Read 'n' Seed 5: Fourth Quarter & Final Review of "Last Child in the Woods"

I have just finished reading the end of Last Child in the Woods. It was 316 pages in total. The last few chapters covered what Louv calls "The Fourth Frontier." This is the future of our country and what needs to be done to save our children from nature-deficit disorder.

One of the main things that needs to be done is create "play reservations." These would be safe places for children to play in the nature. They would be outdoors in nature but they would have boundaries so that there is a sense of safety. One of the reasons these need to be created is because land owners have a huge sense of fear of what could happen if a child was to get hurt on their land. Laws about this are very confusing and any legal action has been inconsistent from judge to judge. By creating the play reservations, children would have somewhere in nature to play and landowners would be safe from legal action.

Another solution that Louv listed was that houses need to be constructed with green roofs. These are the roofs that have grass on top and he wants to take it a step further to include plants that are native to the region. This would help with the wildlife to stay connected to the area as well. He calls it "re-enchanting the city," which deals with inviting the animals back to the city. It seems like a good idea but I immediately think of the deer we have in Duluth. They exist here but they do not seem happy or healthy by any means. I do not think of that as the nature we should be experiencing.

Overall, I liked this book. It was biased about the need for nature in children's lives but Louv did a good job of not targeting anyone or group of people for being completely at fault. He also offered advice of what you can do in your community to help.

The three most significant things I learned:

1. Nature would be a great additional therapy for those with ADHD.
2. Some schools are cutting recess, yet others are adding gardening in with their science courses
3. Fear of safety is the largest barrier standing between children and nature. This is somewhat because of their parents. 

I grew up spending the majority of my free time outside. We went fishing and hiking on every family vacation. It is scary to think that children in kindergarten are being diagnosed with depression which may be due to them spending so much time inside in the dark. It is clear to me that there is a correlation between not spending enough time outside and unhealthy lifestyles. We need to encourage parents to educate their children about the outdoors so that they can enjoy it just like we have in the past, and so that they live healthier lives!

I recommend this book to someone who enjoys the outdoors. It was a bit dry and would not be intended for someone who prefers spending time inside because I do not believe the information would be enough to simply change their opinion on the outdoors. It would be a great aid for those who want ideas and support for getting children outside. 

Eye Opener: Environmental Working Group

I have used the same mascara for the last few years. I use L'Oreal Voluminous Original Mascara. I have never had any issues with the product and use it because it does not irritate my eyes.

On EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database it earned a score of 4. This means it has a moderate health concern. I am  not alarmed because I know that are healthier alternatives as well as more dangerous options. It does make me reconsider my choice. I have sensitive skin and in the allergies and immunotoxicity area the mascara had a moderate to high warning. This makes me nervous because even though I do not notice any side effects there definitely may be some.

Read 'n' Seed 4: Third quarter of "Last Child in the Woods"

For the third quarter of the book I read up to Chapter 17. It started by discussing how many experts in nature are getting older and older and younger people are not becoming interested in the field. It isn't until a species is under the threat of becoming an endangered species that many people learn about it.

This section of the book focused a lot of nature in terms of what is learned in schools. Teachers spend time discussing what is happening in the rain forest and other far away places but they rarely spend time teaching about what is surrounding their own community. One teacher from San Diego took her students on a field trip to the desert. She had assumed that her students had already explored the national parks that surrounded the school but less than half of the students actually had.

Another problem with nature only be taught as being far away is that children have a fear of it. People are often afraid of what they don't understand. The jungle and rain forest can seem scary because of all of the unknown which children sometimes apply to their own community. One mom says she tells her daughter to "pay attention" instead of "be careful." This helps children become aware instead of creating fear.

Richard Louv also offered ways to be constructive with boredom and encourage them to enjoy nature

1. A bored child needs to spend more time with a parent or other adult
2. No TV
3. Designating unstructured time

This book has been offering ideas about creating classroom gardens which I think would be beneficial for children. It also discusses taking your children fishing to get acquainted with nature. I was surprised that Louv is against hunting but was so for fishing. I personally do hunt and fish and always enjoy the time that I spend time outside with nature. 

Read 'n' Seed 3: Second quarter of "Last Child in the Woods"

I just finished reading the second quarter of Last Child in the Woods. I read up to page 159. This section started out a bit dry, which was one of the biggest warnings when I was looking at reviews before I started reading.

The first chapter I read discussed the "eighth intelligence." This is the idea that people have greater skills in certain areas of intelligence than others. People with this intelligence have great sensory skills and enjoy spending time outside and learning from nature. An idea that was brought up was that people don't only get 'delight' from being outdoors, but also 'enlightenment.' Being outside allows children to explore and learn and it is likely they learn more from failures rather than their successes. Many parents shelter their children so much from failure that they never learn from it.

Chapter 7 discussed the idea of "loose-parts" toys. When children play indoors with technology they play with it the way it is. While outside they are given a bunch of loose-parts. They can take a branch and collect others to make a fort and then take other loose-parts like leaves to make a canopy. These loose-parts encourage discovery.

The rest of this section mainly discussed ADHD. It really pushes that nature can be an added therapy to medication. Playing outside can be considered nature's Ritalin. It calms children. It is pointed out that playing outside is "widely accessible, free of side effects, non-stigmatizing, and inexpensive."

The follow chapters introduced some of the reasons why parents don't allow their children to play outside freely. The fear of abduction is extremely high while the action rate of abduction by strangers in extremely low. Parents are even making their children wear GPS bracelets that if cut off immediately signal emergency response teams to the location.

I strongly agree that being outside can help children calm down and focus. I think it is so important to let children run free in an open field and allow them to explore things for themselves and not be afraid to fail. One of the major issues that we face, I believe, is television shows that spotlight crime. We have such a fear of children being abducted, which is a real fear, but now we have been led to believe that if happens all the time. It is not as prevalent as many parents assume it is.

Eye Opener: CSPI

For the second eye opener I chose to do the Tour of the Food Supply. The website had a simplified map of a community. The hospital showed facts about how much it costs to treat cholesterol and high blood pressure. I had no idea that it costs $30 billion a year to pay for these drugs! Also, 1,000 Americans die from food-borne illnesses which amounts to $7 billion in related medical costs.

 The main cause of this is usually related to manure which affects the fruits and vegetables. Manure emits methane which has the same amount of negetive impact as the carbon dioxide released from 33 million automobiles! Livestock has even more negative effects. The crops that we use to feed the animals ruins the soil and the ground that they live on is compacted and the soil erodes.

 Another important fact was that 181 million pesticides, which is only 1/3 of the pesticides used in farming , is used on grains, hay, and the pastures. I had no idea how many pesticides were used annually.

I think that we need to have stricter laws put out by the FDA. Currently I am not very familiar with the guidelines that are out there for farmers but I feel more needs to be down. I would also like to learn more about the animal rights and whether or not there is a requirement of amount of space per animal.

Read 'n' Seed 2: First quarter of "Last Child in the Woods"

I just read the first quarter of "Last Child in the Woods." I read up to chapter six which was 70 pages. I was very impressed with how Louv, the author handled the issues that were presented.

The first chapter is entitled Gifts of Nature and discusses how much nature has to offer us. It is compared to what we are offered by watching television. The main idea is that nature allows us to use all of our senses and our imagination and creativity. He also compares nature to Ritalin. I never had really thought about it, but after spending time outside I am much more relaxed even if the activity is high in energy. Louv also discusses how much less children play outside now then compared to how much their parents did. Many parents don't allow their children to simply go run in the woods without them. He calls this lack of time outside nature deficit.

 The time period that we live in now is called The Third Frontier and is discussed in chapter two. The chapter spends time discussing these four ideas:

1.   "For the young, food is from Venus, farming is from Mars."
2.   The end of biological absolutes. Are we mice or are we men? Or both?
3.   A hyperintellectualized perception of other animals.
4.   Contact with nature: so close yet so far 

 The third chapter is entitled "The Criminalization of Natural Play" and discusses how we cant explore the land in ways that we used to. A tree fort now requires a building permit. There are city laws about "injuring" wildlife and plants. Climbing a tree in a city park would be considered injuring it. Part II of the book discusses the health benefits of being outside. It compares how many children are being diagnosed with ADHD and the amount of time spent outside. I did not realize how many kindergarten students are diagnosed with depression and take medication. Louv also makes a connection with parents unwillingness to allow their children to wander outside and a lack of social skills. When I think about my childhood neighborhood, I think about how we wandered from yard to yard and park to park. If children aren't allowed to wander outside or even walk to their friends house are they missing out on social skills?

 I learned so many things while reading this first quarter. I found it very interesting that little research has been done on the subject. This is because in the fifties no one thought that things would change so there is no record of time spent outside. Also little research is being done today because of money. There really are no companies that would benefit from promoting children spend time in the woods. Therefore there is a lack of funding. One statistic that stood out to me is that "In the United States, children ages six to eleven spend about thirty hours a week looking at a TV or computer monitor." That's almost the same time as a full time job!

 I look forward to reading more about the implications of being nature deficit. The main thing is that we simply need to spend more time outside. We can play or just lay on the grass but it is very important to stimulate all of the senses! More and more children are being diagnosed with behavioral issues as well as becoming obese. These may not be cured by spending time outside, but it can certainly help! I'm having issues with Blogger currently, but will hopefully have some links and pictures available soon!

Eye Opener: Ecological Footprint

To be honest I don't think I have ever heard the term 'Ecological Footprint' before, only 'Carbon Footprint.' After reading the article Ecological Footprint I found out that the footprint is equal to the amount of land and water needed to hold the natural resources that we use. I had no idea that we use 1.4 times the amount of resources that the Earth has, meaning that we don't give the Earth enough time to recover. When I went to take the quiz I was pretty sure I knew the results would be bad. I try to be green but honestly I'm not the most environmentally friendly person. When I was taking the Ecological Footprint Quiz  I was really dreading the results because I knew I was giving "ungreen" answers. If everyone lived the same lifestyle that I do, we would need 5.5 Earths to supply the resources! My main issues were services and food.  The Carbon Footprint Calculator showed that I use 11.85 tonnes of carbon dioxide. This is lower than average for the United States but is still higher than most countries. I then took the Carbon Footprint of Nations quiz and found that the U.S. 28.6 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent. This is way above the world average. I knew that the United States had a large carbon footprint, but I have never seen it compared with numbers from other countries. This really is something that we need to change. I will buy more locally grown food and products with less packaging. I will also carpool more often.