A bevy of toddlers, slathered with sunscreen and sporting brightly colored hats, mill around the sunny patio of Jodi Levine’s parent’s home in Laguna Hills. As director of Earthroots Field School, Levine tries to corral the wanderers and their parents into a circle to begin the day’s activities, which will include picking tangelos from a nearby tree, juicing them, and of course, enjoying the results.

Earthroots, which offers classes in Wilderness Awareness, Ecological Gardening, and Natural Building and Crafts, is part of the growing trend in green parenting. A Baby Center study reports that over half of all moms find themselves engaging in more eco-friendly behaviors after having kids. But going green doesn’t always seem easy. Fortunately, with a variety of new environmentally-friendly products and dozens of resources, going green with your kids is easier than ever. After all, our children will inherit the earth we leave them.
With Earth Day coming on April 22, we put together a “how to” list for growing green kids. Go ahead, plant a tree, green your home, support your local farms, try eating organic. Going green doesn’t have to be intimidating or life-altering. It can be simple, fun and a time to bond as a family.

STARTING EARLY—GROWING A GREEN BABY

Delilah Snell, owner of The Road Less Traveled in Santa Ana, is adamant about being eco-friendly.

“For every product there is an alternative that is healthier, less toxic and fair trade,” she says. Her eco-friendly store stocks a wide variety of organic and fair trade products from cleaning supplies to paint to baby clothes.

At the “Healthy Home For Baby” seminars Snell hosts in her store, she recommends starting with a nursery that’s healthier for baby and better for the environment. Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint, now available at many paint stores, reduces toxic fumes and is better for both baby and the environment.

“Look for eco-friendly mattress and bedding for your baby,” Snell advises. “Traditional mattresses and bedding can contain harmful chemicals and cause sickness or allergic reactions.”

One of the most environmentally friendly choices a new mother can make is to breastfeed her child, if at all possible. Not only is it healthier for baby, breastfeeding is also the most earth friendly choice.

“Breastfeeding is ecology with love,” say Kelly Miller, an Orange County Holistic Moms Network Leader. “It requires no resources for packaging, shipping or disposal and does not create pollution the manufacturing of human milk substitutes does.”

Though many moms swear by cloth diapers for their softness and environmentally friendly impact, more than 90 percent of parents find the convenience of disposables too hard to pass up. Unfortunately, disposables are notorious for sitting in landfills for years before they biodegrade. New biodegradable and recyclable diapers take some of the sting out of choosing disposables and are widely available at eco-friendly stores in Orange County.

Other eco-friendly ideas:

• Take your baby out in the jogging stroller—a great way to lose those pregnancy pounds
• Breastfeed if possible or use organic formula
• Join eco-friendly moms groups like the La Leche League of Orange County or The Holistic Moms Network in Orange County

MODEL ECO BEHAVIOR

One of the most important things that parents can do to raise eco friendly kids is to engage in environmentally friendly behavior.

“Children learn by example as well as by teaching,” says Stacey Smith, site supervisor at The Long Beach City College Child Development Center Lab School.

Parents should start with what’s easiest for them, recommends Leeta Latham, program support specialist at Inside the Outdoors, part of the Orange County Department of Education’s environmental education program. “Pick up trash on the ground. Discuss why it’s important to not litter. Start recycling. People don’t realize how easy it can be,” she says.
Even if you don’t have curbside recycling in your neighborhood and find it difficult to visit the local recycling center, you can make a difference by avoiding materials that biodegrade slowly (like plastic grocery bags) and getting extra use out of things as much as possible.

Some other ideas:

• Wash and reuse glass jars and plastic containers for leftover storage
• Buy reusable grocery bags and start using them (many local stores offer them for sale; or use old tote bags or beach bags you have around the house; keep a few in different sizes in the car for easy access)
• If you are only buying one or two items at the grocery store, start requesting “no bag,
  please”
• Use plastic bags to line your trash cans at home, to store wet swim suits and muddy shoes in transit, or as your car litter bag
• Teach your children to draw on both sides of art paper, or better yet, on the back of used printer paper
• Save toilet paper and paper towel rolls as well as empty dry food packages for craft projects
• Use empty yogurt cups for paint and glue
• Skip purchasing cheap plastic squirt guns—empty plastic ketchup bottles, spray cleaner and water bottles are just as much fun on hot summer days

GREENING YOUR HOME

When Jenn Savadge, author of The Green Parent – A Kid Friendly Guide to Environmentally Friendly Living, had the first of her two daughters, she began looking for a book that would help her be a greener parent.

“When I was single it was easy to be green,” Savadge says. “Then kids came along and the next thing you know, you’re using disposable everything and taking the car to go two blocks!”
Unable to find a parenting book specifically geared to green parents, Savadge decided to write one. She recommends starting with simple things like switching to energy saving light bulbs, unplugging appliances not in use and turning down the air conditioner or heater.

Something as simple as opening and closing the shades, to take advantage of or block out the sun’s rays, can save on energy and reduce your heating or air conditioning bill.

“Though my husband doesn’t always agree with my campaign to save the earth, he’s on board as soon as I tell him how much money we’re saving!” Savadge says.

Long hot showers. That’s what Gina Hayes of Anaheim Hills finds difficult to give up.
“That’s my guilt trip,” she says with a rueful smile.

Mother of a five-year-old boy, Hayes recycles, drives a fuel-efficient car and believes that everyday reinforcement has made a difference in how her son views his role on the planet.

Showers are her downfall and many a mom would agree. While you don’t always need to take the draconian step of turning off the shower while lathering up, there are simple things to do to conserve water, a particularly precious resource in Southern California. Some ideas:

• Install low flow toilets and checking for leaks are easy ways to reduce water consumption (dripping faucets can waste up to 2,000 gallons of water each year in the average home, while leaky toilets can waste as much as 200 gallons per day!)
• When cleaning your toilet or bathroom or kitchen, be sure to look for environmentally friendly cleaning supplies (the California Air Resources Board estimates that our average indoor air pollutant levels are 25 to 62 percent greater than outside levels, which can lead to serious health problems for both adults and kids; non-toxic cleaning supplies, which usually come in biodegradable packaging, can cut down on chemicals released into your home)

You can find eco-friendly cleaning supplies on the shelves in your local grocery store, or make your own to save time and money. A simple solution of vinegar and water is great for cleaning counters and glass. Baking soda works well for sinks, toilets and bathtubs. Recipes for a variety of home made cleaning products and eco-friendly ratings on commercial brands can be found at Consumer Reports green living website at www.greenerchoices.org.

ECO-FRIENDLY EATING

Barbara Smith, also known as “Gardener Barb,” tends the organic garden at Anneliese’s school in Laguna Beach. Children at the school take gardening classes and are served lunches and snacks made from organic fruits and vegetables. In Smith’s class, students may have their first taste of a fresh, flavorful home-grown organic tomato—a taste that has been almost forgotten in our world of hybrid, imported, picked green, supermarket brands.

Planting a garden and buying seasonal fruits and vegetables at Farmers’ Markets, now open in most Orange County cities, is both healthier and better for the environment. Unfortunately, many big food processors, even ones that grow organic fruits and vegetables tend to neglect basic, good for the earth, farming techniques like crop rotation. Organic fertilizers are trucked in and produce is trucked out to be sold across the country using precious fossil fuels and contributing to air pollution.

“Growing all of your own food is probably not something you can or would want to do,” says Smith, a Certified Master Gardener. “But as my son says...at least you’ll know how.”

GOING GREEN: TALK ABOUT IT

Susie Schultz, a Huntington Beach mother of six-year-old twins, uses her children’s love of animals to explain why they pick up litter and avoid plastic packaging.

“My kids know that plastic trash often end up in the ocean where it can harm marine animals,” she explains. On a recent trip to The Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, her children learned about how human activities can cause havoc for seals and sea lions.
Leeta Latham of Orange was raised in an ecologically aware household.

“I remember crushing cans to take in for recycling as a child,” she recalls. “Now I involve my five and seven-year-olds in my green activities and explain to them why we need to do these things.” They recently took part in a replanting project at the Santiago Park Nature Preserve in Santa Ana.

Many Orange County parents also take advantage of the wide variety of eco–friendly books available for children. Since the 1971 publication of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (hailed as a modern fable on the hazards of industrialization), hundreds of children’s books, videos and CDs on environmental conservation have been published and found their way into American homes.

GET OUT THERE

Research at The National Association For The Education of Young Children in Washington, D.C., found that the best way to ensure that children become good stewards of the environment later on is to nurture in them a love and appreciation for nature when they are young. One way to do this is by spending time outdoors.

Alicia Santiago, education outreach chair at the Orange County Society for Conservation Biology, encourages parents to get involved in their communities.

“Wildlife preservation is big concern all over California as natural habitats are being threatened by fires, over building and transportation projects,” she says. Many community projects welcome family participation and support for ongoing initiatives.

Orange County also boasts some of the best nature centers in the country. Most offer educational programs and family activity days on a regular basis. Just spending time together as a family, hiking, visiting the beach or picnicking at a park can instill appreciation and responsibility in young stewards of the environment.

“I don’t consider myself particularly crunchy,” says Gina Hayes of Anaheim Hills. “I’m rather quiet about the ways I try to be environmentally friendly. I think many parents are greener than they think they are.”

MC Milker writes on green parenting and eco business and raises her six-year-old son as green as she can without retreating to the wilderness. Visit her blog at www.notquitecrunchyparent.com.