League of Maternal Justice

Because Vigilante Super Hero Moms Deserve A Treat Now And Then

I could write volumes on the number of bad-slash-inappropriate-slash-downright-startling gifts that I've received over the years. The case of beer from a (very short-term) boyfriend one not so memorable Valentine's Day. The denim overalls - way too big for me, which was irrelevant, because I was never, EVER going to where them anyway - from my mother one birthday. The completely unsexy full-body footy pajamas from my husband that Christmas that his mother stayed with us. The hairnet he shoved in my stocking that same year.

All of those gifts? Trashed. (Except the beer. I drank that.) Well, the hairnet got trashed. The overalls and the pajamas went to Goodwill, I think, in some giant bags filled with other assorted undesirable miscellany. But they might have gone to the landfill, or into the atmosphere to destroy the ozone, had I been upset enough to dramatically throw them in the trash or burn them.

It's for this reason that I consider it to be a public and environmental service that any and all persons purchasing gifts for women like myself give due care and consideration to both the desirability of the gift and the eco-friendliness of the gift - to reduce the chances that the gift will be turfed, and to reduce the impact of the gift upon the environment if it is turfed.

To assist in that service in advance of Mother's Day - and in honor of Earth Week - I have compiled a short list of gifts that are likely to meet that criteria of 'due care and consideration' (I'M TALKING TO YOU, HUSBAND-MAN. READ CAREFULLY):

Plastic? NOT Fantastic

The EcoMomsAct project has a new challenge to pimp. You want in? Read on...

From BlogHers Act Canada:

According to Greenloop, "Each year over 1 million birds and sea mammals die from plastic ingestion or entanglement.  Fifteen million trees are cut down every year to make paper bags in this country.  Less than 1% of plastic shopping bags get recycled.  12 Million barrels of oil are used annually to produce plastic bags in the US."

Over the last couple of years, it's been getting easier and easier to be a consumer who shops without the use of plastic bags.  In our front hall closet we have a big pile of cotton and canvas shopping bags, and on a good day, I remember to bring them with me.  (The trick seems to be leaving some cloth bags or a basket in the trunk of the car.)  I even bought reusable mesh shopping bags, which I love because it means I don't even have to use those thin, clear plastic bags when I buy produce.

February’s Challenge

This month, BlogHers ACT Canada’s mission is to eliminate the use of plastic shopping bags.  We don’t just want to cut back on using them, we want to get rid of them completely. If China can do it, so can you!  Getting rid of the bags you have lying around in your home is the first step. So join BlogHers ACT Canada, and our partners, Green Mom Finds and the League of Maternal Justice, and DITCH THOSE BAGS.

We've got prizes!

We realize that this is an uphill battle.  Maybe your family has a mountain of plastic bags stashed somewhere at home.  If this is the case, how creative can you get with them?  Can you find an alternative use for those evil plastic bags? Gather all of the plastic bags from around your home and do something with them.  Make a tote bag.  Make a hat. Anything.  Then, take a photo of your creation and blog about it. Or, take a photo that shows how you deal with those plastic shopping bags in another way, like recycling them.  Don’t forget to comment back here by February 15th, with a link, and a random draw of participants will determine the five winners of these EcoMomsAct prizes: three winners will receive a Greenloop reusable shopping bag, one winner a Skeeda reusable bag, and another winner will receive a set of reusable mesh produce BYO Bags.  Prizes are all courtesy of the lovely ladies at Green Mom Finds.  Good luck!

Got all that? Good. Now get to work on those bags. They won't recycle themselves.

Expanding League Power! And - NoMeatPoWeek!

Hopefully, you've heard about the super-cool initiative that is BlogHersAct Canada. It's a sister-project to BlogHersAct that draws upon the talent and energy of Canadian women bloggers (although participation is by no means restricted to Canadian bloggers), and the cause that it is championing this year is the environment. Which is awesome, because we all the environment, right? And we all want to make it safe and lovely and long-lasting for our children, no?

Of course we do. Which is why LMJ has struck up a partnership with BlogHersAct Canada and another super-cool online eco-initiative that you almost certainly already know, Green Mom Finds, to join forces and kick some serious ass in saving the planet. You know, for the kids.

BlogHersAct Canada's mandate this year is to spend the year issuing and meeting monthly eco-challenges, to push people to make realistic objectives around helping the environment and to help them meet those objectives by generating oodles of blogosphere support. From here on in, LMJ and Green Mom Finds are going to getting really, really naggy with our supporters and do everything we can to drum up participation in these challenges (okay, naggy, but sweetly naggy, and also bribey - there'll be prizes!!!)

SO. Shall we get started?

The first challenge of the year issued by BHA-Canada was to reduce meat consumption for the month of January (read about it here, and here), by at least a few meals per week. Well, January is almost over, but there's still time to make a last-ditch effort. Can your family go without meat for a week? Are you willing to try?

We're going to make it manageable - from Monday to Friday of next week (so, you have this weekend to gorge on bacon sandwiches, if you need to), make your best effort to keep vegetarian in your kitchen, and keep a record. Write a post, or append an update to your regular posts, every day (or as many days as you can), and then post a wrap-up sometime between next Friday and next Sunday, midnight, explaining how it went, what worked, what didn't work, any recipes that were life-savers, what-have-you. Note that we're not going to hurl Tofurkey at you if you don't make it through the week - the point here is to TRY, and share our experiences in making this effort with each other. Also, we think it will be funny ("day five: I thought that husband was nibbling my toes to be sexy, but turns out that he - having gone five days without sausages - was trying to eat them")

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