stacks are the greatest source of heat-trapping emissions that are bringing us things like weird weather and heat waves.

10. No Idling. Get the school to agree to a policy (with signage!) that parents turn off cars at drop off and pick up. The atmosphere– and your kids– will thank you! Better yet, use your voice by getting your municipality to institute “No Idling” at all schools. I know of a two-mom coalition that did this in a suburb of Chicago. Our voices count!

Seem ambitious? Find natural allies. And act in a spirit of wanting to help the school solve problems– like reducing energy costs in a tight economy!

Using your spheres of influence– not just as a consumer but as a member of a school community– is hugely rewarding and empowering. And it helps us scale up on a problem of great urgency that is doing things like brining us longer cold and flu seasons. It’s what I call Going Green & Getting Happy.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Airwear blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, visit http://airwear.twittermoms.com/about. As an eco parent what I like is that they use recycled material and pass their unused materials on to other industries– smart!

So parents– Go Green and Use Your Spheres of Influence!  Because we have exactly enough time, starting now.

My mission as an ”unlikely environmentalist” is to spread the word about the scale and urgency of our severe addiction to oil, the consequences of that addiction– and importantly–what we can do to ensure our children a world in which they can thrive. Because that’s what we want, right?

So, I’ve written a book which I’m just about to pitch. The title? Fierce Love: How One Mother Reivented Herself by Saving the Planet… and you can too!

The intended core audience? People who watch The View and Oprah, people who read Self magazine and shop at Target. People who LOVE their Starbucks. Maybe they shop at Whole Foods sometimes, maybe not. (That might not be you.)

My message is one of empowerment and personal transformation. The book is part memoir, part coaching book in the personal growth genre.

The single most important factor that publishers are looking for is a large and engaged audience. That’s you!

Getting a good book contract will help me expand my spheres of influence so that I can catalyze others to use their spheres of influence to protect the planet for our kids.  I’m asking you to jump through several virtual hoops– this is not about me, it’s about our precious natural world.

So here’s how you can help me fulfill my mission of protecting the planet for our children by enlisting the unenlisted: (Do this by September 1st and you’ll get a FREE copy of my reflections on Soul Survival!)

1. Subscribe to (and comment on!) my blog.  Comment on this post even! (I blog about being a divorced mom, about raising kids who love and respect the natural world, about how we can use our spheres of influence to protect the planet,  about the personal rewards of going green.)   (Sometimes the links don’t work in WordPress: www.ourspheresofinfluence.com)

2. Sign up for my mailing list to receive information about opportunities to make a difference to protect the planet–and what I call “Things I love.”   (If the link doesn’t work it’s here http://www.ecoaction.ecoactionplan.org/webform.html)

3. Become a fan of my FaceBook Page! Or– if you like it, “Like it! Then please recommend it!  http://ow.ly/2qYNw

4. Follow on me on Twitter where I tweet about all kinds of cool green stuff– food, kids, cocktails, cool stuff, enoughness, using our voices.  http://twitter.com/drsarahwarren

5. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel where you’ll find videos of fun Spheres of Influence eco events as well as short clips on how you can use your Spheres of Influence, and how to Go Green and Get Happy.  http://www.youtube.com/user/drsarahwarren

6. Download chapters of my book and post a comment on my Fierce Love page (complete with video!): http://ecoactionplan.wordpress.com/fierce-love-the-book/

7. If you support my mission, please spread the word and invite friends and family to do sign up as well! Tweet, email, Facebook message– whatever means you use to spread the word! Your children will thank you!

I’ve just asked you to take a lot of steps, I know. They all count– just like all us changing our lightbulbs counts!

Thank you for your time, your support, your interest and all that you’re doing to use your spheres of influence to protect the planet!

Remember if you act by September 1st, you’ll be rewarded with a free copy of my reflections on Soul Survival!

Because we have exactly enough time, starting now!

I’ll admit that as my crows feet become more prominent, I understand the appeal of plastic surgery in a way that I never thought I would. 

And I’ll also confess that when I got divorced, I tweaked my hair color a bit. 

But cosmetic surgery is SURGERY. It’s risky, as all surgery is. And it’s expensive. Besides, you don’t want to look like a scary Stepford wife do you?

And as a psychologist, I can say that the motivation for post-divorce cosmetic surgery is founded in a distorted illusion about what makes us feel better in enduring ways. 

Even though I did play with my hair color, what I really did to reinvent myself in the midst of my divorce was get involved in a cause.  Getting deeply involved in a cause not only pulled me out of myself and my personal concerns, it allowed me to grow into a bigger version of myself– I became an author and a speaker, and defined a new role for myself as a catalyst to help others enjoy the personal rewards of protecting the planet for our children. And, importantly, it has given me a profound sense of meaning and purpose, above and beyond my existing work as a psychologist and professional coach, and even beyond the sense of purpose I derived from raising my two young rascals.  

I’m pretty sure I look different– better– but not because of my hair color. I carry myself differently because I have something to say to the world.  I’m on a mission.

For me, the compelling cause is that of ensuring that my boys are able to enjoy a bright future in a world in which they can thrive.  For me, it’s been about Going Green, and Getting Happy. 

For you, there may be  a different pressing problem that calls out for your time, talent and passion. There are problems in your community that need your skills and your spheres of influence, however big or small. You have a lot to offer. Use it! (And I can help you if you want.)

Wouldn’t it be more productive to get involved in an organization that you believe in and donate the chunk of money you’d spend on plastic surgery to a cause that makes a real impact on your community? 

Wouldn’t that be something to feel good about? 

I don’t mean to suggest that getting involved in a cause is just about writing a check to an organization instead of a plastic surgeon. In fact, it’s really about getting to know new people, about throwing yourself into an issue that you care about. 

Back to crows feet. Recently, in a department store I was offered a sample of a skin care product that contained human growth hormone to “trick” the skin into growing new cells in order to reduce aging. I’m an eco parent– I carefully evaluate what I put on my skin and my kids’ skin. There is no way I would put a product on my skin that had human growth hormone in it! Not worth the unknown risks. 

We need to embrace our aging as a reflection of our greater wisdom. Bobbi Brown, the cosmetic maven, embraces her crows feet. She says, “Aging … should be seen as a process through which a woman can gain more vitality, strength, wisdom, and a new sense of her beauty.” (See  more of her excerpt from Living Beauty http://ow.ly/2jwky)

We can age gracefully, enjoy our wisdom, convert the urge for revenge into constructive action– and make a difference in the world.

I thought this was going to be short post, but here I am going on – I’ve got a lot to say!

Isn’t living well the best revenge? Doing good is a fabulous way of living well. What better way to reinvent ourselves?

PS. If you like this post, share it– and subscribe to my blog!

As part of the Toyota Twittermom campaign, I committed to posting a blog about why I love my Toyota, and the posting a follow-up blog about the experience.

So here goes.

I had been a bit concerned about push back about blogging about a product, especially since I’m in the “green” space and my car is not a traditionally eco-friendly car.  (Not traditionally eco, but as I noted in my previous blog post, the fact that Toyotas last a long time makes them more sustainable than cars that fall apart after a couple of years– as did my old Saturn.) No push back. I did get people viewing the post on my site, according to the blog stats, but no comments. Tough to get comments, isn’t it?

What I enjoyed about the process was that, for one– a bit to my surprise– I did feel a part of a campaign, even if it was a virtual campaign.  And it made me feel more a part of Twittermoms which I’ve been technically a member of for some months without being very active.

I also enjoyed going to the Toyota Facebook page and seeing other people’s stories about their cars.

Being somewhat technologically disabled (slow perhaps?) and pressed for time as I usually am, I was unable to figure out how to go back into the area on Toyota’s Facebook page where my story was posted, and see if anyone had commented there. That’s sort of par for the course for me when it comes to tech– I don’t waste a lot of time trying to figure stuff out unless it really matters to me. I did, for instance, spend three days, on and off, attempting to post a photo to my new Twitter account for my psychology and coaching practice (@SarahBWarrenPhD). We choose our battles, right?

So, having returned from my first foray into the universe of blogging about products, I’m guessing I will blog about products again at some point when the occasion arises.

Should I?

Since making that purchase, I’ve become a parent, and parenthood has led me to become both an “unlikely environmentalist” and extremely eco conscious consumer– because I want to ensure my children, whom I love fiercely, a future in which they can thrive.

The main concerns driving that purchase (pun intended!) were that the car would accommodate the family that my then-husband and I planned, and that it would offer sufficient head room for my tall now-ex-husband. And, importantly, we were also drawn to Toyota’s reliability record.

The car has indeed accommodated two growing boys, and did supply adequate headroom for my then-husband. And it has definitely proven reliable.

What I’ve learned since going down the eco path is that durability and longevity are key considerations in determining a product’s eco impact.

Planned  obsolesence is antithetical to protecting the planet. Products that are made shoddily interfere with our ability to live on the planet in a way that can sustain life– human life, the life of other creatures– on an ongoing basis. Products that are built to last have a lower environmental impact because they stay out of the waste stream, and the energy and resources it took to make those products have a longer useful life, which is intrinsically less wasteful and harmful to the planet. I drove a Saturn at an earlier point in my life– that car was built to fall apart. Not eco-friendly.

The Toyota sedan I drive doesn’t have the fuel efficiency or the reduced emissions technology of a Prius, but by being reliable and durable, it does keep itself out of the landfill.

I’m not alone in my family in driving a Toyota. In fact, you could say we’re a Toyota family. My brother drives a Prius. My sister drove a Prius until she and her husband had their second child and upgraded to a hybrid Highlander. My mom drives a Matrix. My ex? He drove a Camry– for 10 years– ’til it got totaled. Now, he drives a Sienna, which he loves. He says I should get one. Maybe, if they come out with a hybrid!

I’ve never done this kind of thing before, but I’m participating in a Toyota/TwitterMoms campaign, which inspired this post. My opinions, thoughts and feelings are my own. As a TwitterMom, I’m eligible for a courtesy gift of $50.

This is my first foray into the product promotion world. I’d love your feedback! Post a comment below!

So what do we do to keep our children safe from the effects of dangerous heat?

To protect our kids from this dangerous heat, we need to:

1. Make sure they drink lots of water– even when they’re not thirsty!
2. We need to keep them out of the sun.
3. We need to make sure we don’t leave them in cars– even for a few minutes. This seems like it should go without saying, but more and kids are dying in hot cars– Yikes!

Learn more here: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heat_guide.asp

But here is my burning question: Is coping with the heat wave enough? Why is it so hot, and hot in places it’s not usually hot, and more often? What can we do about reversing this disturbing trend? Ok, that wasn’t one question. Forgive me.

Bear with me.  I’m all about going green and getting happy. So keep reading!

John Holdren, one of our nation’s top scientists, warns that killer heat waves like the one that killed 35,000 people (that’s not a typo) in Europe in 2003 will become the new normal at the rate we’re going with our use of energy that inadvertently emits heat-trapping gases. Read more from one of his power point presentations– it’s not tough to follow. Lots of great info: http://ncseonline.org/conference/Chafee08final.pdf

As a mother, when I think about this kind of new normal, I get choked up. What about you?

As a parent, I ask myself, what kind of world do I want my children to live in? Do I want them to be able to play summer sports outside? Do I want them to be able to go camping? Do I want them to be healthy?

I ask you: What kind of world do you want your children to live in?

These extreme heat waves are a sign, one of many, of  what I call “global weirdness”– the weird weather we get as an unintended consequence of our addiction to oil– and other dirty forms of energy like coal that we use to generate electricity.

Why? All that energy to heat and cool our homes and buildings and move us and our stuff from point A to point B to point Z in our oversized vehicles and power our IPODs and laptops and cell phones (yes, mine too!)–and don’t forget the energy it takes to create and dispose of our stuff!  All that energy generates heat-trapping gases that are causing warming.  (Yeah, the natural sun cycles do too, but what we’re doing accounts for almost all of it. ) And then we rip out a whole lot of trees to use for paper or furniture or cardboard or coffee cups or to clear fields for crops like palm oil. We need those trees to keep us cooler!

• Those innocent oiled birds in the Gulf are literally boiling to death in hot oil. Is that OK with you? Is this the kind of world you want to leave your children?
• Social media maven Amber MacArhur (@AmberMac) put a post on Twitter yesterday afternoon which said that during yesterday’s heat wave in Toronto there was a power outage. People were stuck in elevators at the end of their workdays. How miserable.
• Yesterday, my friend Nan in Philadelphia who loves–I mean LOVES– baseball opted out of the game because temps were expected to hit 100. She told me a good friend of hers, an outstanding athlete, suffered heat stroke the day before while riding her bike.
• Already as many people have died from complications of heat this year in Delaware as died all summer.
• This morning on the news they announced that a big section of Lake Shore Drive had to shut down to repair a huge sinkhole that was caused by yesterday’s extreme heat.  A hassle, right?
• Oh yeah, and the fact that it didn’t cool down last night– that’s another part of the heating-up pattern.

Global weirdness is here. It’s now. But it’s not too late to do something. And the personal rewards of action are tremendous.

I promised you this would be about going green and getting happy. Here it is:

If you want to ensure your children a world in which they can thrive, you need to become an avid conservationist, yes– turn off the lights, drive less, unplug, weatherize, buy less. But the good news is that to be a real part of the solution, you get to discover the power of your voice to protect the planet for your children.

This is truly empowering. It’s really cool.

I’ve discovered, for the first time in my life, that my voice matters. My elected officials want to hear from me. Your voice matters, too.

More than the car you drive, more than whether or not you use a reusable shopping bag. Drive less and use that reusable shopping bag– but what really matters for our kids future– and present– is the policies we put in place that can protect the planet– or not.

If you’re in the US, the single most important action you can take is to call or write your Senator (sorry, emails and petitions are way less effective) to support the passage and strengthening of the American Power Act. You won’t be sorry.

While you’re at it, have your kids write a letter and draw a picture too. It’s a great summer family project!

Join me in Going Green and Getting Happy– and spread the word!

Sign up for my blog to stay posted about how you reap the rewards of joining the growing movement of unlikely environmentalists and to stay posted on my forthcoming book, Fierce Love: How One Mother Reinvented Herself by Saving the Planet… and you can too.