Lynda Fassa
DCL
Lynda Fassa is one green mama. In the past two years, this mother of three (who moonlights as Planet Green's babies and families expert) has put out two guides to raising children the organic way: first Green Babies, Sage Moms, and now Green Kids, Sage Families. Her books focus on easy ways to incorporate organics and green living into a family lifestyle, with a good dose of reality about conventional products, from cleaning supplies and bath products to foods.
Fassa got hip to the organic lifestyle 16 years ago, when the birth of her daughter inspired her to drop her cigarette smoking, coffee drinking ways and try to make her baby's world-and the world as a whole-a better place. At the time, the word "organic" was most commonly associated with dirt and molecules. But Fassa blazed a trail, starting her own organic cotton baby clothes company, Green Babies, as a reaction to the toxins and adverse ecological impact endemic in conventionally grown cotton.
The green movement has blossomed since those early, unsure days, and Fassa, now a green guru in her own right, keeps working to get the word out there. We caught up with her to hear a bit more about the past, and her hopes for the future.
When you started Green Babies 16 years ago, did you have a sense of the oncoming Green Revolution?
I wouldn't have started it if I thought it wasn't going to happen. I've always thought that we're all connected to each other and we're all the same—with dramatic differences, of course, but everybody wants a better world. I thought it was a no-brainer, and people would just get it as soon as they got the info.
But it took way longer than I thought. Organic fiber still isn't understood, and even organic somehow still isn't clear. For years I didn't think it was going to happen; I was very happy, but very poor! Then as it started to grow and grow, I had difficulty believing it was really happening...
For a long time it was really lonely being green. I'm not even super crunchy—but I felt really sad that people were so disinterested in their impact on others peoples' lives. But that has changed a lot, and I think a lot of the people that have made that difference are parents. It's a huge motivation when you've got a kid-the jig is up, and they're not in a protected world. Nature is filled with things that are rejuvenating and self-cleaning, and we've gotten deeply in the way of that.
My generation was really anti-green, because they thought it was something they couldn't' do. But in the long run, you can do it and it saves you money!
For many, becoming immersed in green living tends to have a domino effect character to it—one change leads to another, and another. What were your first steps?
Mine were all about being pregnant. For me, the entryway was caring for another person that I was responsible for and physically forming through what I put in my mouth. I was a coffee drinking cigarette smoker before I got pregnant. For me, the domino effect was all about the baby, but I think it can happen every way. Every single thing is an opportunity for us to care for ourselves. Often women don't give themselves that opportunity-we're trying to look gorgeous, and hold down a job. But when you get pregnant you get the opportunity to take a look at what you're putting into yourself and how you're living.
But it can happen at any time. If you're doing the right thing for yourself, you're doing the right thing all the way through.
Let's say I'm a parent who's starting to wrap my head around the idea of green living, but my 10 year old is stuck on his Cheetos and TV. Do you have advice for making the transition? Is making gradual changes usually more successful than a radical overhaul, or vice versa?
Either one. You need to take a look at what you think are serious dangers. With food, there are often natural alternatives-natural Cheetos-so that's fairly painless. There are synthetic additives in many kids' foods that are being banned in the rest of the developed world that are still in our food here. Thirty percent of this country's kids are on a daily prescription medication. What your child is having as a snack can have serious consequences.
So look at food first—it's something that we look at every day, and it's one of the easiest ways to implement sustainable change overnight. It doesn't have to be that the food is as close as possible to its natural state, but there should be very few synthetic flavorings and colorings. Blue, for example—bright blue doesn't really occur in nature. It's even worse than synthetic yellow color.
If you think "how can we possibly change anything when we're having so much trouble keeping things together," then just don't buy anything new. Finish everything, and then instead of buying the old stuff, buy a better product.
And as for activities, stop buying things and make more projects! We need to re-invent the kitchen table back to the way it used to be. These are the things that people remember—making a pie, doing a crafts project, hanging out in the backyard—and they're healthy choices.
Are there many families in your community that share your ethos and approach?
It's changed dramatically in the last 2-3 years. We live in a suburban haven where people move to give their kids a "better life." There are always votes, for example, about whether we should put in artificial turf. And now we're finding that artificial turf is made of ground up tire refuse. When I started telling people this 3 years ago, they didn't get it. Now there's a study coming out from the state of Connecticut that may lead to us banning it!
How did you come across the "Green Gurus" you cite in the book?
I know a lot of people because I've been doing this for so long. And when I don't know something, I try to find someone that does. That's really where the books came from. There were these amazing people working on important stuff, but were having trouble putting the info out there, and couldn't reach the particular groups that I could. I didn't cover everything, but I covered the things that blew my mind when I found them out. Like, what you put on your skin you may as well be drinking. I wanted other people to know these things, because I know I made mistakes, and I want other people to know that, and condense it in a way accessible to moms.
You have a particular focus on organics-how do you feel about the current organic standards?
I'm incredibly happy that there is a federally regulated standard. I do know that organic, because the federal government recognizes them, have taken a huge leap in consumers' minds. The third-party certification that existed before was incredibly stringent, but didn't ring true enough in people's minds. The government recognition has boosted organics in people's minds. Is there room for improvement? Yes. But this improvement happens with economic demand, and it's always evolving.
Without government involvement there would be no opportunity for help for organic farmers. When I started, banks wouldn't loan them money. There was no such thing as "organic" in their mind. There weren't any subsidies. The reason these farmers converted was incredibly egalitarian American morality—they saw what they were doing to the land, and they couldn't take it.
Organic today is really about more yield with less damage.and today [the farmers] are getting more money, and many times are getting more yield per acre after a few years because the soil is getting richer.
Where is the green movement going? Is there any one area that you're especially excited about or confident in? Anything seminal that you see happening (or hope to see happen) this year?
I hope that what we're going to see—and there's already been some movement towards this in kind of crazy ways—is more serious understanding about how what is in our immediate environment directly effects our health. California, for example, is enacting regulations on phthalates and lead in childrens' products. It's a problem for small manufacturers because the small producer in Vermont is going to have to spend thousands of dollars testing his product, which never comes in contact with lead. And at the same time, there are still Glade air fresheners in nurseries!
I hope that someone is going to wake up and say: "the risk is too high. We need to stop putting these products near our kids."
France has now banned the use of cell phones for children under age 12. This isn't just guessing—it's because kids have a thin, developing skull and are especially prone to the radiation that comes from cell phones.
I think the next curve is cosmetics, and people will get that what we put on, we put in. We also need to understand that if we can smell it, we're eating it, and there is zero regulation on what we smell. It's a huge battle because it's a multi-billion dollar industry, but we're going to have to start making a fuss. We don't wake up in the morning and have two beers for breakfast and say: "we feel great!" This barrage of chemicals is like those two beers. They're making us feel bad, and even sick. We're living longer, but not healthier or better.
Need proof that it's possible to balance being green and still be a supportive partner and parent? See how Ed Begley, Jr. does it on Planet Green TV's Living with Ed.
