Guess who's got it goin' on in the green world, better than any of us? Yeah, that's right. Our kids. Kids know instinctively that the better way to be is the way that is sustainable and that protects the earth and all the creatures sharing space on it. Us. Animals. Trees. Kids know all about hugging trees.

KIds love nature. Trees, bugs, dirt. It's all good. Kids know that life is sacred. They build wee houses for ants and grasshoppers. They believe in the unseen life all around us. They live life on a more microscopic level than the rest of us.

Kids recycle. That collection of rubber bands and old twist ties in your kid's pocket? That's not laundry-day trash, that's recycling. Everything is good for something.

All animals, all the time. Kids naturally take to saving the whales and any other kind of living creature you could name. They're passionate and want to help. They just need a little direction. Put them to work raising money for a cause, and then tell them where to send the proceeds. Try Farm Sanctuary, saving animals from factory farms, or the World Wildlife Fund, which supports endangered animals all over the world.

Kids love people. Kids are naturally compassionate. Do Something is a volunteer network for teens. What's more poignant than kids helping other kids? Save the Children helps kids around the world.

Kids value green. Nearly 70% of college-bound kids said that a potential university's commitment to environmental issues (both in academic offerings and in general practice) was a factor when choosing a school.

Our green world is in the hands of children. Let's listen to them.

(Photo credit:Veronique Christensen, flickr)

Note to global animals: this is NOT the list to get on. It's well known that since we began as a species, we humans have had a detrimental effect on various animal populations around the world. We can even point to species that not long ago existed in quantity if it wasn't for us (passenger pigeon, dodo, too many to mention). And many more species are barely hanging on by their collective toenails. But we can do something about it. It's not too late. 

Don't buy things made from endangered animals. We're likely preaching to the choir here, but around the world people think nothing of buying medicinal or other products made from tiger bones, rhino horns, and antelope horns. And you may not even be aware what's in certain medicines (especially those connected with traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, and other folk medicines), so if you're not sure, just say no.

Donate to conservation efforts. The World Wildlife Fund safeguards hundreds of species around the world. You can donate non-specifically or choose a particular species (or three or four) that you want to help save. Make it a family project.

Donate to specific conservation efforts. You can adopt a Sumatran Tiger. You can donate to help save the South China Tiger. Help save the bizarre but wonderful Saiga Antelope. Keep the Sumatran and Java Rhinos alive by donating to the International Rhino Foundation. And support your local amphibians.

Learn more. The more we know, the more we can do to help stop activities like deforestation, habitat depletion, and the like. Learn which animals are most endangered.

And do your part at home, too, by keeping your footprint small, treading lightly. The endangered animals (and plants) will thank you.

(Photo credit:mape_s, flickr)

If there's one thing we know, it's that everything changes. Problem is, we don't always expect change to happen so fast, or with such far-reaching consequences: reports are coming in almost daily now about the projected effects of global climate change even in the near term, and the prognosis doesn't look good. And in China and Tibet, glaciers are melting. Fast.

Why should we care? These glaciers are huge water sources, which means there will be drought downstream. High altitude ecosystems will be affected, and the people who live in them will have to move elsewhere, their livelihoods destroyed. Lakes are filling up, covering pastureland, while drinking water is at a premium since smaller glaciers that normally supply it are drying up. The balance is shifting, in other words. Rivers are filling now with glacial melt but that's only temporary; when the glaciers are gone those rivers will dry up, affecting everyone downstream. Several of China's largest rivers begin high in the Himalayas where glacial retreat is a problem.

In Tibet this threatens an entire way of life, affecting the nomadic people who live there, and bringing a new meaning to the bumperstickers we see that bear the words, "Save Tibet."

Depressing? Sure. Can we do anything about it? Maybe. It's worth a try. China is looking harder at the problem now, and WWF International suggests that countries around the world ratify the UN Water Convention so as to create transboundary water management that will take us into the future of this coming change.

Boundaries between countries blurring to aid in better water management for the people who live in those adjoining countries? That sounds ike a step in the right direction to us.

(Photo credit:adeh, SXC)

The arctic ice cap is melting even faster than we thought it would, but the melted ice cap will give us access to a wealth of natural resources previously trapped beneath ten feet of sea ice. Concerned wildlife experts are promoting an international park spanning the northern Canadian archipelago and western Greenland. This international stretch of water, ice, and islands is the best hope for polar wildlife to survive as the ice cap melts and human industry begins to study the natural resources revealed there.

Wildlife habitat is shrinking. Summer thaws contribute to rising sea levels. By 2050, there will be a relatively small patch of ice remaining year round, and it will be a long time before we restore balance by cleaning up the atmosphere. The time to save what we can of the frozen wilderness north of the Arctic Circle, scientists say, is now. Polar bears, narwhal, beluga and bowhead whales, walrus, musk oxen, caribou, arctic wolf, and migratory birds are at risk.

The World Wildlife Fund thinks habitat in the proposed park area can be preserved as the ice cap melts around it. But the politics of the situation have brought together an odd alliance of Inuit native people and the fossil fuel industry. The Inuit have hunting rights to protect, and they dispute the endangered status of the polar bears. The fossil fuel industry sees reserves an order of magnitude larger than those in Alaska and they are eager to begin exploration and drilling.

So the rush is on with oilmen and conservationists staking claims, and native peoples protecting their rights. Things are heating up. How long before Ben and Jerry's recognizes this new market?

(Photo credit:gim2468, flickr)

So there I was just walking down the street, (singing doo-wah diddy-diddy dum diddy-ay), just minding my own business, really, when this post at Treehugger leaped out at me and caught my attention. "Organic panties," I asked myself. I flashed on the edible variety, and thought that would certainly be going full locavore. Better click through and find out. I could buy some for a Valentines Day surprise, maybe.

Reading closely I found a few things I needed to look into. Ever the investigative blogger, I made sure to examine the entire image gallery before jumping to any conclusions. Go ahead. Check it out. I'll wait.

Okay. Welcome back. The first thing we learned was that these aren't organic edibles. Rather they are 90% organic cotton, and 10% spandex. I'm into spandex. I saw Michelle Pfeiffer in that Batman movie. But spandex isn't too earth friendly. I wondered if there was some greenwashing going on. The spandex is 10% of these garments. The other 90% is "organic cotton." Cool. Organically grown cotton has to be better for us than chemically grown cotton. All the cotton on the planet was once organic. The cotton growers in the antebellum south marched across the land depleting the soil and moving on. The conservation organization WWF says, "Soil depletion and degradation are the leading causes of the globally moving cotton production frontier." Quite a mouthful, but what they're saying is that soil depletion and erosion are still a problem as they were 200 years ago.  Sustainable organic production, growing in a way that doesn't deplete the soil is quite a trick to accomplish. Cotton drinks an enormous amount of water, and salinization from irrigation can spoil the land too. There isn't all that much cotton grown organically yet.

I went back to the image gallery and checked it carefully one more time before reaching any conclusions. They do contain the eco-unfriendly spandex. The organic cotton is the upside. If you're buying cotton, you certainly should buy organic. These scanties have so little fabric that I can't imagine they'd have a huge a pollution footprint. I'd give them a big thumbs up.

As for me, my wife hates thongs. She won't wear them. So, I won't be surprising her with these particular garments. But I did enjoy window shopping!.

Continue reading Greenwashing your undies? ›

(Photo credit:Flirty Kitty, Flickr)