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.
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The Southwest Portland Post • 5
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 counter-
parts. (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.
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