ADVENTURES IN ECO-PARENTING

LEAH KLEIN MAKES GOING GREEN CHILD’S PLAY

FESTIVALS OF LIGHT

December is a cold, dark month for many, but it is also a time when
one can walk through any neighbor’s doors and find all kinds of
festivals of light. It is the perfect time of year to consider how
eco-friendly the lighting and heat in our homes are.

December is often a season of giving, but if you begin by taking away, you may see it in a different light. Take away the shiny wrapped presents in the store windows. Take away the mall version of Santa Claus. Take away the images of menorahs flanking the shop entrances. Take away the supermarket display of Kwanzaa candles with their flickering light bulbs. Take away holiday shopping, holiday parties, gift swaps and artificial winter scenes. If you peel away the commercial layers of December, beneath you will find a season full of light, sparkle, twinkle and gifts. The best gifts aren’t bought at the mall—they’re the gift of spending time together. The sparkle isn’t powered by an incandescent light bulb, and the twinkle is not reflecting off of store-bought decorations—it’s in the eyes of loved ones.

December marks the beginning of winter, a season of holidays and traditions. In trying to include everyone and every religious celebration, we end up losing the essential elements of our traditions and lose sight of what we are celebrating. Whether you celebrate the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, Dōngzhì Festival, St. Nicholas Day, Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, Twelfth Night, Modranect, Yule, Diwali, Eid al-Adha, Sadeh or Chahārshanbe-Sūri, there are a few common threads. Darkness, light or fire, tradition and community seem to be central to all these holidays.

EMBRACE THE DARKNESS
Long gone are those seemingly never-ending days where the sun shines bright well into the evening and even perhaps past the children’s bedtime. Those days are great while they last, but there is a plus side to the early darkness: The kids can look outside and know that it is time to rest their heads and go to bed.

There may be a little less time to run and play outside, but there is more time to cozy up on the couch and read a few extra bedtime stories. There is time to peer out the window and look at the lights of the cars, buses and perhaps a few brave cyclists heading home for the day, or to see the stars sparkling in the sky. If you live in a city, then perhaps you can take the time to explore the stars more when you are outside the “light pollution” zone.

CELEBRATE LIGHT THE ECO-FRIENDLY WAY
This is also the perfect time of year to “green” your lighting. Update the bulbs in your lamps and lighting throughout the house. By now, you should have compact fluorescent lights throughout the house. They are readily available and will save you money while you conserve energy. As you celebrate light in your own tradition (lights on the Christmas tree, lighting the menorah, dining by candlelight), talk about the everyday light you use. Remind one another to turn out the lights in rooms that you are not using.

Looking for an activity on a cold winter’s day? You don’t have to be particularly crafty to spend some time making candles together. The smell of beeswax candles is so sweet, and making dipped wax candles is extremely satisfying. For a great dipped wax candles how-to, check out www.kneek.wordpress.com. You can even just pick some candles up at your local store, turn out the lights and imagine what it was like “in the olden days” when after dark there was only candlelight.

COZY UP, CARBON FOOTPRINT DOWN
If you’re heading out for the weekend or the holidays, be sure to install and use your digital, programmable thermostat. The same holds true for your daily routine. Have the thermostat go down during the day while you’re out of the house, then warm up for your homecoming at the end of the day. At night, you can drop the temperature again and snuggle up under the blankets.

For tips on how to install a programmable thermostat, go to www.frugaldad.com.

If you feel a draft coming from under the doors or windows, there’s a fun solution for that, too. Dodge the draft with these simple sewing activities. Gather your old clothes and use shirt sleeves, baby tights or leggings to make draft dodgers of all sizes.

For more draft-dodging tips, go to:

www.instructables.com

www.thedailygreen.com

TOAST AND BE TOASTY
Okay, so maybe you don’t need to turn on the oven to make toast, but take advantage of the warmth of the oven and stove as you cook. Baking is a great winter activity to do with the kids in the evening. You can turn out the lights in all the other rooms, head to the kitchen—which will become nice and toasty as the oven preheats—sprinkle some flour on the counter and bake away. Once you’re done cooking, crack the oven door open as it cools to keep the kitchen nice and cozy.

Leah Klein is the Boston Food Mom at Examiner.com. She loves to keep the house nice and cool and wear cozy sweaters in the winter. No matter how much her parents nag, she insists on walking around barefoot four seasons a year. Baking bread and cookies are a favorite snowy-day activity, and hot chocolate cures all cold noses in her household.