Experiments
Try freezing different things

Does a mitten freeze as well as an orange?
What is the difference between those two frozen objects?
Can you freeze a stone? How about dirt?
Collect seeds from fruits and put in a pot
Watch what happens with time and read from the leaves and structures to see which seeds become plants.
Do some fruit seeds grow faster than others? Why is that?
Are some of them more fragile and not strong survivors? Why?

Lemon seeds grow fast and thrive well in a kitchen window. It will stimulate your childs senses because when they touch the leaves they will smell the lemon on their fingers. And as a bonus it keeps the flies away!

Outdoor Fun
Story Walk
Go for a walk and make up stories about people, buildings, trees, mountains, roads, or other objects you come across.
Let the child suggest objects or themes for the story.
Make it more fun by acting out the characters with different voices.

Research of the Neighbourhood
Collect stories from your town or neighbourhood and try to imagine how it was 50 or 100 years ago.
Try to find out how old the earliest buildings are, using books from the library or the Internet.
What did the neighbourhood look like back then?

Play In The Rain
It’s fun to pretend that you are five every once in a while. When it rains it’s fun to go out, lie down and look at the rain fall on you,
get soaking wet and build mud castles. The kids will have fun and the feel of a dry towel afterwards is wonderful.

In the meantime, here are some ideas for fun stuff to do to celebrate Earth Day: http://www.inhabitots.com/2010/04/22/7-ways-to-celebrate-earth-day-with-your-family/

And here you can find more about activities and campaigns in your country today and in the next few days in relation to Earth Day: http://www.earthday.org/

Have a great Earth Day!
Thorunn

The Story of Stuff

Ever wondered how the products you buy ended up in the store you bought them from? Or did you ever think about how a T-shirt can cost less than $2 or a radio less than $5 when it should only be enough to cover the cost of its transportation from Asia?

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute look at the supply chain, especially the parts that are hidden away from the consumers. It reveals the connections between a large number of environmental and social issues, and calls on us to create a more sustainable and fair world.

If you want to know what you can do to address the problems that are discussed in the film, check out Another Way; a list of 10 little and big things you can do.

Thorunn

One of the most polluting industries in the world is the conventional cotton industry. Conventionally grown cotton uses huge quantities of chemicals and fertilizers. As an example, it is estimated that 50% of all pesticide used in India is sprayed on the cotton fields. This has a dramatic negative effect on the environment and to the health of farm labourers who are exposed to the chemicals.

Cotton can however be successfully grown without pesticides by enrolling the help of insects and fungi that attack the cotton pests. That´s how organic cotton is made.

So why doesn´t everybody use organic cotton? I´m not really sure, but my guess is that the main reason is higher cost, less production capacity and slower growing.

But if you think about the real cost of non-organic cotton, I think it will turn out to be much higher than the cost of organically grown cotton, given the effect the chemicals and pesticides have on the environment, consumers, and farm labour. Furthermore, child labor is often associated with the traditional production of cotton.

So what can we as consumers do? Look for environmental, organic or fair trade labels on the clothing we are thinking to purchase. It used to be that only small, specialized stores carried clothing made from organic cotton, but today you should be able to find them in many mainstream clothing stores. Here you can find a list of the most common eco-labels on textiles: Eco Labelling.Org

I will leave you with a short documentary on organic cotton. I hope you find it as informative as I did.

Moral Fibre – Organic Cotton

Part 1:

Part 2:

I wish you a nice and organic weekend!

Thorunn

(photo credit: Wonder Mike)