Green Parent Chicago™

Eden Place Nature Center: An Urban Oasis

You don’t have to look too far around Chicago to see that we are serious about sustainability and the environment with all of the green roofs and adding of trees to the expressway. The Museum of Science and Industry, The Shedd Aquarium, The Peggy Notebaert Museum, both Brookfield and Lincoln Park Zoos and lastly the Garfield Park Conservatory are all gems of Chicago; they represent the knowledge and effort of our residents in understanding the flora and fauna of this world.

However with little access to Chicago’s amenities some communities don’t have a genuine opportunity to take advantage of them. So what happens when entire communities lack the time, financial resources or transportation to enjoy and learn?

A most inconspicuous nature center on the south side of Chicago is located in the Fuller Park community: 3.5 acres of open space dedicated to environmental education for the residents on the south side of Chicago. Eden Place Nature Center hasn’t received lots of press primarily because it is a non-profit organization and it is not a public place managed by the Chicago Park District.

Eden Place is an urban oasis on 44th and Stewart, its beauty is only surpassed by the spirits of its director Michael Howard, the Howard family, Education Coordinator Shelly Hope and the community members that support the center's mission.

Although Eden Place is located in one of the poorest communities of Chicago, you can easily forget where you are because of all the biodiversity and wonderful natural things around you. It is now an official habitat for Monarch butterflies with the help of former Lt. Governor Pat Quinn. It boasts a handmade gazebo, prairie garden, wetland area, vegetable garden, hiking trail, wigwam, bird pond, butterfly garden and a few farm animals as well.

Eden Place is special as an environmental education center in an African American community, and while all are welcome, it engages families, schools, and churches from those communities that lack the aforementioned resources to go to places like the museum and the zoo. Free to the public, Eden Place is open during the early spring and all summer.  For more information regarding opportunities for class field trips, volunteering, interning, events, or facilities rental visit the center's website at www.edenplacenaturecenter.com.  

-photo credit: Eden Place

-Kellen Marshall-Gillespie mom of 3 is an entrepreneur, author, aspiring film maker and pursuing her Ph.D in ecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a native Chicagoan she is dedicated to not only her family but to educating and empowering the urban communities on the wonders of the earth and the environment.

"My Best Birth" Helps Women Learn About and Discuss Informed Birth Choices

Actress Ricki Lake and documentary filmmaker Abby Epstein have already received plenty of praise for their work in detailing the state of birth in the U.S. in their 2008 film, "The Business of Being Born". In May, they published the book "Your Best Birth", billed as "a practical pregnancy guide" the authors hope will equip women with much needed information on current birthing options.

The book is already becoming popular among natural birth advocates. Expanding on this success, Lake and Epstein the same month launched an accompanying natural birthing forum for women: "My Best Birth". The forum provides "a community for people to share experiences and explore options about pregnancy, natural birth and holistic parenting," according to a description on the homepage.

Lake and Epstein are quick to point out in an interview posted on their publisher's website, that they are not anti- hospital birth, but instead want to highlight the midwifery model of care and the difference in care a midwife attended birth offers women whether in hospital, a birthing center or at home. In addition, they seek to inform women of the risks of elective c-sections in a non-judgmental way.

Get Your Children Out In Nature – Study Cabbage Caterpillars In The Garden

We discovered cabbage worms in our broccoli. Ick. Gross. Blech. Nasty. Then my eight year old and I discovered that the Cabbage Worm Butterfly (known as the “Cabbage White”) is what the Cabbage Worm Caterpillar develops into. What a fantastic way to get your children out in the garden to learn about nature! You can see our discovery in the video above. 

In hopes of seeing the butterflies in our own front yard, we are now rescuing wayward cabbage worms and placing them on all our broccoli. The idea is to save the cabbage, kale, cauliflower, but to use the brocooli as a breeding ground for the little green caterpillars.

We are already finding chrysalis’s around the garden filled with the sleeping babies and cannot wait to see the butterflies emerge.

Get your children out in nature – it is a very green and healthy thing to do and they will love the time you spend together learning. Happily, the front yard veggie garden has turned into a wonderful experiment for our family.

-Shawna Lee Coronado is an author, locally syndicated newspaper columnist, health, and greening expert focused on teaching and living a green lifestyle. She blogs on conservation, greening and health tips at www.gardeningnude.com. Information on her books and other media can be found at www.thecasualgardener.com.

Open Streets Brings Miles of Carfree Fun to Chicago's Neighborhoods

This August, an 8 mile stretch of the city extending from Logan Square to Little Village, passing through Humboldt Park, North Lawndale and Garfield Park along the way will become completely carfree for the day and open to bikers, walkers, and children playing.

Open Streets, will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday August 1, and was inspired by the success of last year's two Sunday Parkways events which previously occurred on two separated dates.

Open Streets will combine the two Sunday Parkways events into one long day. The event is organized by The Active Transportation Alliance and funded in part by the Chicago Community Trust, is the first of several similar events planned for 2009 by the bicycling advocacy and  and alternative transportation organization.

No registration is required for the free event. Participants may join the fun at any point along the route. Community-run activities will take place during the event all along the route. Each neighborhood will display its community's flavor with performances, children’s games, art activities, workout classes, music and more.

-photo credit: Active Transportation Alliance

Ask The Green Mama: Can I recycle my baby's car seat?

 

Dear Green Mama: My friends and I swap, reuse, and hand-down everything from baby clothes, toys, and books to cribs, tricycles, and information.  What do we do, though, with our old car seats?  These days, the car seats come with expiration dates, yet I can't seem to find a carseat recycler.  Any ideas or connections that would help in this endeavor? --Distressed green driver

Dear D.: Carseat recycling is possible and of course it is preferable to throwing the plastic, metal, and material into the garbage where it takes landfill space and can leach flame retardants, plasticizers, and even heavy metals.  Unfortunately, the alternative is recycling and there are few places that recycle them.  I called one of these places, in Chicago, and spoke with the founder about what we can do to recycle our carseats if we DON'T live in Colorado, Oregon, or one of the other few places that have programs.

"Help people to get recycling programs going--Chicago is a natural place to get something going grass-roots.  It's not the most green thing to ship these across the country," says Bill Flinchbaugh of Colorado Children's Automobile Safety Foundation. 

"Okay. Okay," I said, "but what about in the meantime"

Continue reading

Green Parent Chicago related stories: Company Recycling Unwanted Baby Gear for Parents

What is Environmental Justice?

Some say that the term environmental justice should in actuality be environmental injustice.  For those that have never come across either of those terms it implies the unfair and inequitable burden of negative environmental impacts on a particular group of people.  A group therefore can be isolated by race, gender, class, position in the workplace, economics, or location.

The importance of understanding environmental justice truly comes down to our social costs of everyday living.  We as urban citizens live a fast life.  We are extremely focused on our work, our families and our free time.  Yet we fail to realize that there is an unequal distribution of negative environmental effects on a percent of our population.  There is a vast distortion of perception that indicates environmental justice is confined to pollutants, waste water, noise pollution and things of that nature.

However environmental justice at the end of the day is the unequal distribution to access of all things environmental.  Look at the parks and beaches located in minority communities versus affluent communities one need not complete a survey to visually see the differences in the maintenance of them.  Look at the distribution and availability of fresh fruits and produce in those same communities termed “food deserts” where large grocery store chains have abandoned and scarred communities leaving them with fewer alternatives further away.

Reading the Labels, What to Consider in Personal Care for Kids

Perhaps you closely read the labels on food and beverages that your family consume. If so, you may be equally selective in choosing the types of personal care products you use on yourself and/or your children too.

But navigating the seemingly endless aisles of soaps, creams, bath products, shampoos and other personal care products targeted for babies and children can be a dizzying chore even for the most dedicated shoppers.

If you ever wished for a handy list of personal care product ingredients to avoid, the Environmental Working Group, (the folks who brought you the "Dirty Dozen" produce fridge magnet and list) have also created a guide to download and print for the times when you're shopping for bath products, toothpaste, baby wipes and shampoos for your kids. Click this link below to download and view/print it:

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/parentsguide/EWG_parentsguide.pdf

Now, lest parents think this is just alarmist stuff, aimed at convincing them otherwise about using their own common sense, check out the first three of EWG's four top tips:

1. Use fewer products and use them less 
frequently.
2. Don’t trust the claims. Check ingredients.
3. Buy fragrance-free products.

That's advice most people could agree would do a child's skin well, not to mention your family's budget. The EWG full database is available online with the group's best and better picks selected from various brands to give you some ideas to start off with.

Remember, while many of the personal care products listed in the database are natural, some "natural" or botanical ingredients can trigger allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. So be sure to use any product sparingly when switching to a new brand to make sure your child's skin reacts fine to it.

EarthTalk™: Can Insulating Paints Help Save Energy? Are They Safe?

Dear EarthTalk: Do insulating paints actually insulate and save energy? If they do, are they environmentally friendly to use?-- Bob Dibrindisi, Easthampton, MA

Paint additives that claim insulating qualities have been marketed since the late 1990s, but energy research organizations have not confirmed their insulating value. For its part, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not recommend using paints or coatings in place of traditional bulk insulation. “We haven’t seen any independent studies that can verify their insulating qualities,” the agency reports.

The federal government does rate roofing paint for its energy efficiency, but such findings only take into account a substance’s ability to reflect heat off the roof—not its insulating properties per se—to keep the building cooler.

Green Kids Activities at the Taste of Chicago

Taste of Chicago, the city's most popular food and entertainment festival begins today for its 29th year and will run until Sunday July 5 in Grant Park.

Though some Chicagoans may skip the lines, the crowds (an estimated 6 million annually) and the higher prices of restaurant offerings at the Taste, there is still plenty of free entertainment for kids and families once again. This year many of the activities have an outdoor or green theme.

A few of the fun green things to see and do at the Taste's Family Village include:

Activities hosted by the Museum of Science and Industry, Purple Asparagus, Soul Vegetarian East, The Little Environmentalists, Mayor Daley's Bicycling Ambassadors, Working Bikes Cooperative, University of Illinois Extension and Alliance for the Great Lakes.

A full schedule of activities for each day can be found on the Family Village page of the event's website. The Family Village is located at the southwest corner of Columbus and Jackson. All entertainment and kids activities are free.

Information on street closures, how to pre-purchase food and beverage tickets before you get to the fest, food and beverage ticket prices and a list of prohibited items can be found on the event's FAQ page.

-photo credit: gotham24, flickr

The Biodiversity of Play

*Editor's note: Today we are very pleased to welcome guest writer, Kellen Marshall-Gillespie:

It is extremely important as environmentally aware parents that we all consider the values and lessons we are teaching our children. It is not only environmental efforts that will save the earth but a collective effort among all ethnicities and species as well. Sometimes we are comfortable knowing a particular group of people and we create a unrealistic point of view biased by race, class, religion and or economics.  

The cultural divide can be bridged through play by creating diverse opportunities for our children.  These can include church oriented programs, community outreach, and volunteering with other organizations around various ethnicities. Instead of pretending that our children live in a world where everything is equal it is about time that we learn how to play with our kids in a way that shows them how to play and love all things and people. 

The biodiversity of play can enrich our children’s perspectives on life and the world around them.  If we want our children to love the earth, we first have to show them how to love, respect and listen to each other.

–Kellen Marshall-Gillespie mom of 3 is an entrepreneur, author, aspiring film maker and pursuing her Ph.D in ecology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a native Chicagoan she is dedicated to not only her family but to educating and empowering the urban communities on the wonders of the earth and the environment.