Get Your Family Active! by Emily Patterson

(Picture taken from http://www.fit4futurept.co.uk/Junior-Boot-Camp.php)

Daily Physical Activity: the Foundation for a Healthy Lifestyle

Tips for Getting Your Family Active

Experts suggest that young children need to accumulate at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day.  Unfortunately, many children are not nearly as active as they need to be.  It is clear that along with poor diet, physical inactivity has contributed to the large increase in childhood obesity in the United States in the past 20 years.  The following statistics are unsettling:

·         Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese nationwide.

(Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)

·         The percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states. (Source: Trust for America's Health)

Research has shown that children who develop basic motor skills such as throwing, catching, kicking, are more likely to grow into healthy active adults.  Whether the activity be at home with their parents or at their child care facility with their friends, studies have shown that daily physical activity helps children academically as well.  

Dr. Stephen Sanders (director of the School of Physical Education and Exercise Science at the University of South Florida and member of the Primrose Schools Education Advisory Board), says that children do not necessarily learn physical skills on their own.  He has found they need guidance and assistance from adults, challenging activities, and opportunities to practice and refine physical skills.

So, what can parents do to teach their children about the importance of being physically active and help them learn these necessary skills?  Trying the tips below will help you and your family create a fun environment for physical activity and will contribute to everyone’s physical health.

Getting Your Family Active:

Be active with your children: Don’t just send your children outside to play--be a role model!  Go outside with them and participate in games and other activities that require physical exertion!

·         Use sidewalk chalk to create your own four-square or hopscotch grids; blow bubbles then chase them around the yard to see who can catch them; go on a walk around the neighborhood or through a park as a family; play music and dance inside or outside; and when the weather is nice put on your bathing suits and run through the sprinklers.

·         Promote a feeling of success when you play with your child.  If your child is not yet able to successfully throw and hit a target, encourage them to move a little closer so they can be successful.  Skills are acquired incrementally.  Children who do not experience success have a tendency to quit and not practice.

·         Acknowledge their efforts with specific comments.  No matter what your child’s skill level is, be a supportive coach.  They will benefit from your encouragement.

When children come into the world, physical activity is at the very center of their lives.  They have a mission to learn to crawl, walk, run, throw, catch, and kick.  If they are going to enjoy participating in physical activities now and as adults, they need to build on that foundation of success and enjoyment that begins in infancy.  So, grab a ball, badminton racket, or jump rope and set aside time each day to play with your child!

Contributed by Emily Patterson on behalf of Primrose Schools

Looking to Create Community (and Healthy Meals)? Try A Meal Share! by Jennifer Gannett

One day, over a year ago, I realized that meals were becoming annoying and stressful: my goal was to create healthy, inexpensive, low waste, plant-based meals for my family and myself-- but I was getting exasperated with the amount of time I was spending chopping veggies and performing the necessary kitchen work each day.  When  we sat down to dinner as a family, I-- tired and cranky-- would be not-so-secretly assessing what my family was eating and feeling really bummed out if they didn't seem to like what I'd made.  All in all, not a pleasant dynamic.  I decided to approach another busy friend about potentially doing a meal trade, and she was willing to give it a go.  It worked out so well that we ended up incorporating a third family and it feels like a terrific rhythm has been established. 

In our meal share group, each family is responsible for cooking for the two other families on their assigned day (currently Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays).  A sampling of meals that have been delivered to my door over the past few months include Tamale Pie; Lima and Edamame Soup; Pad Thai; Quinoa, Kale and Bean Stew; and Carrot Polenta with Sausages and Peppers.  Some of the benefits:  The meals are all very good and healthy.  I really appreciate that I can take a couple of nights off from cooking without having to go out to a restaurant or order take-out.  My son has expanded his palate in a way that is startling (and heartwarming). We are saving a lot of money-- I no longer have to be in the market so often for the meal that night or something that I forgot (and of course, I cannot tell a lie: I would always spend more money than I'd planned to).  Preparing food in this way is also an energy saving measure, as we all aren't cooking on our own individual stoves or with our ovens etc. But perhaps one of the best things to come away from this experience is the peace of mind I have on Mondays and Wednesdays as I know our family will get a break from the kitchen stuff while still eating a delicious meal, and that is a true gift. 

Meal share groups are really catching on!  The New York Times wrote a piece last year entitled Saving Time and Stress with Cooking Coops  (I couldn't have titled it any better myself).  The article lays out the different ways that meals can be cooperatively shared and prepared together.  Beloved foodie site Chowhound offers yummy ideas for vegetarian meal share dishes here.  There is even a Montclair, NJ-based site called Cooking With Friends, which emphasizes communal meal preparation.  Our meal share group has its own blog called Suburban Vegan Meal Group, which is a year-long experiment in chronicling our meals and cooking experiences.  Readers of Your Greener Future will probably especially appreciate our entry about how we transport meals in the most environmentally-friendly way (hint: it involves tiffins and spaghetti sauce jars!).  Because we all live within a mile of each other we often try to bike or walk our meals to each other.

One last note, and that is that I think two things have been essential to our experience.  The first is that we all eat a vegan diet for ethical and environmental reasons and therefore have no qualms about cooking without dairy, meat or eggs.  Having meal sharers in your group that are on the same page is very important. The second key to success is that we are very flexible with our schedules and deliveries.  Sometimes one of us might need to skip or substitute a night, or maybe we're running a little late (or we've made dinner early in the day and we're delivering it at lunchtime).  It has never been a problem.

So give a meal share a try! Cooking together or for others is a great way to build a sense of community, try out new foods and alleviate some of the burden of domestic life.

6 Tips For A Safer Yard by Safe Yards Montclair

The Forsythias are blooming, and that’s a good sign that it is time to start working on 

your lawn. Remember, you can have a beautiful lawn without using chemicals that may 

be harmful to health and the environment. 

Six tips for a safer yard this spring:

1) Use eco-friendly, organic lawn care practices on your lawn. 

View a step-by-step plan for doing it yourself 

2) Hire an eco-friendly, organic lawn care service: 

Email Safe Yards Montclair for a list of such local services at  

Info@SafeYardsMontclair.org. 

Please first review their suggested questions to ask the services you contact to ensure 

that they meet your needs. 
 

3) Find out what is in the lawn chemicals you use 

(or that your service uses). 

Read the label or ask your service for the ingredient names. Then do your own research 

on the toxicity and environmental effects. See the lists here.

4) Be a good neighbor: 

a. When you put synthetic pesticides on your front yard yourself, your neighbors might 

not know they are there. Put a sign on your front yard, so your neighbors won’t let their 

dogs sniff your lawn or kids play on it. And, don’t let the chemicals run-off onto the 

sidewalk.
 
b. Let your neighbor know when your lawn service will be spraying pesticides 

(if they do that). The spray can drift inside their homes without warning (and inside your 

home as well). 

 

5) Read the label directions carefully if you purchase lawn 

products yourself. 

Don’t put more product on your lawn than suggested by the manufacturer. 

You can damage your soil and add excess chemicals into the environment. 
 

6) Take off your shoes. 

Some studies suggest that lawn chemicals can be tracked into your home and found 

on floors and carpets.* 

Did you know that Quebec and Ontario, Canada have completely banned the sale of 

synthetic pesticides? 40 New Jersey towns have gone pesticide free on their public 

parks to reduce everyone’s exposure. And this year, New Jersey passed the nation's 

strongest fertilizer law that restricts the use of chemical fertilizers. 

As residents, we can look for ways to reduce our own usage this spring to help protect 

our drinking water, health, and the environment.  

Join SafeYardsMontclair in taking the Safe Yards Challenge at and learn ways 

you can contribute to pesticide reduction in New Jersey. One yard at a time.

Enjoy the spring weather!

Benzene Exposure In Hot Cars and How To Minimize Risk

I just got this information in an e-mail from a friend and reader of my blog - thanks for sharing Laurie!

 

Your car's manual may say to roll down the windows to let out all the hot air before turning on the A/C. WHY ?

Car Air Conditioning

Please do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car

 

Open the windows after you enter your car, and then turn ON the AC after a couple of minutes

 

Here's why: According to research, the car's dashboard, seats, a/c ducts - in fact ALL of the plastic objects in your vehicle, emit Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin. A BIG CARCINOGEN. Take the time to observe the smell of heated plastic in your car, when you open it, and BEFORE you start it up. 

 

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia and increases the risk of some cancers. It can also cause miscarriages in pregnant females

 

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is: 50mg per sq.ft.

 

A car parked indoors, with windows closed, will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.

 

If parked outdoors, under the sun, at a temperature above 60 degrees F.

the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level. 

 

People who get into the car, keeping the windows closed, will inevitably inhale, in quick succession, excessive amounts of the BENZENE toxin. 

 

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidneys and liver. What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff from your body.

 

So friends, please open the windows and door of your car - give it some time for the interior to air out - before you enter the vehicle.

 

Thought: 'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.'

 

This is what snopes.com says.  It is not the air conditioning in the car but the Benzene producing agents that cause cancer. Read the whole article here.

I think this is very important to know - please keep in mind with the warm weather (hopefully!) coming up.

About Birthday Presents

My son just turned five. FIVE!!! How did that happen???

 
Usually an opportunity for relatives and friends to show their love and affection by giving him stuff.
We are very lucky to have a family who always asks us (not him! Who knows what he would ask for!) what he needs, and we normally pick activities and/or classes that he likes.

I made him a doll from recycled and reused materials, just like I did for my other son for Christmas, and a crocheted airplane (pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli, again) that he asked for, and he was very happy.
My husband organized a used microphone and microphone stand for him (he loves to sing and perform!).
His best friend's parents gave him coupons for some activities like minigolf and bowling, and guess what? This is, I believe, his favorite gift! He took the coupons to school for show-and-tell and can't wait to actually do it.

My point is that it is very well possible to come up with gifts that don't add to the landfill and don't require energy to be made - aka used or selfmade items.
The sooner our kids (and us, too!) learn that presents don't have to come in fancy packages and that it's ok to receive used items, the better.
Oh, and we don't need wrapping paper or gift bags, either. Unless it's reused, of course.

Waste-Free Lunches

 

Lately I spend quite some time in my son's preschool class - it might be because his younger brother is getting more and more interested in what's happening in there and refuses to leave.

I have to say though that what I see there around lunchtime is devastating: most kids are generating a big amount of waste, as their caregivers pack their food in in single-use plastic bags, aluminum foil, or wax paper, or they purchase single-serving items that come in their own disposable package.

What's the problem with this?

Landfills are getting fuller and fuller. Incinerators pump contaminants into the air. Communities are battling over who will accept the nation's trash. We all enjoy the conveniences of pre-packed foods (or at least some of us do), but very few of us are willing to allow new landfills and incinerators to be built in our own backyards.

I want to say most of the garbage we produce comes from the packaging on the food we buy, and lunch foods are no exception. On average, a school-age child using a disposable lunch generates 67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school!

What can you do to reduce lunch waste?

Get a good supply of reusable containers (if you buy them new, avoid plastic), made for example of stainless steel. There's a whole bunch of stuff out there, including containers for sandwiches, hot stuff, little eatables like carrots or fruit, sauces, water bottles etc. etc.
Don't buy prepacked foods - they're more expensive and less healthy.
Skip the disposable stuff like napkins, silverware and plastic water bottles. You teach your child (and/or yourself) a valuable lesson and save a lot of money.
I would also stop the habit of juice-boxes. The amount of garbage this habit creates is just ridiculous and having juice every day is just not healthy anyway.

This is What "Waste-free Lunches" says a waste-free lunch looks like:

A Typical American Lunch (DISPOSABLE) sandwiches sealed in plastic bags fruits and vegetables in plastic bags prepackaged chips, cookies, fruit bars, granola bars, cheeses, and fruit leathers prepackaged yogurts, apple sauces, and puddings crackers, pretzels, chips, and other snack foods sealed in plastic bags disposable juice boxes, juice pouches, soda cans, water bottles, and milk cartons plastic forks and spoons paper napkins reusable lunchboxes and disposable paper and plastic bags

A Waste-Free Lunch (REUSABLE) sandwiches and other main dishes, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and treats in a reusable lunch container cloth napkins stainless-steel forks and spoons reusable drink containers reusable lunchboxes *With this type of lunch, lunch food items can be bought in larger quantities. The packaging can be left at home for reuse or recycling. Waste-free lunches are not only a wise environmental choice, but they are less expensive as well.

 

According to Waste-free Lunches, you can save about $250 per school year by packing waste-free lunches, and that is just the monetary saving, environmental and health savings not even included!

There are numerous ways to get reusable containers, bottles and other utensils. If you live in NNJ, I'd like to recommend go lightly - a green store with an owner that really, really cares about the environment. Another recommendation is Yellow Margosa, founded by a fellow green mom who offers environmentally friendly lunch boxes, containers and other cool stuff.


Happy waste-free lunching! Let me know how your change is going, please!

I Got Hooked!

Hi!
The ones who are regularly visiting my blog might have wondered why there are so few posts lately.
Well, I got a new hobby - I re-learned how to crochet, and I hot hooked :-)
A few weeks ago I got three bags of yarn from a nice lady who actually wanted to throw it all away (totally locked out!), and ever since I can't stop crocheting. This is the first little buddy that I did:

The pattern is from Ana Paula Rimoli, whose wonderful, inspirational books I both own (she's coming out with a third one in April). Ana also has a blog, check it out when you have a chance!

"WauWau", as my boys named him, can be seen at the go lightly shopping window for the next weeks, maybe months as I started doing another round of decoration (it's not completed yet).

I'm amazed at what you can do with very little leftover yarn. Get your hook out, get some patterns and get started - it's so much fun!