Food Sleuth: Holiday Shopping Goes Green, Too

By Melinda Hemmelgarn

Columbia Daily Tribune

December 12, 2007

Available online at: http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Dec/20071212Food002.asp

Remember my friend Angie Tagtow? She’s the Iowa dietitian known for taking an "ecological approach to food and nutrition." Several weeks ago, I reported that she had turned her holiday shopping "green." In other words, she committed to buying more locally produced, environmentally friendly gifts and to saying "no" to potentially unsafe imported toys. Like an increasing number of Americans, Tagtow chose cyber-shopping over gas-guzzling trips to crowded malls. She also named Co-op America’s "Green Guide" her favorite gift catalogue.

Here’s what happened: Tagtow exchanged presents with her sister last weekend and declared her newfound notion of green gift-giving a huge success.

Tagtow says her family is "notorious for buying bottled water and throwing the bottles in the garbage." The practice would drive any environmentally conscious citizen nuts. But rather than harping on, nagging or dropping repeated hints on the insanity of filling plastic bottles with tap water, transporting them halfway across the country and adding the empties to a landfill, Tagtow took positive action.

She gave "plastic-free world kits" to her sister, nieces and nephews to raise their awareness and to help them step lighter on Mother Earth. Each kit includes a stainless-steel reusable water bottle with an insulated sleeve, plus reusable lunch and tote bags. The latter two items are made from recycled plastic bottles.

Tagtow tied an artistic card - on homemade paper - with an educational message to each gift. The card described the personal and environmental benefits of recycling and going plastic-free, such as reducing the risk of harmful chemicals leaching from plastic bottles into our water.

Shortly after my "Earth-friendly, better-than-Martha Stewart" friend returned home from her gift exchange, she received this note from her sister:

"I can’t tell you how great the stainless water bottles are! I have been using them all weekend and haven’t had to open up one single bottle of water. I throw some ice in it, tap water, and it keeps it cold all night long, and I can carry it with me all over the house. As an unofficial product tester, I give it a total thumbs up! Thank you so much for sending those very cool items our way. What a great idea."

Of course, Tagtow, who bills herself as the "green R.D." didn’t stop there. For her nieces and nephews, she also found a wooden train set made in Vermont and a wooden art easel and board game made in Minnesota. She ordered assorted toys and puzzles from ImagiPLAY (www.ImagiPlay.com), an educational toy company dedicated to inspiring kids’ imaginations while instilling environmental awareness. The company’s Web site explains: "Green toys teach kids to think about where things come from and where they’ll go - an early lesson in environmental responsibility and responsible buying."

Personally, I fell in love with the wooden kitchen and models of healthful foods from Peapods, the "mother-owned family store" based in St. Paul, Minn. (www.peapods.com). It is so much better than the plastic kitchen set I purchased a decade ago for my children. That set came complete with models of processed junk food.

As you continue selecting fun and safe holiday books and toys for children, be careful to avoid those that promote branded and processed foods, such as candy counting books and fast-food play sets.

Instead, look for gifts that model healthful living and promote active play and creativity. Follow Tagtow’s example. She knows "green" is the new black - in fashion, smart and sensible.

Here are Web sites to further guide your green shopping:

Vegetable-based candles, soaps, lotions and organic lip balm: www.soyphisticatedcandles.com.

Reusable stainless-steel water bottles and recycled, reusable bags: www.reusablebags.com.

American-made gifts, wooden trains and toys: www.maplelandmark.net.

"Toy Action Guide," developed by Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE): www.truceteachers.org/toyactionguide.html.