Breakfast: good for you and the planet!

Many teens either skip breakfast or grab something starchy and sugary on the way to school. However, from a nutritional point of view, breakfast is the most important part of the day. The solution? A fast and easy breakfast smoothie. You can make your own with protein powder, yogurt and frozen berries, or try Vega smoothie mixes. They have protein for energy, plus all your vitamins and minerals to start the day right. Vega compared its Whole Food Optimizer to a “traditional North American breakfast” including hashbrowns, eggs and bacon, and a “light North American breakfast” including yogurt, cereal and banana. According to the Vega website, there are 38 times more greenhouse gas emissions created by traditional breakfast and 10 times more greenhouse gases created by the light breakfast compared to Vega. Thus, switching to Vega for a year would be equivalent to turning off a 60 watt light bulb for 12,500 hours, or 521 consecutive days (Source: http://sequelnaturals.com/).

Transportation

If no school bus is provided for your school, consider car-free ways of getting to and from class every day. Walk, bike, or create a “walking school bus”, where a group of children walk to school supervised by one or more adult. It’s safer in numbers, easy on the planet, good physical activity and simple for parents, who can take turns supervising. Visit http://www.walkingschoolbus.org/ for more details. If all else fails, carpool or take transit.

Waste-Free Lunch

• Use stainless steel water bottles instead of plastic disposable ones. As I’ve mentioned before, stainless steel is non-toxic, durable, easy to clean and does not rust. Green Bottle (http://www.greenbottleonline.com/) has plenty of fun designs kids will love to brag about to their classmates. They come in 12 oz, 20 oz and 25 oz sizes with a variety of lids including sport tops.
• Look for non-toxic, BPA free Tupperware such as Preserve. Some companies like By Nature and Bento Box Systems offer complete lunch sets for kids including cloth napkins, reusable bags and storage containers. Nubius Organics sells toxin-free reusable cutlery made from bamboo.

Clothes

For back to school clothing shopping, thrift stores are the way to go. Treasure hunting at second hand stores can be just as much fun as showing off the new fashions. It’s amazing to see how many designer labels and never-worn items there are. Plus, kids and teens love having unique pieces that’ll be the envy of all their friends.

For new clothes, even the biggest stores such as Roots Canada, H & M and The Gap are jumping on the organic cotton bandwagon for kids clothes. It’s never been easier to find eco-friendly clothing close to home and at reasonable prices. Just make sure the percentage of organic fibre is high—be wary of 10% organic cotton/90% polyester blends! Bamboo, hemp and soy are other great earth-friendly fabrics.

Supplies

• Before school starts, sort through supplies from the previous years and keep whatever possible. You’ll be saving money in the process.
• Refillable pens and pencils are a smart alternative to disposables. Or, if you prefer, Earthzone pencils are made out of 100% post consumer recycled newspapers—no wood used!
• Paints should be water, not oil based.
• From binders to notebooks, avoid PVC plastic, instead opting for cardboard and paper. In all your paper purchases, look for recycled and non-chlorine bleached options. Remember that unless it says “Post-consumer waste” it may be scrap paper that never left the factory. Try Ecojot Notebooks—they come in cute, stylish patterns and are 100%  post-consumer recycled. For printer paper, most big brand retailers offer recycled options as well. Along the same lines, reduce before you re-use—don’t print rough copies of assignments unless absolutely necessary.
• Backpacks should ideally be made from all-natural materials, such as durable hemp. Otherwise, check out PVC free options at http://www.nubiusorganics.com.

At-School Projects

Environmental class projects don’t have to be reserved for Earth day. There are tons of fun ways to encourage environmental activism to suggest to teachers and school staff. Younger children may enjoy taking nature walks, going on field trips to the recycling depot, and planting trees in the school yard. Students in older grades may wish to start a class vegetable garden and school compost project, or petition for organic options in their school cafeteria.

As adults we know what is good for us.  And, of course, our job as parents is to look after our kids; teach them manners and respect, make sure they get enough exercise, eat a healthy diet.  But do we take as much notice of which personal care products they are using?

A study done by The Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2008 on adolescent exposure to chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products revealed some alarming statistics.  In 20 teen girls aged 14-19 16 chemicals from four chemical families were detected.  These chemicals – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – are linked to potential health concerns, including hormone disruption and cancer.

Most everyone by now has heard of parabens (widely used synthetic preservatives) and the harmful effects they can have on our health, including links to breast cancer.  This study by the EWG is the first to expose statistics for parabens in teens.  And the results are disturbing, with two types of parabens detected in each girl tested.

Couple this information with the fact that teenage girls typically use more products (girls=17, women=12 on average) each day than adult women, upping their exposure to harmful chemicals.

We can and should educate our girls, preferably pre-teen, to the dangers of toxic cosmetic and skin care products and guide them toward recognizing which ones are safe to use.

Face Boutique is new to the skin care scene.  Specifically designed for girls in their teens, the line is free from harmful chemical ingredients and non-irritating.  The products control sebum production, reduce breakouts, minimize pores and keep skin clear and healthy.  And the colorful retro packaging ups the cool quotient.

Lavera also makes a line for young adults and those with acne.  Young Faces Mint line for Oily and Problem Skin clears the skin of breakouts by balancing oil production and soothes and calms irritated skin.  The line includes five products made with mint, rosemary and citrus fruit and is certified by the BDIH.

You can also find a wide range of makeup products to suit our experimental younger set.  Sure, they will probably want to use what their friends are using, but once they start with safer products hopefully their friends will follow suit.  We need to think of using safe organic personal care and beauty products as part of an overall healthy lifestyle.

This past Christmas I filled a cosmetic kit with lip balms, blusher, body lotion and even a water-based nail polish for my daughter that she absolutely loves.  She is already starting to recognize which products are good for her and which she should try to avoid…and she is only six.