Seventh Generation Blog

Women Helping Women

sheila.B — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:28:34 -0500

In the last few months it has become painfully apparent to me that the primary job I held for the last 17 years -- mothering my children -- has come to an end. Two of our three children have left the nest, and with only a very self-sufficient 15-year-old at home, I realized that it was time to exit what I have come to call the "mommy coma." I don't mean to imply that the amazing work of childrearing was less than fulfilling -- it was a great job -- but now it's time to marshal my talents and energy and set to work doing something to help others.

By training I am an attorney. After practicing real estate litigation for a dozen years, I set aside my work to help raise three children and to support my husband, Jeffrey, in starting Seventh Generation. I was involved in the business as a member of the board of directors, but was otherwise engaged in car pooling, baking cakes, and making sure that all my family's needs were met.

As I entered into a new chapter of my life, I searched for a cause that needed some attention. It turns out that an opportunity to do some real good was right under my nose. I got jolted when my youngest daughter got her period for the first time at a friend's house a year ago. When she came home, I handed her a box of the organic cotton tampons that we make at Seventh Generation, and was promptly informed that she liked the ones made by a conventional brand that her friend was using. That's when it hit me -- the same women who eat organic foods and use organic cleaning products aren't paying attention to the ingredients in their tampons and pads.

So I have set out to educate women on the existence of tampons that are made with organic cotton. This cotton hasn't been sprayed with chemical pesticides, and it is whitened with hydrogen peroxide. Organic cotton tampons are a great green alternative, and I want to spread that word to the average woman, who uses an estimated 11,000 tampons in her lifetime.

By making a simple switch to our monthly routines, women can help reduce the amount of harmful pesticides and chemicals polluting our streams, rivers, and lakes. Women are a powerful group, especially when we take matters into our own hands.

Nation members: Please let me know your feelings about organic feminine care by posting back to this space.

Natural Remedies for Dealing with the Sniffles

Francineinthe206 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:29:47 -0500

I am a lightweight when it comes to cold medicines. Over-the-counter decongestants make me feel as though someone slipped me a Mickey. A Mickey the size of a Frisbee.

There was one memorable day when I was at my first job, eager to impress and reluctant to call in sick. I went to work loaded up on cold meds. As I bumbled down the hallway I suddenly panicked, unable to remember if I was wearing pants. That's when a concerned coworker took my arm and said, "You're OK, your pants are on. But I'm giving you a ride home." Whew. Gnarly stuff.

So when I got my first cold of the season a few weeks ago, I heeded the advice of a nurse in my doctor's office: "Put cayenne pepper in everything," she said. Pepper, the thinking goes, gets your nose running -- and that helps clear up your congested sinuses. Get that bad juju out of your system! I sprinkled cayenne pepper in soup and in tea and into anything else I thought I could tolerate. It worked! The cayenne pepper got my motor going, so to speak, and the more I blew my nose, the faster that "blockhead" feeling went away.

A friend says she relieves her cold and flu symptoms by soaking in a hot bath with a few drops of eucalyptus oil added. (Sounds like a heavenly way to start breathing easy again, but I'm like a cat to water when I have a bad cold and I don't want to get my hair wet. The upshot of that is after three days of not washing my hair, the natural oils give it a glossy sheen not found in any bottle of conditioner.)

For many other friends, a nice, hot cup of tea with honey soothes a scratchy throat. Another friend pours boiling water into a bowl, drapes a dish towel over her head, and inhales the steam. To combat the dry skin that can crop up from excessive nose blowing, one friend dabs vitamin E oil on the outside her proboscis.

On a side note: This was the first cold I've had where I didn't blow through an entire box of tissues. Thinking green (while green around the gills), I dug into my collection of vintage handkerchiefs. Oh yes, they're cute – I have a '50s set of hankies with little poodles prancing about. But, dang it, those handkerchiefs were meant to be used, and I felt a lot better presoaking a batch of used hankies than I would have taking out trashcans full of crumbled-up tissues. (If you don't want to use hankies, use tissues made from 100% recycled paper.)

So as we breeze into sneezin' season, give some natural remedies a try. Do you have any natural cold remedies you'd like to share with the Nation?

photo: tanjila ahmed

How To Donate Food This Season

bethina — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:12:29 -0500

Whenever I think about the kind of parent I want to be, the soundtrack in my mind invariably skips to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Teach Your Children." So when I sat down to write this post about holiday giving, my thoughts turned immediately to Matthew, my 6-year-old. Without laying a guilt trip on him, his dad and I want to expand his understanding that there are many people -- including many children -- in our world, our country, our neighborhood who want for many of the things he takes for granted: a cozy bed, books and toys, and plenty of good things to eat.

I thought about how, as a family, we could help those less fortunate. The stakes are raised this year, with food banks and soup kitchens struggling in the face of rising unemployment. If anyone still needed a wake-up call, it came loud and clear recently, with the Department of Agriculture reporting that more than 49 million Americans, including 17 million children, are at risk of hunger.

That's 13 million more people experiencing what the USDA calls "food insecurity" than just one year ago. About a third of those affected are skipping meals, cutting portions, or otherwise forgoing food at some point in the year. Meanwhile, a September study by Feeding America, the country's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, showed its 200 member food banks reporting a 30 percent increase in the number of people seeking assistance, with some stating increases of more than 50 percent in requests for emergency food assistance.

It became clear what we should do, and I went about finding a charity that would accept our food donations. It wasn't easy to narrow down my choices. If you are also looking for a way to donate food this season, I'd recommend starting with the Charity Navigator, a nonprofit that offers a lot of information, such as how much of an organization's budget actually goes toward helping those in need. The site includes a Holiday Giving Guide.

An online search of food banks led me to the aforementioned Feeding America, formerly called America's Second Harvest, which operates through a network of more than 200 food banks in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Those member food banks support approximately 63,000 local agencies, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need. Use them to find your local network food bank and learn about volunteer opportunities.

Then I decided to check in with my friends and family to find out how they help those in need.

Like so many people who discover ways to give at their houses of worship, my Chicago cousins learned of their favorite charity through their synagogue. Susan told me that Mazon, founded in the wake of the Ethiopian famine, donates money to Jewish and non-Jewish food-related organizations.

On the local level, Susan and her husband, my cousin Lou, also volunteer through their synagogue with the Night Ministry, a Chicago-based organization aimed at helping feed homeless youth and adults that sets up tables on designated corners, including some in the neighborhood where my cousins live.

Susan and Lou's giving doesn't end there. After their daughter's bat mitzvah a few years back, they wanted to donate the extra food but were frustrated to learn that many pantries won't accept unsealed items. Then they discovered Pacific Garden Mission, a local organization that provides food, shelter, clothing, and medical and dental care to the homeless.

On the local level, word of mouth is another good way to find out about ways to help. One of my neighbors, also named Susan, recently e-mailed our building about a nearby church's need for food donations for its Thanksgiving dinner, along with volunteers to cook, decorate, and serve. This church, like so many other pantries, is also reaching out to the community to drop off non-perishables to help restock its shelves. Paula, another friend, usually donates through her children's activities, including sports teams and the Scouts. Most schools, including Matthew's, hold annual canned food drives. All of this helps.

But it's important to remember a point raised by my sister-in-law, Deb, who works for the Utah Foster Care Foundation: "After working at a nonprofit for years, I realize that many of us want to volunteer or donate to make ourselves feel good. We often get volunteers who want to work on specific projects that our families really don't need. We have to explain to them that the most generous thing they can do is make a donation, and not just at Christmas."

Food pantries are usually looking for canned goods including tuna, soups, and vegetables, along with things like cereal, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and pasta and spaghetti sauce. Check first to see what the organization really needs. In many cases, a monetary donation may be the preferred choice.

When I checked the lyrics to "Teach Your Children," I discovered that Graham Nash was actually writing about his difficult relationship with his father.

But the counter melody offers a fitting message during this holiday season and throughout the year: "Teach your children what you believe in. Make a world that we can live in." That's what I hope to do with Matthew, as we pick out canned goods to donate and sort through his old toys and clothes, destined for children who have so little.

These suggestions are just a start. How do you help make a world that we can live in?

photo: Jessica Reeder

Fully-baked Tips for Saving Energy in the Kitchen

the Inkslinger — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The scent of stuffing and gravy hangs heavy in the air, and with the holidays about to get cooking, I think it's a good time to add some energy-savings to the menu.

The Department of Energy tells us that 15% of the energy we use in our homes flows through our kitchens. So if we can make a big dent in our energy consumption there, we can make a big dent in our energy consumption period. Here's a side order of kitchen conservation tips:

When making a multi-dish meal, try to cook as much as you can at the same time, then reheat individual dishes as needed in the more efficient microwave or toaster oven (or in the regular oven if you happen to be cooking something else).
Resist the temptation to open the oven door to check your food. That can lower temperatures inside by 25°-50°. Turn the oven off a few minutes before the timer sounds and let residual heat finish the job.
Use the microwave whenever possible. Cooking a typical casserole in an electric oven uses about two kWh worth of electricity. The same dish in a microwave oven uses just 0.36 kWh. Toaster ovens are another efficient option.
Cover stove-top pots to stop heat from escaping. This can reduce the energy required for cooking by up to two-thirds.
Unplug your refrigerator and vacuum or dust its condenser coils. Dirty coils can reduce a fridge's efficiency by up to 30%! Make sure there are a couple of inches of air space between the coils and the wall so air can efficiently carry heat away.
Clean the rubber gaskets around your refrigerator's doors and their contact points on the unit itself to make sure your fridge seals tightly when it's closed. If your gaskets are worn or ripped, get new ones.
Don't put leftovers in the refrigerator while they're still warm. Your fridge will work a lot harder and warm newcomers might increase the temperature to levels that aren't safe for the foods already there.
Run your dishwasher only when it's full. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes or let them air dry. And avoid the water heating option if your dishwasher has one.

photo: docentjoyce

A Chemical Reaction: The Story of a True Green Revolution

White Rhino — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:27:24 -0500

We are sponsoring the movie A Chemical Reaction: The Story of a True Green Revolution on November 18th from 6:30-8:00pm at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center in Burlington, Vermont.

The movie is a true story of the impacts that chemical pesticides and herbicides have on children and adults and the plight of a few brave folks who took up the fight against the mightiest North American chemical companies and won by having the chemicals banned.

There is a reception from 5:30-6:30 with the Director and Narrator of the movie. Tickets are $10 and available through the Flynn Box office 820-863-5966 or www.flynntix.org). We'll also have a limited number of free tickets available at the event (first come/first served).

From the Mouths of Babes

accidentallyonpurpose — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

In previous posts, you've learned what a blessing, what a wonder; what a sheer delight life has been since the arrival of Cole -- the gift who came into our lives accidentally-on-purpose long after the birth of two daughters and waaaaaay after my husband and I assumed that my child-bearing years were behind me.

Well, now Cole walks and talks at will. The optimal words would be "at will," meaning when he gets ready. He is cute and all, but he is also maddening at times. And although he is still more than 16 years from a voter's registration card, through a mix of fervent babble, willful gesticulating, and adamant positioning he is becoming quite the persuasive politician.

So you can imagine that exiting a playground is sometimes no small feat. We recently had one of those times. I had managed to pry Cole's tiny fingers from the climbing apparatus and was about to strap him into his stroller when the sky suddenly grew dark. In seconds, we were drenched. We don't live far from the playground so I was prepared to make a beeline to the house. Then Cole jumped out of the stroller. He was running in circles around the park, screaming "Cash wa-er, mommy…Cash it! Catch wa-er for grow Gammasoo gart-in!"

It took me a minute, but then my bi-lingual skills kicked in: Cash wa-er? For feed gart-in? Cole had apparently picked up on more than I'd guessed on his last trip to my in-laws. Grandma Sue has a thriving garden in her backyard and uses -- you guessed it -- a rain catcher to feed strawberries, zucchini, melons, and more. It's a wondrous sight to behold.

Not the fruits and vegetables. I'm talking about the picture of my mother-in-law -- also known as the Queen of Things -- kneeling in the soil teaching my kids conservation. You have to know Sue like I know her to appreciate the irony. (Let's just say she never met an infomercial she didn't like.)

Dripping wet, I called her from my cell, just to make sure I had the story right. "Oh my goodness," Sue squealed, when I repeated the baby 'cash wa-er' plea. "He such a smaaart baby."

Yeah, yeah. I know...Einstein. Tell me about the rain catcher. What made you get it? Are you trying to go green on me or what?"

She went on, with great delight, about monster cucumbers and how well her gardening efforts were paying off. And she's sure her water bill is lower these days. She also bought a compost bin. "Wow, I am really impressed," I told my mother-in-law. "We could learn a lot from you." But I couldn't stop myself. "By the way, how's that closet of yours these days?"

There was a long pause. Then, "Kiss the kids for me...I better go start Grand Daddy's dinner."

I smiled. It's always great when wisdom gets passed from one generation to the next.

photo: ceresur

One Day You Wake Up Green

accidentallyonpurpose — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I have a confession: I worry that deep down I can be profoundly superficial.

Take green living. I can remember back in the early '90s when my husband and I settled in a hamlet so dense with tree huggers our friends dubbed it "Park Oats." Virtually everyone in our neighborhood wore Birkenstock sandals -- long before they became available in an array of fashionable colors and metallic finishes. Most folks also belonged to the local food coop and carted their kale and beet greens in tattered looking, re-usable bags.

One day I paid a visit to said coop. It was the allure of decent produce -- an endangered food group at the time in New York City -- not the Green Movement per se, that prompted my visit. Still, it could have been the start of something big. And they almost had me. I mean, I like farmers in the dell and sharing and all the other wonderful things the coop espoused. At the information desk, a cheerful woman with a ruddy complexion and quick smile was as charming as she was informative. I was ready to put down my John Hancock until I looked around and realized that I wasn't ready for a regular schedule of earthy bonhomie if it meant I would need to start wearing Birkenstocks. (That's where the shallow part comes in. I was putting fashion ahead of intellect, and green just wasn't my color.)

Then I became a mom and began reading labels. I started buying organic milk, and became a fixture at farmers' markets. I passed the coop often but it never occurred to me that my buying patterns had become "green." I was simply buying the food that tasted best and seemed most healthful.

I also approached laundry and house cleaning with a new attitude. I started using natural cleaning products to perform the jobs I once relied on chlorine bleach to do -- whiten our clothes, scrub the sinks. Earth friendly? I didn't really think much about it.

Only recently has it dawned on me that green living is simply smart living. In other words, it is common-sense. And it's also up to me. So as my toddler starts gaining some independence, I would no sooner watch him run the tap while he brushes his teeth than I would let him run out into the street. Showing him the way to put an empty milk container in the recycling bin is as simple as teaching him to put his blocks back in the toy chest.

Of course, not all aspects of greening the family are easy. For example, I simply cannot bring myself to use cloth diapers -- although my mother actually offered to pay for a diaper service. And although I want to create a garden in the backyard for our family of five, I'm completely freaked by the idea of having yet more living things to care for. We'd love to own a hybrid vehicle, but we can't imagine a large cash outlay any time in the foreseeable future.

But my hope, like that of all parents, is that by modeling and teaching, we can raise our kids to be better citizens of the world -- citizens who are mindful of the earth. And who park their shallowness outside the coop door.

photo: Jason Riedy

Cook Up a Healthy Holiday Kitchen

the Inkslinger — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:45:17 -0500

It's holiday season, and in my house we're pouring over ancient family recipes and busily at work preparing a menu full of our traditional favorites and a new surprise or two for visiting guests.

It's a fun time of year, and one that finds us very food-focused and spending lots of time in the kitchen. That makes this an excellent moment to think about all the things we can do to keep the place where we store, prepare, and eat our food as healthy as we can.

While that may seem a tall order with so much else going on, it's really just a matter of making some easy changes in the way we do things. Check out this bunch of tips and use them to ladle on the safety at holiday time and throughout the rest of the year.

Bon appetit!

photo: Ben and Kaz Askins

Million Baby Crawl Is Coming To Your Town

robin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:46 -0500

Seventh Generation wants you to CRAWL TO ACTION at our community rallies on November 18th. Bring your children, bring your friends, and bring your desire to demand that Congress change federal laws and keep toxic chemicals out of our homes. And please visit our Partners page to learn more about the people, organizations, and companies helping to make this happen.

Our events will be held in the Boston, Denver, Minneapolis, New York, Portland (OR), and Seattle metro areas. If you don't live in one of these cities but know someone who does, please pass this message along. And please visit www.millionbabycrawl.com to create a virtual crawler for every member of your household. Every voice counts, and every crawler will be heard when we bring your voices with us to Washington, DC in January. You can also enter a sweepstakes to join us on this trip and help demand change!

Crawl to Action events include:

Entertainment by local family-themed musicians and performers.
Appearances by local dignitaries and celebrities showing support for the cause.
Soapbox Photo Op area where Mom and Dad can capture their little activist taking a stand. All children will receive a "Say No to Toxins!" rally flag.
A sign-making station where participants can make their voice heard on their own custom sign.
The Crawler Computer station where you can join the community on www.millionbabycrawl.com.
A Crawl to the Capitol children's area.
A Season of Change mural where you can make your mark in support of the cause.
A t-shirt- and baby-t-making station.
Educational information about creating a healthy home.
Free Seventh Generation product and giveaways.
Free Stonyfield Farm yogurt.

Click here to register!

Talking Turkey About Thanksgiving

the Inkslinger — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:14:33 -0500

It's interesting to see the way that Thanksgiving has evolved over the years. It's gone from a 17th century exercise in piety and repentance to a national food fest and annual football rite.

While it's fun to prepare a big harvest feast and share it with friends and family, I think it would be nice to dial back to the roots of the holiday. I don't mean we should turn into puritans, but it wouldn't be a bad thing to pause and reflect a little more on life's bounty.

One way to do that is to use the day to give something back to a world that gives so much to us. That's what more and more people are doing, and we've got some ideas you can use to get back to some basics of your own. Use them to make your Thanksgiving a day truly worth celebrating.

photo: Mathew Ingram