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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2013)
May 2013 FEATURES Dear EarthTalk: My kids just want to play videos games and watch TV all day. Do you have any tips for get- ting them outside to appreciate nature more? – Sue Levinson, Bowie, MD Of course, one of the keys to getting kids to appreciate nature is for parents to lead by example by getting off the couch and into the outdoors them- selves. Since kids love being with their parents, why not take the fun outside? For those kids who need a little extra prodding beyond following a parent’s good example, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), a leading national non-profit dedicated to preserving and appreciating wildlife, offers lots of sug- gestions and other resources through its Be Out There campaign. One tip is to pack an “explorer ’s kit”—complete with a magnifying glass, binoculars, containers for collect- ing, field guides, a notebook, bug repel- lent and bandages—into a backpack and leave it by the door to facilitate spontaneous outdoor adventures. Another idea is to set aside one hour each day as “green hour,” during which kids go outside exploring, discovering and learning about the natural world. NWF’s online Activity Finder helps parents discover fun outdoor activities segmented by age. Examples include going on a Conifer Quest and making a board displaying the different types of evergreen trees in the neighborhood, turning an old soda bottle into a ter- rarium and building a wildlife brush shelter. Another great source of inspira- tion is Children and Nature Network which, during the month of April, is encouraging people of all ages to spend more time outdoors at various family- friendly events as part of its nationwide Let’s Get Outside initiative. Visitors to the C&NN website can scroll through dozens of events within driving distance of most Americans— and anyone can register an appropriate event there as well. Researchers have found that children who play outside more are in better shape, more creative, less aggressive and show better concentration than their couch potato counterparts—and that the most direct route to environ- mental awareness for adults is partici- pating in wild nature activities as kids. So do yourself and your kid(s) a favor, and take a hike! Getting kids away from computer and TV screens and outside into the fresh air is an increasing challenge for parents everywhere. Researchers have found that U.S. chil- dren today spend about half as much time outdoors as their counterparts did 20 years ago. The Kaiser Family Foundation re- ports that kids aged eight to 18 spend on average more than seven and a half hours a day—or some 53+ hours per week—engaging with so-called enter- tainment media. Meanwhile, the Children & Nature Network (C&NN), a non-profit found- ed by writers and educators concerned about “nature deficit disorder,” finds that, in a typical week, only six percent of American kids aged nine to 13 play outside on their own. According to Richard Louv, a found- ing board member of C&NN and author of the book, Last Child in the Woods, kids who stay inside too much can suffer from “nature deficit disorder,” which can contribute to a range of behavioral problems including attention disorders, depression and declining creativity as well as physical problems like obesity. Louv blames parental paranoia about potential dangers lurking outdoors and restricted access to natural areas—com- bined with the lure of video games, websites and TV. Make the Switch to Dish Today and Save Up To 50% ** Promotion al Pack starting a a t ges only ... PREMIUM MOVIE CHANNELS mo. for 12 mon ths PACKAGES UNDER $ 50 Prices valid for 12 months. Requires 24-month agreement For 3 months. 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(Photo courtesy of iStockPhoto) CONTACTS: Richard Louv, www. richardlouv.com; NWF Be Out There, www.nwf.org/Be-Out-There.aspx; C&NN, www.childrennature.org. Dear EarthTalk: I’m getting my roof redone and have heard about solar shingles. Are they available—and are they practical for the Northeast? – John Denson, Glastonbury, CT Solar shingles are photovoltaic cells designed to look like and integrate with conventional asphalt roof shingles. First commercially available in 2005, solar shingles were much more costly than traditional “bolt-on” photovoltaic panels, and thus were used mainly by those wanting to go solar but maintain a traditional roofline. But more recently solar shingles have become price-competitive with bolt- on panels, and are getting much more popular accordingly. Eco-conscious home and building owners might find solar shingles espe- cially attractive when they are re-shin- gling anyway since the solar shingles also double as functional, protective and weatherproof roof shingles in their own right. The biggest name in solar shingles is Dow’s Powerhouse line, which uses cutting edge Copper Indium Gallium Selenide solar cells (aka “thin-film” solar) to turn sunlight into electricity via a supplied inverter box. The Powerhouse shingles generate 12 watts per square foot and are “grid- tied,” meaning they’re designed for structures already connected to the power grid and can send excess power back to the grid. They are wireless, snap together and can be installed by regular roofing con- tractors just like (or alongside) conven- tional asphalt shingles (an electrician needs to set up the inverter box). Dow reports that a typical residential cluster of 350 solar shingles on a roof could slash one’s household electric bill by 40-60 percent. Such an installation can cost a home- owner over $20,000, but federal, state and local incentives can bring the cost to half that in some areas. Powerhouse shingles are currently available (from Dow-authorized con- tractors) in California, Colorado, Con- necticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Massa- chusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington, D.C. (Continued on Page 7)