The Sundance Channel’s new environmental program, The Green, has several very interesting episodes available for view online. Look at this list and see if you see what I do:

• Crapshoot: The Gamble with Our Wastes – dangerous sewer toxicity
• Waste = Food – planning true recycling of waste from the moment of manufacture
• A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash – when oil fields go dry

I see diapers.

Sewer Waste? I have seen lately how many people are flushing petro-chemical wastes down the toilet in the name of eco-diapers. What does this add to the toxic load of our wastewater treatment systems?

Waste = Food. To make diapers truly sustainable, everything left after the working life of a diaper needs to become food for another process.

Crude. I continually wonder why people are willing to use plastic, a product that originates as crude oil, to do a job that renewable resources do perfectly well.

I notice more publicity lately on eating organic food. This is not new, but more organic food in the news does mean more mainstream saturation. This is what has happened with global warming awareness. The fact of global warming is certainly not new, but enough people, organizations, businesses, and governments are now well informed about the facts that the way forward becomes more clear. Maybe the movement to encourage organic food will reach that same kind of educated saturation in time.

For now, we have the organic industry organization on a mission to encourage us to buy 10% organic food by 2010 — not a bad thing but definitely a movement with sellers in mind, making us not people who want to eat but just consumers. Means to profit. Others are encouraging us to consider clean food, too. The Environmental Working Group’s FoodNews.org is offering a list of which foods are most important to buy organic because USDA pesticide tests show they are most likely to have trace pesticides. Peaches, for example, had the highest pesticide load with a score of 100.

I look forward such a saturation of information on organic fibers that a mainstream audience will know the basic facts and the way forward to lower-impact clothing, including diapers, will be clear. Until then, keep talking about organics so we can reach that tipping point.

Did you Step It Up over the weekend? Next comes Earth Day. A lot of Earth Day events are focusing on climate action. If you haven’t done so already, how about calculating your carbon footprint or your ecological footprint. I did this recently for a discussion class I took on global warming, and I was surprised what a difference it made to visit Granny and Grandpa in England. Ouch. 75% of our family’s carbon emissions for the year.

One thing I have noticed in the dozen or more calculators I’ve seen is: no diapers. You and I both know that using environmentally sound renewable resources to create reusable diapers makes a difference. Where is this choice in all of the detailed calculators? If you use a calculator and you don’t see diapering choices listed, write a note to mention it to the calculator authors. Maybe they hadn’t considered what an impact reusable diapers have, especially when compared with the massive solid waste problem of throwaway plastic diapers.

Step It Up : http://stepitup2007.org/
Earth Day Network : http://www.earthday.net/
Carbon Calculator (one of many): http://www.safeclimate.net/calculator/

An article this week on pollution caused by the global shipping industry left me thinking, yet again, about buying local.

The group behind the report, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), also said the shipping industry emits more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide than many industrialized nations.

Serious sustainability considers carbon emissions at every step along the way. This includes shipping, particularly long-distance shipping. Those looking to green their lives should consider taking the carbon out of the equation when they buy cloth diapers. Whether you are considering a 100-mile diaper stash or any other way to buy local cloth diapers, buying local is a great way to build community.

Am I asking you not to buy diapers from Firefly Diapers? Of course I’m not! I would love to sell you a great organic cotton cloth diaper, and I have sent Firefly Diapers around the world.

I also know that there are local cloth diaper manufacturers in every country where I send diapers. I am suggesting that if you consider carbon emissions as part of your overall footprint on the earth, you may want to choose to buy cloth diapers manufactured near you. Get to know your local cloth diapermaker. This is just one connection in your local web.