It’s Earth Month, with Earth Day on April 22nd, and everybody is whipping out their best eco-friendly advice.
I love this infographic from Door to Door Organics of 10 tips to lessen the environmental impact of your food choices; easy ways to start making a difference today.
Opt for organic
Go local
Reduce food miles
Waste less
Keep food fresh longer
Eat less meat
Meal plan
Pass on packaging
Don’t toss, freeze
Turn scraps into dinner
Door to Door Organics, by the by, is an organic delivery service that partners with local farms to bring you just-picked farmers-market produce (and eggs, and meat, and more, depending on your location). The founder grew up not too far from me, in Bucks County.
We’ve used Door to Door Organics’ weekly boxes in the past to get us through until farmer’s markets reopened in the spring, and had great luck with them. They deliver in PA, NJ and DE.
Take this pink ribbon off my eyes I’m exposed And it’s no big surprise Don’t you think I know Exactly where I stand This world is forcing me To hold your hand
-No Doubt, ‘Just a Girl’
When I was a teenager, I took music and concerts very seriously. Back then concerts weren’t nearly as expensive as they are now, and once we were street legal my friends and I went to Philly pretty much every weekend and just saw whoever was playing. I discovered a lot of great bands that way.
When I was 19, I went to the WDRE Fest in Camden NJ (with my boyfriend, who was soon to be my husband). This was 1996. Looking at the lineup for that day, I guess we were probably there for Filter or Fishbone; I really liked (and still do) a song or two from Cracker, The Nixons and the Toadies but I would never have agreed to an all day music festival on the strength of one song.
In any case, we got there nice and early, and we caught No Doubt opening for the day. Now, at that time I don’t think I listened to the radio, ever ( I’m not going to argue the fact that I’m an aging hipster) and I don’t remember recognizing their songs. What I do remember is what a tour de force Gwen Stefani was as a performer. In her pigtails, midriff top and big@ss jeans, she was all over that stage; she was pure energy and howling spirit. I listened to the lyrics of “Just a Girl” as she hollered ’em and I couldn’t get over just how good she was, even as she performed for a nearly empty arena as the audience just started milling in. It’s a moment that’s stuck with me and the song still deeply affects me whenever I stop to listen to it closely.
Over the years No Doubt, and later Gwen as a solo artist, put out a good number more songs that were edgy and unique and catchy and passionate, although I’d probably argue none of them were as powerful as “Just a Girl.”
A cage that’s built in a spirit of love and protection is still a cage. And it’s OK to be angry about it as you fight your way free. As I evolved to become quite vocal about empowering women, especially our daughters, it’s a sentiment that in no small way has informed the perch that I sing my message from.
Jump ahead to 2016, 20 years later, the year I’ve dubbed #NostalgiaTour2016. Sooooooo many bands I loved in the 90s— a time I will fiercely defend as a golden era of music— are either back in the recording studio or back on tour or both. Somehow, I have less money available to me now for concerts, and concerts are much more expensive; I have to carefully pick and choose.
On top of that, I have to consider the fact that when I first bought these albums or attended these concerts, I was in my late teens and the bands were older. Now I’m old; old enough that my son is the same age I was then, and the artists are even older than me. Will their voices still be worth hearing, their performances worth watching? Can their new endeavors stay relevant in this very different world?
Gwen Stefani’s new album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like, was at first an odd listen for me as someone who so clearly remembers the power of “Just a Girl” in concert. Obviously, I went into it wanting Gwen to recapture that raw intensity, that anger at the patriarchy, that GRRRL POWER.
This Is What the Truth Feels Like does do a very good job being relevant to today’s music, and while that’s in no way a bad thing I initially found it disappointing. A ton of the songs on the album (“Misery,” “You’re My Favorite,” “Send Me a Picture,” “Asking 4 It”) are super catchy with fun, dance-y hooks and you can easily imagine Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus or Kelly Clarkson or even for a few fleeting moments Nicki Minaj belting them out. In fact, for a few minutes there I was considering how much today’s female singers have evolved from Gwen’s music, and whether it was possible for Gwen to stand out a whole lot from music that’s derivative of her own.
I was looking for the distinctness, the warbling, the trademark mouthy weirdness of Gwen Stefani, and it does surface to some degree in “Red Flag,” but the song doesn’t hang together quite right for me. And it’s definitely there in “Naughty” and “Me Without You.”
But on a second listen, it was the quieter songs that really spoke to me. I’m not the same person I was in 1996, and neither is Gwen; I have evolved and so has she. And that’s a good thing. She’s become a mother, weathered a very public divorce, opened herself up to someone new (that country singer guy from The Voice; that is literally all I know about Blake Shelton, whose name I had to look up just now). She’s not as hard and loud and as in your face as she once was, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t still powerful, and listening to her lyrics knowing as much as I do about her personal life— which really I have no right to know— well, those lyrics quietly hit home.
From “Truth”: I really don’t wanna embarrass myself and no one’s gonna believe me, (not even myself) and they’re all gonna say I’m rebounding
From “Used to Love You”: I don’t know why I cry, but I think it’s ’cause I remembered, for the first time since I hated you that I used to love you
…
You thought there were no boundaries
What, you just pushed me too far
I guess nobody taught you
nobody taught you how to love
From “Me Without You”: I can love whoever I want, say whatever I want, do whatever I want and now I’m me without you, and things are ’bout to get real good.
So, yes. Give This Is What the Truth Feels Like a listen. If you have tween or teen daughters to listen with you, all the better. This album is, on the surface, a lot of fun. It’s enjoyable. You’ll dance. You’ll sing along. You’ll maybe roll your eyes at a line or two.
But here and there, on a deeper listen, a lyric might sucker punch you in the gut; even as it’s delivered lightly in a lovely voice. Because we’ve all had pain, we’ve all had fear at new beginnings, we’ve all been vulnerable— but Gwen Stefani decided to reveal hers to us in such a public way, and somehow does it without bringing us down. And dang it, even though she’s loved and lost, she is still willing to be vulnerable. She still feels so young and full of vitality. Man, I have a lot of respect for that.
The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.
-Jacques Cousteau
It may seem counter-intuitive to include digital apps in an Earth Month roundup of eco-companies, especially when it comes to kids. But I think we need to meet them where they are, and where they are is getting tons of information via digital means. Any time we can make learning fun is good; any time we can include learning to care about our environment is even better.
The Magic Beach is an interactive eco-friendly storybook app, based on the book Magic Beach written by children’s author Crockett Johnson. If the artwork looks familiar, that’s because Johnson penned and illustrated the kid favorite Harold series, which starts with Harold and the Purple Crayon, as well as the Barnaby comic strips from the 40s. He was also the illustrator for Ruth Krauss’ The Carrot Seed.
There’s a fairly fascinating review of Magic Beach on its Amazon page (you can read it here) that makes me want to run out and buy the book; it appears to be a retelling of sorts of the Fisher King and was discovered still in its sketch form, while research while being done on a biography.
In the story, young protagonists Ann and Ben “have only to write a word in the sand and the item appears before them, making an intriguing play on the notion of spelling and spells. Musing that such things only happen in ‘stories about magical kingdoms,’ the pair proceeds to create just that, conjuring up a king, farms, castles and a horse, on which the monarch rides off to his kingdom, just as the tide rushes in.”
The Magic Beach app (ages 4+) allows players to aid Ann and Ben on their quest to help restore the enchanted beach to its former glory and help a disheartened king reclaim his throne. The beach’s magical waves wash over the written word, creating new characters and objects. There are guided spelling challenges, original animated characters and challenging eco mini-games that encourage environmental stewardship.
The Magic Beach app includes the first two chapters and game of the adventure in the free download; the complete story is available via an in-app purchase of $2.99. It’s compatible with iPhone (iPhone 4 and newer), iPad (iPad 2 and newer, including iPad mini), iPod touch (5th gen and newer).
