Thank You, Julianne Moore

“Air pollution isn’t just dirty, it’s poison for our children!” ~ actress, Julianne Moore

It is beyond gratifying to me that an actress I admire so much has lent her celebrity and advocacy to the Moms Clean Air Force. Julianne Moore has joined the Force.

She gets it.

Julianne gets that we ALL need clean air to breathe. She gets that clean air isn't about politics or jobs, it's about our health...and she's not afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

Go Julianne!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY7OraM8FHo&feature=youtu.be

Read Julianne's post about why she joined Moms Clean Air Force HERE.

Photo: Dominique Browning

Please Don't Pollute Our Nests

I love nests. The original logo for Econesting was a nest. My daughter (a graphic designer) and I went back and forth between a nest or a tree logo. At the time, my life was in flux. I had just left my teaching job, and as my youngest left for college, my nest was empty. The nest seemed so fragile and exposed. My daughter guided me towards the strong, solid tree. We both loved the movement of the tree. But, nests and birds fascinate me. I've written widely about the ones that visit my home, and the birdhouses my community created for a fundraiser.

Canary In A Coal Mine

First to fall over when the atmosphere is less than perfect Your sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect You live your life like a canary in a coal mine You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line Canary in a coal mine ~ Sting

Did you know the refrain from that Police song is the literal interpretation of the expression, “canary in the coal mine" – an old practice used by coal miners? Canaries were sent into coal mines as a warning signal for toxic gases, fumes and other air pollutants. Early mines did not feature ventilation systems, so miners would bring a caged canary into the mine because tiny canaries are especially sensitive to air pollution. If the teeny bird kept singing, the miners knew their air supply was safe. A silent canary signaled immediate evacuation.

Birds are such vulnerable, tiny creatures, so it's no surprise they are highly susceptible to pollutants. Like Thoreau said, "The bluebird carries the sky on his back.”

I recently wrote a Moms Clean Air Force post called, DON’T POLLUTE MY NEST. The piece delves into the fragility of birds in our changing environment.

I can't help but reiterate my strong feelings that if we continue to delay, dismantle, decimate and ditch the Clean Air Act, it's our littlest creatures who will be the next "canaries in a coal mine." Let's not leave our children carrying the weight of the sky on their backs...and in their nests.

Please join me and thousands of parents who are fighting to clean up the air for all the earth’s creatures. Thanks!

Photo: Garden Design

The TRAIN Act Is On The Wrong Track

The most current misguided effort in the war on our children’s right to breathe clean, pills healthy air is the TRAIN Act of 2011, order spearheaded by Majority Leader Cantor. This train wreck of a bill will block the EPA’s proposed standards to control mercury and power plant pollution.

The House votes at the end of the week on Bill (HR 1705), or The TRAIN Act. This bill is designed to gut Clean Air Act regulations, and leave the Environmental Protection Agency crippled.

What can you do about it? Help get the word out that we will fight to keep our families healthy, we can tell our representatives in Washington that we will not elect them if they don’t protect us from the ravages of pollution - to stop putting politics over people, we can start looking for politicians that honor their words and value all human lives, and we can stand strong with the Moms Clean Air Force because moms know what’s best for their children: Clean Air.

READ THE FULL POST HERE,

Photo Credit: Polyvore

Mother Love Is A Force Of Nature

We launched! It's been a busy time for the folks at Moms Clean Air Force. We've been writing, designing, developing, and finally launching a shiny new website!

While I've been holed up with my computer for hours on end, the collaborative effort has been incredibly inspiring. Working with a team is something I've missed being a freelance writer/editor/blogger these past four years.

Once I corral the talented team of writers, and teach them how to use all the nifty new tools, I will have time to write again. Yay!

In the meantime, do you want to learn more about MCAF? Of course you do!

Below is the MCAF welcome note from founder, Dominique Browning. After you check out the website (just beautiful, huh?), please come back and tell me what your thoughts are about the site and our mission to clean up the air. Thank you!

Mother Love Is A Force of Nature

Moms Clean Air Force has a newly designed website, and I’m delighted to welcome you to our community. We’re creating a movement for people who see air pollution as a straightforward, urgently important health issue.

Our goals are simple: educate people about why air pollution is still a big problem; raise awareness about what’s at stake politically; inspire people to take simple, fast action to send Washington a message.

We know moms are busy. But moms are also extraordinarily protective of their children’s health. We specialize in Naptime Activism.

Our bloggers take our message into their communities, reaching millions of readers. We network on Facebook and Twitter. Our growing community includes nurses, doctors, scientists, politicians, novelists, journalists, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, knitters and bakers–concerned moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, and sons. Air pollution is harmful to everyone with a beating heart.

Air pollution contains toxins that harm people’s brains, lungs, and hearts. It is affecting our food and water. Children are especially vulnerable to toxic pollutants; Latino and African American babies suffer disproportionately from poisoned air. While there are lots of things we can do, as individuals, to keep our children safe at home, no one can control the air they breathe. We need regulations for that.

We’re all for respecting reasonable, efficient government budgets. But we don’t want our babies thrown out with the bathwater.

President Nixon’s Clean Air Act of 1970, and the agency he founded, the Environmental Protection Agency, have accomplished a great deal in cleaning American air and water. But the work isn’t done. The sky might be blue, but that doesn’t mean it is clean. In forty years, we’ve learned much more about invisible pollutants that wreak havoc on our health, causing neurological and developmental problems. Asthma rates among children are skyrocketing.

Air pollution isn’t just dirty. It is poisonous. Polluters are fighting for the right to pollute!

The Clean Air Act and the EPA are facing an unprecedented attack by some politicians and coal and oil industry lobbyists. That’s because emissions from coal-fired power plants are the single largest contributor to mercury toxins in our air.

Many responsible coal plant owners have done the right thing and cleaned up their toxic air emissions. It hasn’t hurt their bottom lines at all–they’re making record profits. The EPA has created thousands of jobs for Americans in the last forty years–in sectors from research to enforcement to engineering to new technology development.

Air pollution can be cleaned up. Please join Moms Clean Air Force to make our voices loud and clear. Send politicians a forceful message: Strengthen and enforce pollution regulations!

Polluters have power, money and political influence. But moms have love. And that’s the strongest force of all. Now we have to use it.

PLEASE JOIN MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE

Clean Air Design: 5 Cool Picks

Can clean air design change the world? Like most artists, designers create objects for our families that reflect social and environmental issues and trends. To solve a health and environmental problem such as air pollution, designers are doing their part in creating homes, clothing, cars and communities that address the crisis.

The Moms Clean Air Force has been chronicling the hazardous connection between where people live and the environmental factors that expose children to pollutants that cause significant health risks, such as lung disease, asthma, lead poisoning, cancer, reproductive impacts, birth defects, and even heart attacks. Air and water are the primary conveyances of pollutants and toxins, but exposure can also occur through contaminated soil during the fracking process.

“Good air quality is key to promoting respiratory health...The main sources of air pollution are area sources (dry cleaners, lawn mowers, etc.), mobile sources (cars, trucks, off-road equipment), and stationary sources (factories, power plants, etc.). These different sources produce different types of pollutants that can cause problems for respiratory health, cardiovascular health, and cancer treatment. Locating sensitive land uses in close proximity to polluting facilities or major roadways can raise health concerns for sensitive populations. Some pollutants tend to have a greater effect over an entire metropolitan area and others drop off fairly quickly away from the source.” ~ Design For Health

5 Clean Air Designs

1. Car Removes 95% of Ozone Toyota has developed a material that can remove 95% of unreacted ozone or ground-level air pollutants from the air when used in an ozone filter. What does this mean? The future car you drive could clean the air instead of polluting it. Read more about this at Inhabitat.

2. Breathing Walls Plants have the ability to do more than just bring a hint of nature into your home. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during the photosynthetic process. Researchers found many common houseplants absorb benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and other pollutants. Plants can improve indoor air quality. DIRTT Environmental Solutions created the Breathe Living Wall system for health and energy-savings. The wall lessens the load of ventilation systems, and introduces more healthful plants into living spaces. Read more about this at Top 10 Green Building Products.

3. Clean Air Communities Smart Growth designers and planners are designing communities that include plans for driving less. “With over nine million children in the U.S. suffering from asthma and millions more Americans who die each year due to high levels of air pollution, designing communities in ways that reduce traffic and encourage healthy options like walking and bicycling are crucial.” Read more about this at Smart Growth: Healthy Communities, Healthy People.

4. Buildings Eat Smog Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of America's energy use. Much of this energy comes from coal-fired plants and other dirty sources. Alcoa created EcoClean building panels with a titanium dioxide coating that interacts with sunlight and breaks down nitrogen oxide - the smog-causing compound. The process happens naturally when rain washes off a building. Alcoa claims that 10,000 square feet of coated aluminum would have the air-cleaning effects of 80 trees. Read more about this at Good.

5. Catalytic Clothes Purify Polluted Air OK, this one is my favorite. Catalytic Clothing has created a dress that can purify polluted air through a chemical reaction on the surface of the fabric. They claim the dress can reverse the environmental impact of air pollution!

“Exposure to airborne pollutants presents a risk to human health and also has a detrimental effect on ecosystems and vegetation…The widespread introduction of Catalytic Clothing would dramatically reduce the level of airborne pollutants, thereby improving the quality of life for all members of society.”

Check out this video featuring a model wearing an air purifying dress - background track by Radiohead. Read more about this at The Ecologist.

http://vimeo.com/24560187

Can “design thinking” imbue a wide spectrum of solutions to help in the air pollution crusade? You bet. Good clean air design can change the world! Want to join designers as they connect the dots between design, the environment and our health? The Moms Clean Air Force is an innovative community of parents devoted to finding creative solutions to keep our children breathing the clean air they deserve. Please help us design a future for our children free of pollution. Thank you!

Credit: Ben Scott