Derek Markham – Green Lifestyle Market

5 Ideas to Help Kids Love the Outdoors

(NaturalPapa – Mike Freiberg) One of the best ways to ensure that your kids stay active and healthy is to instill a love for the outdoors. If you find yourself having to kick your kids out the door to keep them away from the TV and computer, try these ideas to make being outside and enjoying nature a more regular, effortless part of your kids’ lives.

1. Teach them how to have fun outside

When my boys were younger, the complaint I heard constantly was, “But there’s nothing to do outside!” I realized that I needed to show them some of the fun that was out there to be had, so we spent time camping, fishing, riding bikes, and playing simple outdoor games.

Kids don’t instinctively know all the traditions and culture that grown-ups take for granted, but by teaching them to be capable outdoorsmen-and-women, dads can alleviate some of the struggle of pushing them to play outside. If you’re a little insecure in your outdoor skills, make technology work for you – there’s an endless supply of online resources for you and your kids to develop wilderness skills.

2. Make the natural world a place for learning

Kids love to learn about the world around them – and the more you understand about nature, the more exciting it becomes. My boys love Animal Planet, but it took some work to convince them that the plants and animals in their proverbial backyard were as interesting as what goes on in Africa or the Amazon. For them, the turning point was the anthill in the backyard. When we talked about the way ants socialize and communicate, and the billions of connections that they need to survive, suddenly our backyard was a pretty cool place to be.

Project Noah is a good resource for teaching kids about local wildlife – it provides fun facts and identifying characteristics for thousands of animals, and even allows kids to contribute to ongoing zoological research.

3. Find what’s exciting about your part of the world

Even if you don’t have big mountains or beaches in your neighborhood, there’s always something beautiful to discover. It might take a little more work if you live in an area without a lot of natural green-space, but you can check Google Earth, or your state’s park listings for information on the closest wilderness areas. Kids are great at finding natural wonder, so it doesn’t need to be the Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls—a local creek or pond can be enough to get them excited.

4. Love the outdoors yourself

Practicing what you preach may be the hardest part about getting your kids outside. It’s easy to think that you don’t have time amid grown-up concerns to get out in nature, but it’s tough to impose priorities on kids if you aren’t willing to get involved yourself. Not only will it be easier to get kids outside if they see you enjoying the outdoors, but it will also do wonders for your own peace of mind. Make it a personal mission to spend more time outside; kids don’t push easily, but they love to follow a good example.

5. Have fun backyard activities

The days of letting kids play out in the street until sundown may be behind us, but your backyard can be a great place for kids to play when you can’t be right with them to supervise. Make your backyard a fun place to be; build a sandbox, a swing, or a treehouse.

Most of those projects are a lot easier than they look—a sandbox can be as simple as four railroad ties and a couple bags of sand. You can make swings easily with rope, old benches, and a sturdy bough of a tree. A treehouse is a little bit more work, but you don’t need to be an engineering genius to make it happen. Overall, think about what you had as a kid (or what you wish you’d had), and do what you can to make it a reality for your kids.

Natural Health Benefits of Adding Beauty in the Home

(NaturalPapa – Regi Waters) Although many people associate the positive health benefits of art with creating it themselves, psychologists and other medical professionals have also indicated that simply viewing art on a regular basis can also provide you with several perks. Therefore, it is a good idea for fathers to consider purchasing art prints to place in their home. Even if you are not very familiar with the art world, you can easily pick out a few eye-catching prints by utilizing an online art store.

Here are a few ways that art can benefit you and your family:

Bright Colors can Increase an Infant’s Cognitive Abilities – According to psychologists, exposing a baby to a wide variety of colors will enable their brain to make more neuron connections than their peers who do not receive the same level of visual exposure. In other words, placing art prints on your walls that contain bright colors can actually help your child become more intelligent. This is definitely a great way to give them a good head start in life, and you can provide them with this important opportunity without needing to spend a lot of money.
Art can Reduce Their Stress Level – Although many people believe that young children do not have a high amount of stress in their lives, it is important to recognize the fact that they do deal with factors on a daily basis that can cause them to feel stressed out. For example, if they have an older sibling, they could feel stress based around the idea that they could be picked on at any moment. Therefore, it is vital to take steps to help reduce the level of stress that is felt by each member of your home.
Viewing Art can Increase Creativity – Having a creative outlet is a great way for a child to relieve their anxiety and increase their self-esteem. Fortunately, research has proven that simply viewing art will enable the viewer to become more creative. In other words, placing art prints on your walls is an investment in your child’s overall future creativity. When you consider how often they will be called upon to be creative in the future, it is easy to understand why you should help them build their level of creativity at a young age.
Art Boosts Mental Health – There have been several studies conducted that have proven that there is a link between viewing art on a regular basis and having a positive mental outlook. In fact, developing an appreciation for art can help the viewer ward off feelings of depression. When you add this to the fact that art can also reduce stress, increase creativity and increase a child’s mental faculties, it is no wonder that so many people make the decision to place colorful art prints in their home.

Now that you understand all the positive benefits of art, it is a good idea to consider purchasing art prints for each child’s room and any shared areas of your home. By doing this, you will help give your child a good basis for positive mental health, and you will also encourage them to develop an appreciation for art and other cultures.

How to Live a Sweatshop-free Life

The word sweatshop conjures up images out of a Charles Dickens story: children and mothers and the elderly working their fingers to the bone for 12 hours a day, in a dank, dimly lit basement, for pennies.

Of course, that doesn’t really happen, does it?

Yes, unfortunately it does. Sweatshops are still exploiting men, women, and children all over the world, churning out mass-produced articles of clothing and consumer goods to make the owners and CEOs and stockholders wealthy. And those workers? They’re at the bottom of the heap. Yes, they are employed. What they’re missing is dignity and a decent wage.

For those of us working toward positive change in the world, steering clear of any kind of exploitation is very important. One action we can take every single day is to make sure we’re not supporting businesses that are built on high profits and low workers wages, such as sweatshop manufacturing.

For example:

Golfer Tiger Woods won a $100 million endorsement deal from Nike in 2004. Nike CEO Phil Knight earned $4.2 million in 2004. In 2003, Knight ranked 31st richest person in the U.S. with a worth of $5.8 billion.
And the hourly wage of Nike’s workers in Indonesia? $0.17. That’s an annual wage of $444.
Still want to buy some Nikes?

To do your part in helping to change this, pledge to go ‘sweat-free’. This means not buying clothing made in sweatshops. Not buying clothing from companies that won’t disclose the conditions in its factories. Not buying clothing from companies that won’t even discuss going ‘sweat-free’. And sending a message to retailers and manufacturers by voting for sweat-free products with your money.

Here’s a quick and dirty guide to living a sweat-free life:

Reduce the amount of new clothes that you buy: Probably the easiest thing you can do to live a sweatshop free life is to simply purchase less new clothing. Most of us don’t need or wear all of the clothes in our closet, so if we can curb the impulse to purchase another new piece of clothing, we don’t even need to worry about the issue of supporting sweatshops with our money.

Shop for reused clothing: Most cities have thrift and clothing consignment stores, from Goodwill or the Salvation Army, to Buffalo Exchange and vintage clothing shops. You don’t need to read labels here, either, because the clothing is already on its second life. Yard and garage sales are also excellent sources of ‘previously owned’ clothing.

Barter for, or trade clothes: If you’re a community organizer-type person, plan a clothing swap among your friends and relations. Invite a group to your house and have them bring all of the clothes they wish to get rid of, and then everyone takes their pick – all free. The leftovers can be donated to your local nonprofit thrift store afterward. Hold a clothing swap once per season, or in the spring and fall, and you’ll have plenty of new (to you) duds, without spending a dime or supporting sweatshops!

Make your own: Making your own clothing is a lost art, but anyone with some time, material, and a pattern can begin to make basic articles of clothing. Or re-purpose another piece of clothing into a ‘new’ garment. Make friends with the sewing circle ladies, and keep your eye out for a decent sewing machine at yard sales.
Buy union-made clothing: Just because the label says “Made in the USA” doesn’t mean it’s sweatshop-free. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that two-thirds of garment shops in New York and southern California are sweatshops. And some of the so called U.S. made clothing was actually produced somewhere else(in a sweatshop) and simply finished in the U.S. But buying clothing made by union members, like UNITE HERE, orShop Union Made, means you’re supporting garment workers who actually have a voice and the power of negotiation.

Use sweatshop-free clothing directories, like the one at New American Dream, Sweat Free, Clean Clothes Connection, Organic Consumers Association. No list will be exhaustive, and no major brand-name can be certified “sweatfree” because their production facilities and the conditions within the factories change rapidly. There is no independent third party certification system for sweatfree apparel, but the Fair Trade label is a good indicator.

Look for labels from sweatshop-free companies, like Maggies Organics,Unionwear, Justice, or No Sweat Apparel.

Learn about worker-owned cooperatives and buy from Fair Trade certified organizations (fairtradefederation.org). Co-operatives have equitable business structures and collective bargaining power, ones which benefit all of the workers, not just an owner or some absent stockholders. All members of a cooperative are shareholders of the business, and many Fair Trade companies buy from worker cooperatives or collectives. Stay out of the big box stores: The major retailers are trying to push as much stuff out the door, and get as much of your cash as they can, so bargaining for better working conditions from their suppliers is not high on their priorities. Much of the goods sold there are produced overseas, in what are most likely sweatshop conditions. If you don’t see any indication otherwise on the label, it’s safe to assume the product was produced in a sweatshop. Ask your favorite retailer about their purchasing guidelines: To raise awareness of the sweatshop clothing issue among retailers, ask your favorite brands and stores what they are doing about fair wages and working conditions for their suppliers. If they don’t have any clear answers about their practices, you can help to educate them about the issue, and point them to retailers or manufacturers who have made changes. It’s important to put the pressure on the end-seller, and use your shopping dollars to support businesses that have the same values as you.

No, you don’t have to go around naked to live a sweatshop free life. But you do have to ask yourself some hard questions about the type of clothing you buy and who you buy it from. It’s not as easy as strolling to the mall and filling up your basket, but it’s not as hard as you think. And it’s worth it. Every single small change we make in our habits adds to every other person’s small changes until it reaches critical mass. And that’s when the big changes come.