Merry Wanderer of the Night:
leif reads

Leif Reads is a monthly feature I work on with Aths of Reading on a Rainy Day. Each month we choose a book that covers an environmental topic and discuss these topics and the book.

I've really enjoyed reading Coop this month because it's fitting in nicely with a long term comic I'm working on about sustainable agriculture. If you haven't noticed I've been thinking a lot about the disconnect that has happened between Americans and their food. While it's great that Michael Perry is able to live on his family's farm and teach his children about how food is grown and made I'm starting to realize that most people have never even set foot on a farm. A couple of weekends ago I went to an organic farm to do some volunteer work through an Iowa City organization called Local Foods Connection. Even though I grew up on a farm and around agriculture this farm was in a completely different league. I was amazed by the variety of produce they grew and the methods they used. The farm I visited started everything in a greenhouse and then moved it to a field.

If you have the ability to visit a farm or do some work with a farmer I would encourage you to do so. Next time you're at a farmer's market talk to the farmers there and find out what methods they use to grow their produce. It saddens me when I hear people talk about how lettuce comes from the bag. They don't realize that the lettuce in their bag was grown in Mexico and shipped to a plant where it was bagged and then shipped to their grocery store. They don't realize that the food they're putting in their mouths has gone through miles and miles of travel to reach them. They have no idea who is on the other side of that lettuce.

Even if you're not into gardening, visiting farms or farmer's markets, you might find it fruitful to grow a little something. I don't have my own yard but we're working on growing some things on our patio. Even if you don't have the option to do that, if you live in an apartment with one window you too can grow something. Jason and I are growing coneflowers, sunflowers, basil, and a few other things on our kitchen counter. It's set by a window and we water it every once in awhile. We planted all of these things just a few weeks ago and as you can see they are growing like crazy. If nothing else it's an exercise in understanding. Children often grow something small as part of their science classes in elementary school, but adults can learn from growing a flower in their kitchen to. It will help you understand that everything starts somewhere, even the book I'm reading came from a tree.

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Leif Reads is a monthly feature I work on with Aths of Reading on a Rainy Day. Each month we choose a book that covers an environmental topic and discuss these topics and the book.

This month we're talking about Michael Perry's Coop, the story of his year working on his parents' old farm with his wife, daughter, and baby on the way. The book isn't overtly environmental, but I think it's a little bit more accessible than some of the other books Aths and I have read for this project. And that is of course because Coop is a story with characters and problems--not that the other two books we read were not-- but I'll just say I was able to read Coop for over an hour last night and didn't feel tired at all.

In the first third of the book Perry really seems to outline the differences between his childhood and the present. Similarly to the graphic novel Essex County, Michael Perry's viewpoint works well for all readers because he talks about leaving the farm and coming back. He has lived both lives. Or at least it works well for me since that has in some ways been my own experience in life. The childhood he describes is truly from another time, when children were always expected to do chores at home and not everyone had a TV. Technology was something special and strange. It wasn't a given. I especially liked the passage about an old stove his parents had in their house:

"A neighbor came to help with the lifting, and once the stove was reassembled upstairs, its squat bulk anchored the entire first floor. Mom cleaned it up and rubbed it down with blacking, and although the shiny bits were dimmed and pitted, they did take a polish, and the blue Monarch logo still scrolled beautifully across the white porcelain enameling of the oven door. She rarely baked in the stove, but we often came in from wood-gathering expeditions to the scent of smoked ham and vegetables in a cast iron pan that had percolated on the stovetop all day long, and as we ate, our caps and mittens dried in the warming ovens flanking the central stovepipe and its butterfly damper, which reminded me loosely of the Batman logo. On cold school mornings, we tussled to see how many of us could plant our hindquarters on the warm oven door." (22)

While I think this passage is just nice in general, good images and language, I think it shows how differently people used to think about things like gathering wood, heating a stove, and so on. It was just a normal way of life. But now we have technology to do a lot of these things for us which distances us from our lives. We don't think about where the warmth of our homes comes from or where our food comes from. And while this technology is great, I think it has mentally made us a little complacent.

That seems to be what Coop is really about so far. Stepping back in time with your family and trying to live a different way. I'll be interested to see what else we can pull out of this book to understand the environmental aspects of farming Perry experiences.

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Before I read Slow Death by Rubber Duck I was unaware of a lot the chemicals put in every day things. It's really impossible to escape them, which is terrifying. But there are a few things you can do to minimize you're contact with certain chemicals. I thought I was doing pretty well on the environmental scene, but this book showed me so areas I could improve on. The biggest one for me was home bath products since I already use natural home cleaners and do not buy Teflon. After reading Slow Death by Rubber Duck I decided to switch out my shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, mouthwash, and deodorant.

1. I purchased the Burt's Bees Grapefruit & Sugar Beet Shampoo and conditioner. Burt's Bees has a few different types of shampoos but this had the lowest amount of chemicals. Some of them might smell better but I didn't really care. This cost about the same as the shampoo I was originally using, so it really isn't a big change for me.

2. Tom's of Maine Natural Toothpaste is what I replaced my former toothpaste with. This is a dollar more perhaps, but other than the chemicals it tastes a lot better than my old toothpaste and I don't feel like I have to scrub and scrub with it to make it work. That might be psychological, but I do like it more. I also got Tom's of Maine Natural Mouthwash but that was actually more because Jason needed a new mouthwash and he hates the alcohol taste in them. Tom's doesn't have alcohol in their mouthwash.

3. I got the unscented Tom's of Maine Natural Deodorant. A lot of you are probably wondering how that is working. I've noticed a little smell if I get particularly sweaty, but I actually had the same problem with my old deodorant (I don't use antiperspirant) so I think the Tom's deodorant works just as well as normal deodorant.

Aths has a great post up today about further options for detoxing ourselves from chemicals and she goes into what chemicals you're actually getting rid of. Be sure to check it out at Reading on a Rainy Day!

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I don't know about you, but I always thought the whole lawn care thing was stupid. My dad spent his whole weekend mowing the yard when I was a kid and it looked so boring. It didn't help that when he taught me how to mow the lawn I ran into the clothesline. I never mowed again.

But seriously-- why do we care so much about lush green yards? It's supposed to be a sign of dedication, hard work, neighborliness, and pride. Unfortunately lawns across America are poisoning the people living on them and their neighbors. See, the green grass in all these yards is not native grass which means it requires a lot of upkeep, including a pesticide called 2,4-D. 2,4-D causes lots of nasty problems, the most terrifying is a type of blood cancer. It's easily absorbed through the skin and lungs and causes other problems besides cancer, like nausea, vomiting, and birth defects.

I'm a huge fan of the This American Life radio show and recently I watched the TV show on Netflix. In season two episode two there is a story about a Bulgarian man living with his wife in the United States. He loves his home, neighborhood, and wife, but he refuses to mow the lawn. This is seemingly the only argument he and his wife have, and his wife is terrified of what will happen if he doesn't start mowing the lawn. I mean, terrified. Rightly so. Slow Death by Rubber Duck mentions three cases where people were taken to court for not keeping up their lawn. In all these cases the lawn owners won, but I'm sure there are cases where they have not.

Interestingly the writers of this book didn't really do any experiment related to 2,4-D. The reason they didn't is cosmetic pesticides are illegal in Ontario. And Quebec. And Alberta. Rightly so, as "[i]n farming families in North America, for instance, there is a higher incidence of miscarriages and birth defects than in the general population. Farmers in Ontario who use pesticides also have lower sperm counts and poorer-quality sperm than non-farmers" (202). The effects of pesticides aren't just limited to farms and those who apply pesticides to lawns though, they effect everyone. Unfortunately cosmetic pesticide bans are extremely rare in the U.S. because it is such a huge industry and people continually buy into the green lawn dream, whether they really believe in it or are just following the crowd.

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My mom gave me a lot of lectures about Teflon pans growing up. It seems like every time she picks up a frying pan she reminds me to never buy a Teflon pan. As it turns out, my mom was right to warn me about them. She was smart and realized very quickly how dangerous it was to have a pan coated with a manufactured chemical.

Unfortunately Teflon is present in more than just pans. It's actually all over the place, in spots we wouldn't even think about. And Teflon isn't the only thing to worry about. Slow Death by Rubber Duck has made me confront the synthetic world I live in, and I have to say that it absolute terrifies me.

Aths has a great post on Reading on a Rainy Day today about Teflon and Mercury. She shares some great quotes and information from the book. I really encourage you all to read her post, and I encourage you to seek out Slow Death. It's an eye opener.

On a happier note, this man is an inspiration:

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Every month Aths and I are reading one eco-centered book for our feature Leif Reads. To find out more about this feature visit the about page.

When Aths recommended we read the frightening Slow Death by Rubber Duck this month I was a little skeptical. My mom is pretty seriously aware of chemicals and worries about their effects on humans. I heard a lot of "Don't microwave that bowl!" and "Never buy Teflon pans!" growing up. There is a lot of that in Slow Death by Rubber Duck, but while reading this one night I let out a very audible "Oh my gosh!" while reading--something that doesn't happen too often. And the amazement was over toys, which I wasn't really expecting to read a whole lot about.

"I have to admit that I find the role of toy companies exposing kids to toxins very surprising. It's a bit like realizing that Santa's elves long ago started consorting with Darth Vader and were "turned to the dark side" without anyone noticing. Like many parents I clued into the fact that toy safety standards have,shall we say, slipped in recent years only when Zack's (author's son) 'Thomas the Tank Engine' was one of 1.5 million little trains that were recalled in June 2007. We'd had it for a few years, both Zack and Owain had regularly handled it and put it in their mouths and I wasn't too pleased to find out that its chipped paint was actually full of lead."

So, let me back up a little bit. Slow Death by Rubber Duck is written by two Canadian environmentalists who set out to find just how dangerous the chemicals in every day things are. And so far they've found that these things are pretty dangerous. We are constantly exposed to them and our bodies do, in fact, absorb the chemicals. Studies done in Canada have shown that all humans have traces of chemicals in their bodies.

What is most striking is how dependent we are on plastics even though we know there are bad things in them. One specific chemical often found in plastics are phthalates. They supposedly are not in food packaging in the US, although that is a little debatable. One of the authors of this book tries to give up on plastics, or at least mostly avoid them. It's only when he tries to stop using them that he realizes they are everywhere. He already knows not to microwave things in plastic containers since the chemicals will transfer into the food, but there are other less obvious places plastic makes an appearance. Even fruits and baggies come in it, even if they are fresh you put them in the plastic bags. I have reusable bags made for fruits and veggies and even those are plastic.

In addition to the bad health effects of plastic, plastic packaging is something that is often thrown away when it can be recycled. Quite a few types of plastic bags and packaging can be recycled, and sometimes it just takes a little common sense. Ice cream bar wrapper? Probably not. If you're unsure check out this great resource at ThinkGreen.

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Aths and I have reached the end of our journey with Eaarth. She posted an amazingly well written post about our obsession with progress and growth today. You should all head over to Reading on a Rainy Day to check it out. I feel so lucky to work with someone who can express passionate ideas about the environment as eloquently as Aths!

I have been absent from the Internet for most of the day, mostly because I was at work all day. While I was at work I listened to several podcasts about environmental issues, but one really stuck with me. If this episode of Organically Speaking doesn't get you thinking about food and the dangers of how we currently manage food I don't know what will. It's about the spinach scare that happened not too long ago. It's funny but full of helpful information. This was my first time listening to this podcast but I'm definitely going to be a subscriber from now on.

Speaking of podcast, the new episode of Green Reads will be up by tomorrow-- be on the lookout!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Every month Aths and I are reading one eco-centered book for our feature Leif Reads. To find out more about this feature visit the about page.

With all the snow falling this year a lot of people think the signs of global warming are over. In reality, all of this snow is just more proof of the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. More carbon dioxide in the air means the air holds more moisture, and that moisture has to go someplace which is why we've had record snow and rainfalls recently. Since there is more rain on the ground and there needs to be somewhere for it to go we experience floods. As Bill McKibben points out in Eaarth, "a river that has to carry more water takes up more space... the river [the road] running next to is getting wider because we now live on a planet where warmer air holds more water vapor and hence we have bigger storms. There's no room for the road to shift" (61).

This is something that really hits home for me because I've experienced two pretty monstrous floods in last three years. One where I live now, Iowa City, and one where I grew up, Des Moines. While you may not care about the natural problems with flooding, I'm sure you care about the people whose lives are changed by them. "After such a disaster, researchers report, 'people feel inadequate, like outside forces are taking control of their lives" (75). This is a huge problem right now. Our earth is not the only thing changing, we as people are changing because of these things we've done to our earth.

Flooding in Colfax, Iowa, where my dad grew up. This flood was just last summer and washed out the majority of the fields in area. Photo source.

I walk by this building every day, but during the flood of 2008 the door was blocked off by water. Photo source.

We all know flooding happens, but it's important to make the connection between the amount of snowfall we see and the amount of flooding we have. Snow is frozen, but when it melts that means there is more water in our rivers. More water than our rivers can hold.

Have any of you experienced a flood?

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Every month Aths and I are reading one eco-centered book for our feature Leif Reads. To find out more about this feature visit the about page.

Last week I talked about Bill McKibben and his climate change organization 350.org. This week Aths is taking on a big question, which is, "What exactly is climate change?" She specifically talks about melting of the ice in the Antarctic and the gradual disappearance of islands that are below sea level. These are just two manifestations of global warming in our world, but they are by no means the only ones. Head over to Reading on a Rainy Day to read Aths's beautiful and informative post. If you've enjoyed our posts so far you might want to read Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

for yourself. It's a great book to learn the basics of climate change and what it means.

350.org had a great post recently called 2010: Year in Review. 2010 was a big year for the environment, we had some good times, and some definite bad ones. BP oil spill anyone? This post focuses on the way people banded together during all of these times and it will truly make you glad to see that people are making a difference in the environment around the world.

Over 7,000 people promoting clean energy in Istanbul, Turkey. Just one example of the way people are banding together around the world.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Climate change seems like a huge, insurmountable problem. What can one little person do about this huge monster that is taking over our planet? It's pretty easy to look at the data, think about how much you will have to give up, and decide you're just not going to do it anything about it. But that is a big mistake and simply not true. There are little things each of us can do and together they will build up to something bigger.

I became intensely aware of Bill McKibben during fall semester when I became involved in a student organization called Eco Hawk. We decided to participate in a climate awareness event called 10/10/10 on October 10, 2010. Students and environmentalists around the world participated in the event, doing different things to promote climate awareness. In Iowa City we had a bike ride to raise awareness about different modes of transportation that are carbon free. The event was organized through 350.org, which just happens to be the environmental organization Bill McKibben co-founded. Since Bill McKibben was also visiting Iowa City for a lecture I figured I better read his most recent book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

, and Aths joined me to create this new feature called Leif Reads.

There is a lot in Eaarth about climate change, but I think this section gives a good introduction to the problem we're facing. "Normally--over all but the last two hundred years of human civilization-- the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere remained stable because trees and plants and plankton sucked it up about as fast as volcanoes produced it. But now we've turned out cars and factories into junior volcanoes, and so we're not just producing carbon faster than the plant world can absorb it; we're making it so hot that the plants absorb less carbon than they used to" (23).

350.org
What does 350 mean? Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 (carbon dioxide) in our atmosphere is the safe number for the Earth. We are currently at 388 parts per million. Doesn't seem so bad, right? But for most of human history it has been 275 parts per million CO2, until about 200 years ago when we started to burn coal, gas, and oil for energy. So scientists aren't saying 350 parts per million is the ideal number, it's just a number we could possible reach that would make our planet safer.

Throughout Eaarth though, McKibben admits that he thinks we have already lost the Earth we once lived on-- and we will never get it back. Hence the name Eaarth. It's the new name of our planet, and with this new planet we have to get rid of the old rules. They simply will not work any longer.

What can you do?
One of the first steps you can do is to educate yourself. Visit 350.org and read their frequently asked questions, their mission, read anything you can find on there. Join their movement. Consider ways you can cut back on the amount of energy you use. Not every city or town is made for walking, but when you do take the car out consider making the most of it. Instead of going to one store and then going to a different on the next day try to make fewer car trips. One of the absolute best things you can do though? Write to people. Write to your local government, your state government, your transit system, your landlord. Don't be afraid to ask people questions. What kind of fuel are your local buses using? What small changes do you see that could make where you live a better place to live? Government officials are there to listen to the people in their neighborhood and you might have an idea they have never thought about. Get your friends to join and write letters with you. The more people they hear it from, the better. Why do I suggest you do this? Because to make truly powerful changes that will change the rules that fit the new Eaarth we live on better we need our government to take notice and back up our choices. If you want to make big waves, this is a great way to do it. And educate yourself. Read a book like Eaarth to learn what you can do to be part of the new Eaarth we live on.

More info!
A link to find the contact for your state representative.
Eaarth facts and figures.
What is your carbon footprint?
Green Reads podcast in which I talk about Eaarth more generally.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Everyone, meet Leif. He is going to help Aths at Reading on a Rainy Day and me through an interesting journey. Leif is very concerned with the environment and what is happening to the other penguins around him, and he thinks one of the best ways to learn more about the environment is to read about it. I couldn't agree more!

Aths and I are working to become more educated about what is happening with our Earth, and since w'ere both avid readers it only seems right for us to read about the changes that are happening. We're starting our new feature tomorrow. It's called Leif Reads because we are only going to talk about environmental reads, ones that Leif might think are important. The first book we're talking about is Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

by Bill McKibben, I book I read awhile ago and am super enthusiastic about. We chose this book because it seemed like a good overall introduction to what we're dealing with in our new environment, but in the future we'd like to do more focused posts that deal with specific issues.

That is where you come in. This Sunday we'll each put up our first poll where you can all vote about what book you think we should read next. What topic are you most interested in? Food? Farming? Climate change? We want to help you learn more while we learn more! Since this is all about education, Aths and I aren't just going to review these books, we're going to post about a specific issue the book brings up every Friday and tell you what you can do to help. We'll take turns posting about a specific issue from the book-- I'll post tomorrow and Aths will post next Friday and so on. By the end of the month we'll have milked the book of everything we can think of and we'll move on to the next topic.

Some of you subscribe to the podcast I co-host, Green Reads. It will be a little like that, but I'll have more time to really focus on a specific issue in writing, rather than just give you the nuts and bolts of what the book is about. If you don't subscribe to my podcast yet, please go check it out! And if you have any ideas about what books we should read next, please leave a comment.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.