There is nothing like stepping into your garden in December and getting a tasty treat! Winter gardens are my favorite, as they provide nutritious food when stores are relying heavily on imported and/or stored produce. There is something about cooler temperatures and light frosts that make vegetables sweeter, especially carrots. Almost all regions of the United States can experience some form of winter gardening, and the time to plant one is almost gone.

Winter gardening often takes two forms: planting crops for winter harvest and planting crops to overwinter for early spring harvest. Now that September is almost half-way over, winter gardeners need to get busy! It is time to plant arugula, cabbage, corn salad, legumes, lettuce, mustard greens, and radish seeds; however, corn salad, lettuce, and mustard greens enjoy a little covering or cloching to extend the harvest. It is also possible to transplant broccoli, cauliflower, and collards for winter and spring harvests. For other areas of the garden, cover cropping in the fall will prevent erosion and boost nitrogen content.

My favorite crop to grow in the winter is garlic, which can be planted at the end of this month and into October. Garlic is amazing, as it slowly grows through the wintertime. In addition, there are some plants that are only harvested in the winter, such as Jerusalem artichokes. These high-potassium roots are native to the United States, and they make a great winter treat roasted with olive oil and garlic. It is fun to dig Jerusalem artichokes out of the snow covered earth and be thankful for their winter bounty.

How green is your child’s school? Chances are, if your child attends a public school like my daughter, it is not a very green place, especially if it is an older facility. Kelli has already written about ways to make your individual child a greener student in "Think Green For Back to School" and Chris Baskind offered Green Options readers "Five Ways to Green Your Child’s Classroom." But do you know your child’s school’s carbon footprint? Does the school district’s board of trustees know this information? Do you include your child’s share of the school’s carbon emission when figuring out your family’s impact on climate change?

Recently, I discovered a tool for calculating a school’s carbon footprint that was developed by students at Irvington High School with the help of DriveNeutral. This tool is an Excel worksheet that takes into account many factors, such as the student population and the number of days school is in session. It asks what percentage of the student ride in a car to school, the school’s electricity usage, methane from waste disposal, etc.. The table ends with questions regarding solutions, such as offsetting and recycling.

The questions asked by the SchoolNeutral tool are not easily answered by a parent, child or teacher, but research is required and a manual is available to download. This tool was designed by high schools students for high school students, but it could be modified for usage in earlier grade levels. In addition, it would make a great senior project for a high school student to help an elementary school class figure out their school’s carbon footprint. As World Changing notes, "What makes the SchoolNeutral calculator stand out is that it has been designed to help high school students calculate emissions generated by a large group of people (the first version focuses just on student population) who work together at a large complex (the high school). Most carbon calculators focus on the individual or household carbon footprint, but SchoolNeutral shows how to calculate much larger, collective footprints."

Knowing a school’s carbon footprint may be the first step in promoting change. Faced with such staggering statistics, school boards are more likely to make decisions that will reduce carbon emissions, and children will be motivated to do what they can in their own classrooms. Parents can easily be involved in the process, and fundraisers could be held to purchase offsets. Furthermore, schools can make the necessary changes to lower their own carbon emissions and students can be involved in offsetting carbon emissions on the school campus by planting trees and switching light bulbs, for example. In fact, you may even be able to get a carbon credit company to take on your child’s school on as a project.

If you have children, you know that they have boundless amounts of energy. It only makes sense to use this energy to power toys, and Zen Design Group has come up with a line of toys that does just that. These "environmentally friendly," kid-powered SEE Toys will be available online September 15.

SEE Toys has created five different kid-powered toys: Dyancar, Dynatiger, Dynafly, Dynashark, and Dynadolphin. SEE stands for safety, ecology, and economy, and all of the toys are designed for children five years and older. SEE Toys are powered by a dynamo, which is a power-generating motor; children energize by turning a crank. The dynamo charges the rechargeable batteries that make the unbreakable LED lights and sounds emit from the toy. According to Sun Yu, president of Zen Design Group, "The introduction of self-sustainable SEE Toys carries an important message of responsible living to our youth."

Our family tested the Dynafly, which my daughter affectionately called "Buggy." Buggy positively reinforces children with laughing noises when they turn the crank. My six-year-old daughter was so fascinated by this, that we have been unable to truly test the dynamo and batteries to see how long the toy will play before needing a crank. She insisted we take Buggy on a six-hour drive to San Francisco, and the toy held her fascination for the entire drive there and back; however, once we arrived home, Buggy was abandoned for more interactive, creative toys. It doesn’t take long for a six-year-old to get tired of a toy that only lights up and makes noises, even if it is kid-powered. The wings, legs, and antennae are bendable, but this was not enough to sustain my daughter’s attention beyond the car trip. In contrast, I think my three-year-old son would be fascinated by the Dynacar and play with it for many years.

SEE Toys claims to be "The First Environmentally Friendly, Kid-Powered Toy Line," but I question this claim. It is true that the toys do not require disposable (recyclable) batteries that account for 72,000 tons of landfill waste in the United States each year; however, the toys are made from plastic and are manufactured in China. The information provided by SEE Toys did not state whether this plastic comes new materials or is made with post consumer recycled plastic. I applaud Zen Design Group’s efforts; however, I think that it would be more interesting to see a dynamo-powered toy that children will play with for many years, especially when targeting children ages five and up. How about a dynamo-powered ipod or musical keyboard?

In my opinion, just putting a dynamo in a toy does not make it environmentally friendly, especially if it does not sustain the interest of children over time. Many toys end up in landfills just for this reason, and I still believe the most environmentally friendly toys are made from renewable materials, are open-ended, and grow with a child’s imagination. Now that my daughter has lost interest in Buggy, her father can’t wait to take it apart and see how it works. Wouldn’t it be grand if there were kits available for children to make their own dynamo-powered toys? The possiblities are endless, and I thank SEE Toys for moving the toy industry in the right direction. We now have a really cool, dynamo-powered bug flashlight for when our hydro goes down.

If you practice yoga, you know personally the benefits to all aspects of your life. Children can also reap these benefits from regular yoga practice. No matter what form of yoga children practice, they will increase their well-being, reduce stress, and purify their little, physical bodies.

There is evidence that special needs children may especially benefit from yoga. For example, often children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cerebral Palsy have poor muscle tone. Practicing asanas offers a gentle method to build strength. In addition, yoga calms the mind, eases tension, and teaches children coping methods. These skills are especially important for children with special needs. Joshua Betts, a child with Asperger’s Syndrome, writes of his yoga experiences:

My mom loves yoga. Since she loves me so much, she wants me to do yoga too. She says that yoga keeps her happy and not stressed. I learned some yoga poses. I must say they are not as bad as I thought they would be. My body felt weird at first: very shaky and wobbly. My mom made me do this yoga stuff a lot and I actually started liking having my head upside down! I also liked when my mom told me things to think about while I was doing the poses. She told me to think about being a warrior and being brave and strong when I am doing some of the poses. Sometimes when I am bored at school, I think about these stories to make the time go faster and to stop myself from flapping so much. The weirdest thing my mom makes me do is breathe in strange ways. Mom said that the breathing could help me stop flapping when I am not supposed to. I used to flap at the bus stop all the time, because I was bored and nervous about the school day. Mom told me to take some breaths and she breathed with me. Since I was thinking about my nose and air coming into my body, I could not think about flapping at the same time.

Like Joshua’s mother, I love yoga too. From the time my children were growing in my womb, they have been part of my practice (some Hindu texts say that children practice all 108 asanas in utero). As my children grew into toddlers, they would alternate between playing with my body, such as crawling under my downward facing dog, to imitating my poses. In fact, my daughter would get upset if I skipped my daily practice.

Young children’s attention span for yoga is not that of an adult; thus, many yoga products have been created to entice children to practice. There are many videos, games, and books available to introduce children to yoga. My favorites kids’ yoga products are the children’s book Babar’s Yoga for Elephants, which offers advice as to where to place your trunk during certain asanas, and the Yoga Garden Game, a cooperative game where players work together to plant the flowers before nighttime falls.

Children don’t need specially designed products to learn yoga, but they do need a teacher to guide them. As an elementary school teacher, I regularly incorporated asanas into our physical education program. In addition, the whole class would form a circle and complete the sun salutation each morning. We called this the "Good Morning Stretch," and it was a wonderful way to begin our day of learning together.

It is important that children learn that yoga is a gentle practice, in order to avoid injuries. According to Cookie Magazine, "In yoga, children’s natural gifts, agility and enthusiasm, are also their curse: Many are so bendy that they may not recognize their limitations and overstretch, inadvertently injuring muscles. Kids can also get hurt in efforts to compete with their friends, impress the teacher, or try advanced poses before they’re ready." Children must be taught that yoga is not a competitive sport!

Yoga practice with children is definitely different than practicing with adults, but children deserve opportunities to experience this ancient tradition. If you decide to include children in your practice or volunteer at a local school, be prepared for giggles and silliness. You might even find yourself joining in the laughter with the little yogis and yoginis!

For more information on Yoga for Kids, please visit Yoga Journal.

If you are looking for a new home or are interested in how safe the air is in your neighborhood, PlanetHazard provides information about the toxins you may be breathing. You can search by top ten polluters, all polluters, browse polluters, list pollutants, list polluters, and list industries. Many of these searches are available for the entire US, by state, by county, and/or by city. Data is based on 2002 EPA National Emission Inventory.

When searching for the top ten polluters in my state of California, I expected the polluters to be much farther south than I live. When the map of the polluters popped up, I was shocked to find out that the number two polluter in the Golden State is Burney Forest Products, about 140 miles from my remote home (not as the eagle flies). When I searched in my local county, the refuse disposal sites are the greatest polluters.

The greatest polluter in the United States , according to PlanetHazard, is the Regional Sanitation District in Elk Grove, California. Once again, I am shocked to learn that Burney Forest Products is the number two polluter in the country! The number three polluter is the Georgia Power Company’s Bowen Steam-Electric Generating Plant.

What to do with this information? Being informed is the first step in creating change. The next step is to inform others, thus we can work together to clean up the polluters near our homes. You may be surprised how close polluters are to your home, your child’s school, your work, etc. Clean air to breathe is the right of all humans.

Back to school time is rapidly approaching, and it is a good time for parents and teachers to make plans for environmental education (EE). EE involves teaching children about the natural world and the way ecosystems work. According to the US EPA,

Through EE, people gain an understanding of how their individual actions affect the environment, acquire skills that they can use to weigh various sides of issues, and become better equipped to make informed decisions. EE also gives people a deeper understanding of the environment, inspiring them to take personal responsibility for its preservation and restoration.

Whether your child is homeschooled or attends public/private school, EE is an important part of education. Many school districts feel that they fulfill their EE requirements by sending sixth graders to outdoor camp, but EE should occur throughout the year. Concerned parents should ask their children’s teachers what their plans for EE are for the year.

The following EE curricula are ones I have particular experience with in K-8 education. Many curricula exist, and my approach has always been to pick and choose the best units from assorted curricula to provide EE in my classroom. Project Wild, Project Learning Tree, Keepers of the Earth, and Adopt-a-Watershed are my favorite EE curricula.

Project Wild is the most widely-used EE and conservation curriculum used in K-12 education, and most sixth grade outdoor camps use this curriculum as a basis for their programs. Project Wild emphasizes that wildlife has intrinsic value, and humans need to develop into responsible citizens of the planet. "Project WILD’s mission is to help students learn how to think, not what to think about wildlife and the environment." Project Wild also includes an aquatic curriculum and Spanish translation. One activity I remember from Project Wild involved creating a food web. Children represented different animals, plants, insects, etc. A ball of string was used to connect the children, as they made choices as to where the string should be connected. In my classroom, we extended this activity by creating a collage of an ecosystem on cardboard, then taking string and thumbtacks to make a visual representation of a food web. The only way to obtain Project Wild materials is by attending a workshop.

Project Learning Tree is a 30-year-old curriculum of the American Forest Foundation. Just like Project Wild, Project Learning Tree "helps students learn HOW to think, not WHAT to think, about the environment." Project Learning Tree is divided into eight modules: energy and society, forest ecology, forest issues, municipal solid waste, risk, places we live, biodiversity, and forests of the world. A children’s literature list is included to accompany each activity. One Project Learning Tree activity is the Environmental Exchange Box, in which children collect photographs, stories, samples of local food, natural objects, etc. representative of their local environment. This box is then exchanged with another box from a different school in a different locality. Children can use this box to compare and contrast the contents to their own environment. Just like Project Wild, you must attend a Project Learning Tree training to receive materials.

Keepers of the Earth is an EE curriculum based on Native American stories. "A collection is presented of carefully chosen North American Indian stories and hands-on activities that promote understanding and appreciation of, empathy for, and responsible action toward the Earth and its people." This curriculum is divided into ten topics: creation, fire, Earth, wind and weather, water, sky, seasons, plants and animals, life, death, spirit, and unity of Earth. A common theme throughout the stories is that the world is a family: "earth as our mother, sun as our father and the animals as our brothers and sisters. The stories foster an ethic of stewardship by clearly showing that we are entrusted with the responsibility to maintain the natural balance, to take care of our mother, to be keepers of the earth." There are several other books that have been written in the series, such as Keepers of Life and Keepers of the Animals. Keepers of the Earth is readily available through bookstores and online merchants.

Adopt-a-Watershed is a lesser know curriculum, which enables students to adopt a local watershed, study it, conserve it, etc.

OUR VISION is for education to serve as the
cornerstone of a sustainable community, in which all citizens live their lives consciously choosing actions that ensure a healthy quality of life for current and future generations.

Adopt-A-Watershed’s place-based learning programs promote this vision by engaging students in meaningful activities that lead to an understanding of sustainability and how their choices and actions impact the community and the overall environment.

OUR MISSION is to empower communities to care for their watersheds and enhance student learning by providing leadership development, educational tools, and access to a national network of resources.

As an Adopt-a-Watershed school, my classroom conducted bird surveys, planted trees, and raised steelhead from roe to fry in our classroom. The steelhead were then released in our adopted watershed. There are 18 units in the curriculum, and it is used throughout the world.

Environmental education is an important part of any child’s education. Parents and teachers can facilitate this learning through the many curriculums that exist. EE is one aspect of education that may not appear on a standardized test, but it is very important for our children and planet.

Dangerous toy recalls have predominated the news lately. From magnets that can cause severe intestinal damage or death if swallowed to lead-based paints, mass marketed children’s toys made in China are not fit for our youngest population or the workers who make them. The most recent massive recalls have come from major toy companies, such as Mattel (maker of Barbie, Batman, Dora, etc.) and RC2 (maker of Thomas the Tank Engine).

Information that lead is harmful to our health is not new; however, toy companies act like these "accidents" occur innocently. In fact, we have known about the harmful effects of lead since 100 BC! Once lead enters the body, it travels to the soft tissues and organs. After several weeks, this poisonous metal begins to store in the body’s teeth and bones. Lead is especially harmful for children under six years of age, as "about 99% of the lead taken into the body of an adult will leave in the waste (urine, feces, hair/nail growth and sweat), but only about 32% will be eliminated from a child’s body," according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health. The harmful effects of lead exposure can cause learning disabilities to coma to death, depending on the amount and duration of exposure.

Small, strong magnetic toys are the source of other major, recent recalls. When children swallow more than one of these magnets, severe intestinal damage occurs, and it is often difficult to diagnose. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) lists magnets at the #1 hidden home hazard. They warn,

Since 2005: 1 Death, 86 Injuries; 8 million magnetic toys recalled. Today’s rare-earth magnets can be very small and powerful making them popular in toys, building sets, and jewelry…If two or more magnets, or a magnet and another metal object are swallowed separately, they can attract to one another through intestinal walls and get trapped in place…but magnets can attract in the body and twist or pinch the intestines, causing holes, blockages, infection, and death, if not treated properly and promptly.

The CPSC is the government agency responsible for protecting consumers from unsafe products. "Anytime a company brings a banned hazardous product into the U.S. marketplace, especially one intended for children, it is unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for U.S. consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government…There is no excuse for lead to be found in toys entering this country,"
Nord said. "It’s totally unacceptable and it needs to stop." This statement is ironic, given the CPSC’s failure to act when lead was found in baby bibs, car seats, jewelry, and children’s lunchboxes. Furthermore, the president of Mattel has stated that families should expect more recalls as further product testing occurs. Shouldn’t this testing occur before products are sold to families? More irony is found with RC2’s slogan, "compelling passionate parenting and play for all ages." Yes, compassionate parents give their children toys with lead paint on them.

The recall of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, as well as other recent recalls, reminds us that our children will never be safe until children are safe globally from harmful products in their toys. An opinion article in the New York Times by Christian Warren speaks to this issue. "The Little Engine That Could Poison" reminds us that the important lessons to be learned from these recalls is not only about the protection our own children, but "regulating environmental poisons in the global economy".

With the majority of products consumers purchase being manufactured overseas, the incidence of "accidental" contamination will continue. As Warren writes,

It is important to do what we can to prevent the import of dangerous toys. But it is at least as important to help our international partners curtail the use of lead and other toxic substances in their own markets. Lax product safety and environmental regulation overseas undoubtedly lowers manufacturing costs there, but it also perpetuates the risk to our children and guarantees harmful exposure to both workers and children in countries that continue using lead as blithely as we once did."

Lead is very dangerous stuff that causes irreversible damage in humans. No family anywhere in the world should have to suffer from the effects of this known poison, especially in an effort to produce cheap products for the world market. As a world power, we need to do something to extinguish this hazard globally. We have some protection in this country, despite President Bush slashing of the Consumer Product Safety Commission budget by 10%, yet our children are still exposed to lead in their toys. Who knows how many children throughout the world play with lead tainted toys?

Green alternatives do exist for families. Reputable companies, such as Plan Toys, provide consumer confidence and greener practices. Handmade toys, such as Waldorf doll making kits, allow parents to know exactly what their children’s toys are made of and how they are constructed. Real Toys from Melbourne creates charming gifts for children from recycled and/or salvaged materials. Here is Real Toys bio from Etsy:

So many of the toys available today are mass produced, plastic, commercialised and increasingly associated with TV, movies or computer games. As I work with children, I wanted to make toys that would be developmentally stimulating, simple, high quality and lovable– the way Real Toys should be. (And they are so cute!) Each Real Toy is an original design, individually handmade and stuffed. Features are carefully chosen at the last stage to bring out the unique personality of every one. As they are crafted individually, each Real Toy is one of a kind.

Parents should proceed with caution when purchasing toys made in China. The recent recalls demonstrate that our global economy can have devastating effects on children throughout the world. Natural toys may cost more money, but there is no price for safety and the blessings of health. Although natural toys are sometimes recalled, the incidence of such recalls does not compare to the recent problems plaguing major toy manufacturers.

While stumbling upon the web, I came across the inspiring story of Malawi youth William Kamkwamba on Inhabitat. With all the doom and gloom news of climate change, William Kamkwamba’s ingenuity demonstrates what one person can do to improve their life with green technology. The story also demystifies alternative energy as complex engineering that keeps many Americans from jumping into finding greener methods to power their homes.

Malawi is a democratic, densely populated country in southeastern Africa. The Great Rift Valley runs through the center of the country from north to south. The GDP per capita is $596, and the economy is agricultural, and dependent upon tobacco, sugar, and tea; however, the staple of Malawi’s diet is maize. Many refugees from Mozambique, Rwanda, and Congo have fled to Malawi. One million people in Malawi live with HIV/AIDS. Malawi has been in entertainment news lately, as Madonna has been attempting to permanently adopt a Malawian child. Malawi youth William Kamkwamba’s story deserves media attention, too.

William Kamkwamba has built a windmill to power his home. Having dropped out of school because of a lack of funds, William studied donated books on wind power at his local primary school. Using salvage materials and investing about $16, he built his own windmill through trial and error. The original windmill could power a few light bulbs and a radio, as well as charge a car battery for days when the wind does not blow. According to Inhabitat,

The 12-meter tall windmill (it was originally only 5 meters) is made out of scrap timber. The blades, originally made from PVC, now steel, power a bicycle dynamo, the type that power a bicycle headlamp, which in turn provides electricity to the battery. William uses this energy for his house, as well as to help others recharge their batteries. Just recently, he moved from a car battery to a deep discharge battery, which will help improve with the power storage of his house.

William is now blogging about his experiences. William Kamkwamba’s Malawi Windmill Blog received 113,047 page views in its first month and is now translated to English. On his blog, you can read about his village, how he is spending the money people from the world are donating for his education and improvements for his village and family, his return to school, and the worldwide attention he has received. You can also view pictures of William. To donate to William, visit his blog. A generous donor will match donations of $50 or more.

William offers inspiration of how youth in less-privileged countries can improve their lives with materials on hand, rather than relying on the country’s infrastructure to build coal and oil power plants. William has used his ingenuity to improve his home with green technology. Perhaps he was not thinking of climate change when he set out with his project, but his story demonstrates how individuals can make a difference. I don’t suspect Americans will be erecting homemade windmills in their backyards out of scrap material, yet this story shows what power the youth have to solve our problems.

Scott James and his family founded Fair Trade Sports, a company providing premium quality sports balls stitched by adult workers, paid fair wages, and ensured healthy working conditions. Fair Trade Sports offers guilt-free soccer balls, rugby balls, volleyballs, and hip apparel. Scott and his family are devoted to helping at-risk children around the world. 100% of Fair Trade Sport’s after-tax profits go to children’s charities. Scott previously worked as director of marketing at Pura Vida Coffee, a sustainable, fair trade coffee, tea, and cocoa company. Fair Trade Sports helps Scott fulfill his mission to "Help others."

Green Options: What gave you the idea or motivated you to launch Fair Trade Sports?

Scott James: My passion is fighting extreme poverty and the problems caused by it. Fair Trade Sports is built to generate after-tax profits for children’s charities, from a Fair Trade foundation (e.g. adult workers - not coerced children - paid fair wages and ensured healthy working conditions). It also helps that I believe in the Fair Trade model and I’m a lifelong soccer player.

GO: You’ve gotten a lot of recent attention lately from Outside and Plenty magazines. Describe your "guerilla marketing" techniques and how this fits into a green business model.

SJ: (Laughing) It starts with having no marketing budget! We don’t need to support multi-million dollar marketing campaigns and sports star’s paid endorsements; instead, we ask our customers and champions to spread positive word of mouth about our mission and our quality products. True word-of-mouth is a great fit for any green business - just think of the resources you are saving (e.g. the trees needed and transportation costs for a direct mail postcard).

GO: Why are 70% of the world’s soccer balls made in Pakistan?

SJ: According to a myth, the sporting goods industry started in Sialkot, because an English man broke his tennis racket and, since an immediate replacement was not possible, he asked a local to repair it. The man did a perfect job, and the sports goods manufacturing industry took root in Sialkot.

Recorded history of the industry goes back to 1895 when the city started becoming famous for its tennis racquets. By 1903, cricket bats were being crafted from imported English willow and exported to different parts of South Asia and beyond. In 1922, one Mr. Syed, was awarded the British Empire Export Award for supplying footballs to the British Army. Over the years, the industry grew to include a variety of wood and leather-based sports equipment, and diversified into related industries such as sports apparel and riding equipment and even the Scottish bagpipes.

GO: Have you ever visited your manufacturer Talon in Pakistan?

SJ: Not yet; several of my business partners have multiple times. I started this company while my wife was pregnant (perhaps not the best timing). We just had our daughter a few weeks ago, so I expect to go sometime soon. I’ll take a video and photo crew to capture the story of our workers there.

GO: What is considered a living wage in Pakistan?

SJ: 4X the standard wage paid to adults.

GO: How are you assured that fair trade practices are utilized in the production of your merchandise?

SJ: FLO does unannounced spot checks of facilities and records for compliance. Their documentation is fairly complete.

GO: Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) states that child labor has been "virtually eliminated" from this industry; however, you do not agree. Please explain.

SJ: The FLO document that makes that incorrect statement is still a good overall document on the positive programs happening at Talon, including their medical program - a first in the sporting goods industry in Pakistan. However, child labor has definitely not been "virtually eliminated" from the industry…not even close. Anyone can Google "Nike and Saga Sports" to see a long, repeated history of failures in this area.

GO: How can you afford to donate all of your after tax profits to charity?

SJ: Like Newman’s Own (the salad dressing and popcorn brand), we’re committed to giving away our "after-tax profits". Keep in mind that after-tax profits are defined as what’s left over after you pay items like salaries, utilities, and of course, your raw inventory. Each year, we’ll also retain a small portion of our proceeds to fund the following year’s growth (likely ~10%).

What’s left over usually gets distributed to shareholders. Given that my wife and I are the sole shareholders, and we are not interested in making Fair Trade Sports a wealth-generating operation, we decided to funnel the after-tax profits towards children’s charities. We expect to reach profitability in late 2007. Until then, we are donating $1000 annually to these organizations to benefit at-risk children worldwide.

GO: Can you describe some of the charities you donate to?

SJ: Yes, right now we donate to Room to Read (international children’s libraries) and the Boys & Girls Club of America. The idea is to help at-risk kids both here in the states and the communities where we source our sports balls.

GO: I love the alternative sleeve t-shirts! These shirts are produced by independent trade members. How do independent trade unions provide a solution to sweatshops?

SJ: The tee shirts are hip, for sure. The alternative sleeve gets alot of double-takes from people when you walk down the street. Everyone should check out USAS (http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org/) as well as the ILRF (http://www.ilfr.org/). Just a little bit of reading will show you a world of alternatives out there to sweatshops, as we’ve used for our tee shirt line and new technical training shirt line.

Once you make the switch to natural laundry soaps and cold water washing, the need for chlorine bleach may creep into your laundry habits. Yet chlorine bleach is harmful to humans and the environment; the good news is alternatives exist. These alternatives are nontoxic or less toxic and will allow you to keep your whites white with a clear, green conscious.

Although bleach manufacturer Clorox claims bleach does not enter groundwater, the addition of bleach to water can free chlorine that can result in the formation of chloroform. Bleach can also combine with ammonia in septic and drainage systems, thus resulting in monochloramine, which is dangerous to wildlife. Furthermore, bleach is harmful to humans. Bleach off gasses for a period of time. Bleach fumes from sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) can cause pulmonary embolisms in susceptible people. In addition, 25,000 children a year in the United States experience an accident involving bleach, such as ingestion, and it is the most common household chemical involved in poisonings. Despite these risks, many groups find household bleach use to be safe, as paper bleaching, pesticides, and plastics manufactures pose greater threats; however, alternatives do exist.

When shopping in your local co-op or natural food store, you may see alternative bleach products sold by companies such as Seventh Generation. The active ingredient in these alternative bleach products is hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is not carcinogenic to humans, but it is a skin irritant and harmful if swallowed or exposed to the eyes. In addition, it can be harmful to aquatic life. It is simple and more cost effective to make your own oxygen-based whitener by mixing hydrogen peroxide with water, in about a 50:50 ratio. According to Seventh Generation, "If every household in the U.S. replaced just one bottle of 48 oz. chlorine bleach with non-chlorine bleach we could prevent 8.2 million pounds of chlorine from entering our environment."

Another alternative to chlorine bleach is to let the sun do the whitening for you. Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice into the rinse cycle, then hang your clothes to dry in the sun. The acid in the lemon juice provides bleaching power, and the sun will sanitize your clothes. This option is great for colors too and will reduce your carbon footprint by eliminating clothes dryer usage!

Alternatives to chlorine bleach do exist, and with a little bit of effort, you can protect your family and environment from this potentially harmful product. Lemon juice, the sun, and hydrogen peroxide provide alternatives accessible to everyone. Keep your whites bright while making your home a safer place!