Our January Meeting

At our only meeting in January, we created a mural and hung it in the cafeteria. The students brought in small items to embellish their artwork.

They decided to divide the paper into two equal sections. In the left section, the plants and animals are very happy:


There is no air or water pollution. Not a single piece of litter can be found.

But in the other section of the paper, plants and animals are in peril.

Smoke spews from a factory.



Litter covers the ground. The pond is dried up and animals have died.



Everyone did such a great job! It's a powerful piece of artwork.

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Is Your Child Telling You Not To Buy That?

At our last meeting, Juli Faiola gave a very informative presentation about household chemicals. Thank you, Juli! There are lots of cleaning products that are on the grocery shelves right now that are not good for you or for the environment. Some have carcinogens and others have chemicals that harm our respiratory system.

Some facts:

1. Chlorine bleach is the #1 household chemical involved in poisonings.

2. Common cleaners emit fumes that can increase the risk of kids developing asthma (1 in 13 school-aged children has asthma - that's increased more than 160% from 1980 to 1994).

3. Average cleaners contain hazardous chemicals like kerosene, lye, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, petroleum distillates, formaldehyde, and ammonia.

Did you know that you can clean with vegetables? More and more, it's easier to find cleaning products that are made from natural surfactants (like from coconut, palm or vegetable oils). These are safe for septic systems, are biodegradable, are non-toxic, don't harm your skin . . . and even clean just as well as the name brand products.

Some of the students asked where their parents can find these safer products. Whole Foods has a good selection as does Trader Joe's. There's also an organic market in Alexandria called MOMS. Brands like: Sun & Earth (www.sunandearth.com), Seventh Generation (www.seventhgeneration.com), and Ecover (www.ecover.com) are easy to find. Another great place to check out is www.shaklee.com. They have a Get Clean kit which has environmentally-friendly cleaning products for all areas of your home. You can also contact Juli at pjfaiola@aol.com for more information.

The goal of this meeting was not to frighten our kids, but instead, to make them aware that just because a product is on the store shelves, doesn't necessarily mean that it's good for us. We need to look at the packaging labels and be informed so that we can make smart decisions for ourselves and our planet.

It's definitely a challenge to change our everyday habits. We have to think about our buying decisions, not just be on autopilot. But we can do it . . . for ourselves and for our children.

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Going Organic

A big 'Thank You' to Mrs. Friedman for talking to our club about organics and organic farming. We all enjoyed looking at her photos of animals and crops from her family's farm. All of us are more aware of the foods we buy and how they may have been grown or processed.

I've found that organic fresh vegetables last longer too. And they taste better. We're looking forward to the Spring when the farmer's markets start up again. Local food is fresher and it's a great thing to support smaller farms.

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A New Coal Plant in Virginia?

Coal is the leading cause of global warming pollution and one of the top causes of respiratory health problems here in Virginia. All coal-fired power plants spew millions of tons of pollutants; from carbon dioxide, sulfur, nitrogen oxides, to cancer causing particulate matter. Coal is by far the dirtiest way to produce power.

Knowing this, you may wonder why Dominion Power wants to build a new coal fired power plant in Wise County, Virginia. If it's built, it would cost $1.6 billion and become one of the state's biggest polluters. And there are lots of renewable energy and efficiency measures that Virginia needs to invest in that will save everyone money and improve the health of all Virginians.

If you'd like to become involved to stop mountain top coal removal and stop the Wise County Plant, there are 3 things that you can do:

1. Sign the No New Coal Petition at www.chesapeakeclimate.org/nonewcoal

2. Contact your elected officials and say no to coal at www.votenocoal.org

3. Come to Richmond on January 8th to fight Dominion Power.
See www.cleanenergyva.org for more info.

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Happy America Recycles Day!

Today is America Recycles Day.

Pat yourself on the back for recycling at school, work and home.

This is a great day for making new recycling goals. Our family's goal is to recycle and compost more than we throw away. That means, we'll only have one trash bag for the entire week and 2 full recycling bins. We'll shop for items that are packaged in recyclable containers or cardboard boxes too.

Is your family making a new recycling goal?

Every little bit makes a difference.

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